Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

The clause brings into being individual support orders. Colleagues are well aware of antisocial behaviour orders, the object of which, as their name suggests, is to protect the community from the activities of people who engage in antisocial behaviour. They are civil orders unrelated to criminal matters, and our aim is early intervention. We want to add individual support orders because ASBOs are limited to preventing people from doing things, and do not enable the system to require the young people whose behaviour is antisocial to address the underlying causes of that behaviour. Individual support orders, however, will engage them in programmes to do that. When an ASBO is granted, it will be possible to make an individual support order at the same time. The ASBO deals with the protection of the community, and the ISO puts in place a programme to try to ensure that, even when the ASBO is finished, the young person will behave better.

I am grateful to the Solicitor-General for having introduced the order briefly. We have no objection to the clause. Indeed, we welcome it. An aspect of ASBOs that has caused me particular concern is that unless, during the period of the ASBO, the underlying problems that led to the misbehaviour are tackled, although it may prevent the behaviour by the threat of draconian penalties, it may not solve the problem. We shall have to see how it works in practice.

I am watching closely a couple of cases in my constituency in which ASBOs have been granted, in order to see whether, in the long term, they prevent the individuals from descending into a career of criminality and into the system, from which they might never re-emerge, certainly on their track record. Prior to the introduction of ASBOs, the situation was so appalling that one wondered why there had not been better intervention at an earlier stage. If this measure goes some way towards improving that situation, I welcome it.

I broadly support the clause, but I should like to make two points. On first reading, it appears that the court's discretion on whether to make an individual support order is limited. The conditions in subsection (3) indicate that there is a discretion as to whether an ISO is desirable. I assume that that is meant to be interpreted widely by the court, so that it can decide which conditions are right for an individual offender, rather than assuming that an order will be made irrespective of the consequences.

My second point relates to new section 1AB(3) and the fines to which those who fail to comply with any requirement in an order are liable on summary conviction. A £250 fine may or may not be appropriate for a person under 14, but it is substantial, and should give not only the child but their parents or guardians pause for thought. However, a £1,000 fine for a child of 14 seems like a fairly large step change at a relatively young age. It is

not always easy to control 14-year-olds, who do not always comply with orders that they are given, and they are unlikely to pay the £1,000 fine themselves. I wonder whether the differential—the step up from £250 to £1,000—is appropriate, and whether it is being introduced at the appropriate age. Might it not be better to introduce the higher fine later?

The court will be obliged to make an ISO—it will not be enough simply to make an antisocial behaviour order. If the court makes an ASBO on a child or young person, and the individual support conditions set out in new section 1AA(3) are met, we will expect it to make an ISO. If the court is not satisfied that the conditions have been met, it must state why. However, for the reasons given by the hon. Member for Beaconsfield, we want ISOs to become the norm—the order of the day. We want to tell people not only what they must not do, but what they must do.

The fines are intended to underline the fact that we expect ISOs to be taken seriously. They are, of course, a maximum, not a minimum, and individual circumstances will be taken into account. However, we expect people to comply with the orders, and those who do not will face criminal penalties. We must start out purposefully, and that is the intention behind the fines regime.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 259 ordered to stand part of the Bill.