Member

Many of your Lordships are rightly concerned about whether early criminalisation and getting a criminal record will mean that, later on, these children will have problems getting a place in college or employment. As I have already said, the majority of children aged 10 to 14 are diverted away from the formal criminal justice system or receive an out-of-court disposal. For those children who receive a youth caution, those are spent immediately. For those who receive a youth conditional caution, the caution is spent after whichever is the sooner of three months or when the conditions of the caution are met.