Member

I say this is for children for whom there is no alternative, because setting the age of criminal responsibility at 10 does not preclude other types of intervention. A significant priority for this Government is diversion from the criminal justice system where this would be a more proportionate response. The Government have invested £71 million from December 2022 to March 2026 through the Turnaround programme to help youth offending teams intervene earlier and to support up to 20,500 additional children who are at risk of entering the justice system. As a result, most children aged 10 to 14 years are diverted from the formal criminal justice system or receive an out-of-court disposal.