Chief Inspector’s blog on the publication of the Youth Justice White Paper

We know through our inspection programmes we generally see better performance in youth justice than in adult probation, however, there is no room for complacency and this focus on reform comes at an important time.

We regularly see significant pressures on Youth Justice Services where areas do not have sufficient grip on the cases they are managing and, in particular, where they are not focused on the fine balance between meeting the needs of the children they work with and any risk posed to the community.

As demonstrated in the findings of the Southport Inquiry, all agencies must be aligned and empowered to intervene where those in or at risk of entering the justice system are encountering problems, if they are to reduce harm to children and future victims.

Much of the media focus following the publication of this Paper has been coverage of proposals to strengthen parenting orders and the consequences for parents and carers who fail to support efforts to address their children’s behaviour.

Clearly, where children are coming into contact with the justice system, we are entitled to expect parents to play a role in tackling behaviour and working with authorities. However, we know many of these children are not in the care of their parents but placed with their local authority and often out of education. Most often there are complex needs involved and parental responsibility must go hand-in-hand with specialist systemic support.

The proposal of a reforms package tackling criminal records and disclosure periods is also a sensible step in the right direction. I hope this work will be ambitious, in order to deliver on its potential to reduce inequality for children already overrepresented in the justice system, and to help ensure young people do not find themselves locked out of stable education and employment and into a cycle of offending.

I also welcome the Paper’s focus on victims. We know from the new victims’ standard in our inspection framework that many Youth Justice Services and their partners need to make improvements to how they engage with and support victims – and this must not be an afterthought.

Finally, the commitment to reduce unnecessary use of remand into custody is the correct direction of travel. In our thematic inspection ‘A joint thematic inspection of the work with children subject to remand in youth detention’, we found that nearly half of the children we assessed could have been safely managed in the community instead. Where children are detailed because the wider justice system is unable to offer a suitable alternative, the consequences – damaged relationships, disrupted education, and exposure to a potentially criminalising environment – are serious and long-lasting. However, reducing custody only works if robust community alternatives are genuinely available and consistently delivered, and funding capacity and sustainable resource must reflect this.

As the proposals in this White Paper are considered, I would make a renewed call – in line with our inspection framework – to ensure that authorities work together to tackle the reasons why children are committing offences, meeting their, often acute, needs, providing interventions, and working with partners to tackle the risks and to learn lessons when things go seriously wrong.

I look forward to further discussions with ministers and senior officials on the future direction of travel to ensure any reforms have the impact that children and communities need.