Offender Management Bill

I, too, apologise for not being here at the outset; I was at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. This is not a theoretical issue. There has been all too much evidence in recent years of things going wrong with children in our custodial system. Therefore, it seems crucial not just to anguish about what has happened in the past but to put in theBill measures to ensure that these things will not happen in the future. Whatever our feelings about wrongdoing and crime, the moment of initial custody may for many youngsters be the most traumatic moment of all. It therefore seems particularly important that the people handling that stage understand everything that is involved for the young person, psychologically as well as physically.