Policing and Crime Bill

I thank all noble Lords who have spoken, especially those who put their name to my amendment. The noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, spoke very movingly about the issues of broken families and drugs. The noble Baroness, Lady Howe, said that we have corporate responsibility, as I would call it, for these children. Given the fine balance that the Minister mentioned, I am surprised that he has continued to come down on the side of retaining this provision. I was given some hope when I read the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Drefelin, who was looking at this issue from the point of view of the Department for Children, Schools and Families when giving evidence to the Bill Committee in the other place. She agreed that a child prostitute is a victim, not a criminal. However, she did not recommend decriminalisation. Clearly, the Government are finely balanced on this issue. The Minister has advanced no evidence from ACPO or anyone else about why this is more helpful. This morning—it seems a long time ago—I heard on the "Today" programme that there is very little provision. In the whole of the UK, there are just 56 beds for runaway children. It is not surprising that they end up on the street. If they do not want to be put straight back into care, and there are often substantial reasons why they have run away from home or care, they have no hostels. Just 56 beds is underprovision of an enormous sort, so runaways are already more vulnerable. We shall certainly return to this issue on Report. The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, mentioned a paradox but, apart from that, I did not hear any support for the Government’s position, so I imagine that the balance will go against the Government on Report. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 65 withdrawn. House resumed.