Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, here again is a classic example of where co-operation is needed between ministries. In earlier parts of the Bill, we discussed the problem of those with learning disabilities and learning difficulties who are in custody and what should happen to them. A draft National Standards for Youth Justice Services has recently been published for consultation. It talks about the standards that should be observed in young offender institutions and others. I hope very much that in pursuing what my noble friend Lord Low has recommended, with which I thoroughly agree, the Minister will make certain that, instead of having two separate systems for the same sort of people, the Ministry of Justice will be involved in close liaison with the YPLA, which has the responsibility for this. That should happen not least because, in the future, once these assessments have been carried out, as one hopes, the YPLA will ensure that something that has been identified as needing treatment is continued in custody, just as when something is identified in custody it oversees what happens in the community on the release of that individual.