Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, we have not debated Titans for some time, so I welcome that helpful intervention. Given the need to increase provision—some noble Lords will disagree with me about that, but it was one of the conclusions of the Carter report—and given all the constraints on planning and development, we believe that Titans are the best way to get that provision up and running as quickly as possible. I am sure that the problem is that one imagines Titans as those prisons that one sees in the US, with huge towers, machine guns and all the rest of it, but there is no reason why, within a Titan campus—if I can put it like that—smaller units cannot be run with all the advantages of small-scale care management, but with the advantages, too, of the large-scale infrastructure investment that will come. It was clear in our Statement on Carter that building the Titans will free up some smaller-scale accommodation, which could well be used for some of what the noble Lord has talked about. He will know that, in the light of Corston, we have started a project that is looking at smaller, local units for women. I shall not convince the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, or other noble Lords on Titans, but we believe that they will give us some flexibility to meet his concerns. That is certainly the intention. Those aged 18-plus were debated in Committee and last week on our first day on Report. I understand the concern felt about the transfer of young people from youth to adult custodial settings. My understanding is that, since last week, my department and the Youth Justice Board have been discussing a range of transition issues. I shall make sure that our debates are played into those discussions. I fully accept that transition is important and that it is important to ensure that if there are successful programmes—we have heard from the noble Baroness how there can be—their advantage is not lost if a young person transfers into an adult establishment. That point is well taken. I also take the point about mental health problems. We have discussed them before in relation to adult prisoners, but mental health issues are as debilitating for young offenders as they are for adults. We know that there have been improvements in CAMH services in the National Health Service and we need to take advantage of those. The review by my noble friend Lord Bradley will take these concerns into account. There is understandable concern about the use of restraint in juvenile secure settings. We debated the statutory instrument last summer. The debate, which was led by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, was very instructive. We announced the independent review of restraint, chaired by Andrew Williamson and Paul Smallridge, and on 20 March, at the request of the two co-chairs, we announced an extension to the deadline for the report. I understand that they will now report their recommendations to Ministers by 20 June. The headings mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Stern, may well refer to the sorts of violent acts in which staff may be required to intervene. My noble friend Lord Judd opened his remarks by paying tribute to many of the staff in the current youth custodial settings, which was very handsome of him. When it comes to restraint and other issues, one has to recognise the pressures on staff and the need for intervention. I am sure that we will welcome the report on restraint when it is—