Child tagging plans defended

PLANS to extend electronic tagging to children as young as ten were defended by the Scottish Executive yesterday.

Another ministerial proposal, this time to allow for the jailing of parents of young tearaways, was also defended, despite the disclosure that similar provisions already exist in Scottish law.

On Thursday, the Executive will unveil its plans for dealing with anti-social behaviour by launching a consultation paper on its promised Anti-Social Behaviour Bill.

The bill will include parental orders, a ban on selling spray paint to under-16s and proposals to extend tagging to those under 16.

It is understood that children as young as ten could be tagged under these provisions, but the communities minister, Margaret Curran, said no specific age was mentioned in the consultation paper.

"That is a matter on which we will consult - we will certainly take views on that," she said. "We are going to introduce electronic tagging for under-16s.

"We are about to produce a comprehensive consultation paper which will look at a raft of measures, and that will be part of the discussions.

"But there is no doubt there are serious issues of criminal behaviour in the under-16 age group, and it’s something we must tackle."

Section 45 of the 1995 Criminal Procedure Scotland Act already contains provisions to call parents to account and appears to be similar to the proposals outlined by the First Minister, Jack McConnell, during the election to punish parents who fail to control children.

But Ms Curran insisted that the Executive wanted to see "a much more comprehensive" approach than had been the case in the past.

"We are saying a degree of compulsion is required to ensure it [parental co-operation], and where parents fail in that duty, then sanctions are required," she told BBC TV’s The Politics Show.