Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I absolutely agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, that a degree more flexibility for the court would be appropriate. The figures that my noble kinsman has just read out are absolutely shocking. There is a link between this group of amendments and the previous group; if ISOs are to be really positive, they could play a part here. Perhaps I could relate to the Committee a conversation that I had with the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, at lunchtime today. He was telling me that in Sweden, a country that is a great deal more enlightened than this country on how to treat children in general and young offenders in particular, the system is that certain conditions are put on a sentence, whether a custodial or a non-custodial sentence. Those may include taking courses, such as anger management. If the young person concludes and fulfils those before the end of what should have been the sentence, they can apply to the court to be released early or for the non-custodial sentence to finish earlier. That strikes me as very positive. It gives the young person something to work towards and shows a positive attitude. Perhaps the Minister would consider that idea on behalf of the Government, because it takes account of some of the concerns that we have raised. Practitioners would certainly welcome the idea as well, because it would give them an objective to help the young people to work towards that would address the fundamental problem and reduce reoffending.