Lord Harlech (Con)

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Oates, for tabling the Bill, and I thank all noble Lords for their valuable contributions throughout the debate. I start by acknowledging the position we are in with youth justice and the excellent work done by the previous Conservative Government to halve the number of children in youth custody. In 2016, 939 children were held in young offender institutions. By 2024, that number had fallen to 432. The average custody population in 2010-11 was 2,222, but between April 2024 and March 2025, this had dropped to an average of 420 children in custody at any one time. This represented the lowest number on record, and these numbers are a testament to the hard work of the previous Government. On top of that, the number of first-time entrants in the system dropped from 45,519 in the year 2010-11 to just under 8,300 in 2024-25. I acknowledge the work done by the Youth Justice Board in that time and thank it for its help in reducing the number of children in the youth justice system. This Bill seeks to reverse the direction of the Government’s proposed reforms to youth justice. Clauses 1 and 3 would set out in primary legislation that the Youth Justice Board would remain primarily responsible for certain existing statutory functions, including the provision of secure training centres and the certification of custody officer and escort arrangements, reversing the Government’s plan to centralise oversight to within the Ministry of Justice. Clause 4 seeks to remove the Secretary of State’s power to alter the statutory functions of the Youth Justice Board by secondary legislation and revokes the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales Order 2000, in which the Youth Justice Board’s statutory functions were expanded and powers to exercise some functions concurrently with the Secretary of State were introduced. These would have the effect of reducing future ministerial flexibility to adjust the Youth Justice Board’s role. Clauses 1 and 2 would give a formal role to Wales, with Clause 1 requiring a memorandum of understanding between the Secretary of State, the Youth Justice Board and the Welsh Government within six months, where the responsibility for youth justice delivery is divided, with arrangements on implementation to be set out within a year. Clause 2 gives the Welsh Government a consultative role separate from the existing Government’s plans regarding devolution. However, the landscape of youth justice has now changed, and the system must adapt accordingly. Reversing the Government’s proposals before they have taken effect and before their impact can be assessed seems the wrong way to proceed. As it stands, the Government need to ensure that they focus on preventing the escalation of crime, as the data indicates that repeat young offenders tend to start with petty crimes. They need to ensure that the Ministry of Justice handles its role of scrutinising the youth justice system well—we will continue to keep an eye on that—and continues to ensure that there are clear punishments. The Ministry of Justice’s consultation on oversight and the funding of youth justice services closes today. When the Government respond to its recommendations, we will scrutinise them, but as yet it is difficult to assess the decisions that the Government will make, as doing so would pre-empt an ongoing process. Finally, as things stand, justice is not a devolved matter, so introducing that in a Private Member’s Bill with no consultation seems unwise. For these reasons, we cannot support the Bill as drafted, but we look forward to scrutinising the Government’s response to the youth justice consultation in due course.