Police and Justice Bill

moved Amendment No. 84A: Page 89, line 36, after ““person”” insert ““aged 17 or over”” The noble Baroness said: In moving Amendment No. 84A in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Dholakia, I will also speak to Amendments Nos. 84B, 84C and 85A. These amendments relate to conditions of bail for children under 17 and to the amendments to the Police and Criminal EvidenceAct 1984 in part 2 of Schedule 4 and in Clause 8. It is proposed in the Bill that, where bail is granted not in a police station, the police will have the powers to impose conditions. These amendments exempt children under 17 from these provisions other than the condition to attend a police station. This is an issue of the appropriate protection of children and young people. The Standing Committee for Youth Justice has clearly expressed concerns about how to guarantee their protection if they are granted bail on the street and not in a police station, and without the presence of an appropriate adult. Home Office guidance stipulates that the decision to grant street bail to a juvenile should be based on an assessment of the level of risk to the safety and welfare of the young person, and requires that contact should be made as soon as practicable with the parent, guardian or other carer. This is really not good enough; it is well known that a high proportion of young people who get caught up in offending behaviour—including of a low level—can be very vulnerable. Many have health issues, including mental health issues, domestic issues of a wide and complex kind, learning difficulties, and the like. The assessment of the level of risk to the safety and welfare of a young person on the street is extremely difficult, if not impossible. It may simply not be apparent in such a situation that a young person is, for example, on the autistic spectrum, has a learning difficulty or is mentally unwell. However well trained and experienced the policeman or CSO might be, to make a snap assessment of that kind is really asking too much. Where street bail is the issue, where the police are concerned enough to be considering bail at all—and we are talking about situations that are of concern—appropriate assessments of that kind become even more difficult. Even where none of those difficult background issues applies, it is likely that a child—and we must remember that we are considering children—will simply not understand what is at stake, particularly the failure to comply with conditions. So the only possible appropriate condition should be that the child attends a police station. If conditions are attached to a bail decision, all those concerns are greatly increased. Even if there is the most scrupulous training and experience, the proper level of child protection requires that an appropriate adult, or, at the very least, a station sergeant with the necessary level of detachment, should be present. When a child is given the choice of bail, the fact that failure to meet its conditions could result in the child being taken into custody is reason enough for him or her to be taken to the police station. I asked the Minister at Second Reading, and I ask her again: what is the Government’s position on the proposition that the current PACE protections be extended to 17 year-olds, as the Standing Committee for Youth Justice has been urging and which we heartily endorse? At every stage, we must do everything to ensure that custody is avoided for young people in our community, for we already have far too many vulnerable 17 year-olds in custody. They may seem large and grown-up on the streets, but they are still very young people. I beg to move.