Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, may I express my concern about the Government’s proposal to lower the age to 10? I admire the Government for the seriousness with which they have taken anti-social behaviour over the past 10 years. It has been a real blight on the most deprived areas, making those communities very uncomfortable for many people to live in. The Government deserve credit for taking this matter seriously. Of course, some young people are involved in that. I also welcome the Government’s investment in various services for children, including youth work. My question for the Minister is: what training and support do police officers have to make such interventions with very young children? I apologise if I missed his reference to this earlier this afternoon. Do they experience training with youth workers at some point in their development? Do they have an understanding of, or are they taught at some point about, child development? Of course, for some children with certain backgrounds, that sort of intervention from a man in a uniform may be rather like a red rag to a bull and might exacerbate the situation. I imagine that in most cases the most sensible response from the police might be to seek some youth work intervention. I know that the Government have been working on this. Very often, I would think, the best and most effective approach would be to get some youth work input into such a problem, particularly if it is one that recurs over time. I look forward to the Minister’s response.