Is A Rethink of Youth Justice Required?

     The creation of the new Ministry of Justice provides an opportunity to build on the significant progress that has been made in the youth justice system since the creation of the Youth Justice Board in 1998.

     During that time the way children and young people who offend are managed has been radically overhauled. One very visible symbol of success has been the youth offending teams--the multi-agency bodies of local authorities that have been established in every area, leading to young offenders being dealt with more quickly.

     There remains considerable debate about young people and custody and I understand people's differing views on this. But let's look at the facts--the proportion of young people who offend and are sentenced to custody has fallen from the already low figure of four per cent to three per cent. In order to lower these numbers even further, the cornerstone of our approach will remain in investment in early intervention and prevention. We aim to reduce the number of first-time entrants into the criminal justice system through closer contact with schools, police and health services.

     However, it is sometimes necessary to remove the most serious or persistent offenders from the community. In these instances, the introduction of the detention and training order aims to give young people in custody the chance of a fresh start by allowing the opportunity to spend the second half of their sentence in the community under close supervision.

     The Youth Justice Board has put great effort and resources into developing and implementing the intensive supervision and surveillance programme, a community intervention for young people at serious risk of going into custody. At the end of 2006, there were 1,283 young people on the programme.

     We will also be working with the Sentencing Guidelines Council to acheive greater consistency in sentencing across England and Wales.