Young Offenders: Sentencing Guidelines
Debate between Lord Cormack and Baroness Buscombe
Baroness Buscombe
I entirely agree with the noble Lord. These guidelines have been developed following extensive public consultation, very much on this point, in 2016. Research with sentencers suggested that there may be a shift from custodial to community sentences for a small number of cases where a custodial sentence is currently imposed. The important thing is that we are paying more attention to low-level offending by children. We want to keep them out of custody where possible. It is quite clear to us that we have to tackle underlying factors that lead to children and young people committing offences, thereby blighting their life chances. Since the peak in youth offending in 2006-07 there has been an incredible 71% fall in the number of young people sentenced, from around 94,600 to just under 28,000 in 2015-16. Custodial sentencing has seen a 70% fall—this is amazing progress.
Lord Cormack (Con)
My Lords, that is very encouraging, but, following on from what was just said by the noble Lord, is there not a lot to be learned from community restorative justice in Northern Ireland? Should we not be developing along those lines?