Schedule 2: Curfew orders and supervision orders
205.Paragraph 2 of this Schedule amends section 37 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 so as to increase the period for which an offender aged 10-15 may be made the subject of a curfew order from up to 3 months to up to 6 months. It also specifies that the supervisor of a young person subject to a supervision order should also act as the responsible officer for the curfew requirement.
206.Paragraph 3 allows a court to make a separate curfew order in respect of an offender even if it is also making a supervision order in respect of him.
207.Paragraph 4 (1) to (3) amends Schedule 6 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 to increase the length of time for which the offender may be required to comply with specified directions of the supervisor or with requirements of the court from up to 90 days to up to 180 days. The directions or requirements may require the offender to live at a specified place and report to specified people at specified places and times. They may also require the offender to participate in activities identified by the supervision officer, such as offending behaviour programmes. The court requirements can also include one to make reparation. Paragraph 4 (4) repeals the paragraph of Schedule 6 which relates to night restrictions as this is no longer required.
208.Paragraph 4 (5) inserts a new paragraph 5A in Schedule 6 to the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000. New paragraph 5A creates a new requirement which may be imposed by the court in a supervision order. It allows the court to require an offender to live for a period of up to 12 months with a local authority foster parent, subject to certain conditions being specified. Paragraph 5A (2) sets out these conditions. They are that the offence must be one which is imprisonable in the case of an adult, and that the offence or combination of offences were so serious that the court would normally have imposed a custodial sentence, or a custodial sentence would have been appropriate in the case of a 10 and 11 year old persistent offenders had they been aged 12 or over. In addition the court must be satisfied that the offending was due in large part to the home circumstances, and that the fostering requirement would help with the offender’s rehabilitation.
209.Paragraph 5A (3) allows the court to designate the local authority in whose area the offender resides as the one with the responsibility for placing the offender with foster carers, in line with their obligations under the Children Act 1989.
210.Paragraphs 5A(6) and (7) set out the circumstances in which the court may make a fostering requirement if the offender is not legally represented. Paragraph 5A (8) allows the court to impose other requirements available with a supervision order as set out in Paragraphs 2, 3, 6 and 7 of Schedule 6 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act when imposing a fostering requirement. Paragraph 5A (9) ensures that the local authority has the necessary powers to place the child in other local authority accommodation in an emergency.