A report analysed the one-year reconviction rates for juveniles (those aged 10-17) dealt with by the criminal justice system in 2001 and 2002, and compared the rates with those recorded for 2000 and 1997. The overall actual reconviction rate was 35.3 per cent, a reduction of 4.5 per cent relative to the 2000 baseline.
Source: Juvenile Reconviction: Results from the 2001 and 2002 cohorts, Online Report 60/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Home Office press release
Date: 2004-Dec
The government responded to an audit report on the youth justice system. It welcomed the main findings.
Source: Government Response to the Audit Commission Report: Youth Justice 2004 - A review of the reformed youth justice system, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 16 December 2004, columns 150WS, TSO
Links: Response (pdf) | YJB press release | Hansard
Date: 2004-Dec
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on youth offending.
Source: Treasury Minutes on the Thirty-fifth and Fortieth to Forty-third Reports from the Committee of Public Accounts 2003-2004, Cm 6416, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response (pdf) | MPs report
Date: 2004-Dec
The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales published its annual report for 2003-04. It set out the key developments in the youth justice system, and said there had been 'real progress' in services. The Board reportedly said that it aimed to cut the number of children in prison by 10 per cent by 2007.
Source: Annual Review 2003/04: Building in Confidence, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (020 7271 3033) | The Independent, 4 November 2004
Links: Report (pdf) | YJB press release | Independent article
Date: 2004-Nov
A new book presented the findings from the first national, representative survey of public attitudes to youth crime and youth justice in England and Wales. They showed that the public had a more pessimistic view of youth crime than was justified by official crime statistics. While most people said that they wanted the youth justice system to be tougher on young offenders, many were supportive of restorative or rehabilitative approaches when presented with detail on specific cases.
Source: Mike Hough and Julian Roberts, Youth Crime and Youth Justice: Public opinion in England and Wales, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Nov
Plans for a Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill were included in the government s legislative programme for the Parliamentary year 2004-05 (Queen's Speech). The government said that the Bill would 're-balance' sentencing, by reinforcing rigorous and effective community punishments; build on major reforms already underway as a result of the Criminal Justice Act 2003; and help ensure that new advances in technology were better used to protect the public and victims of crime. The government said that it would also be publishing a draft Bill on youth justice to introduce better sentencing of juveniles with a sharper focus on preventing offending.
Source: House of Lords Hansard, Queen's Speech 23 November 2004, columns 1-4, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 25 November 2004, columns 246-330, TSO | Press release 23 November 2004, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Text of Speech | Lords Hansard | Commons Hansard | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
A report criticized the government for neglecting young people in custody. It said that inadequate rehabilitation services, and the frequent movement of young adults around the prison estate, were leading to nearly three quarters (71 per cent) being reconvicted within two years of release.
Source: Enver Solomon, A Lost Generation, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070) and Community Care magazine
Links: PRT press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
The Youth Justice Board began consultation on its strategy for the secure estate for under-18s. It set out the assumptions and principles on which the Board would develop the secure estate for juveniles, and the steps it intended to take in the next three years to deliver these within available resources.
Source: Strategy for the Secure Estate for Juveniles: Building on the foundations, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (020 7271 3033)
Links: Consultation document (Word file) | YJB press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A think tank said that the government had made 'false claims' about the success of the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme for young offenders. A study commissioned by the Youth Justice Board had in reality found that the programme had failed - it was less effective than routine probation, which also cost much less.
Source: Press release 6 November 2004, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Civitas press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A report said that half of all young people would be a victim of crime or aggressive behaviour by the time they reached 16 years old.
Source: Youth Insight Report, Norwich Union (0500 55 99 77)
Links: Crime Concern press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A report by a committee of MPs said that short periods of custody for young offenders were unlikely to make an impact on offending behaviour, nor help offenders gain the educational qualifications often necessary for a change in lifestyle. If re-offending rates were to be reduced, custodial and non-custodial elements of sentences, and rehabilitation during and on completion of sentence, needed to be better integrated.
Source: Youth Offending: The delivery of community and custodial sentences, Fortieth Report (Session 2003-04), HC 307, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
Researchers found that the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme helped to improve attitudes to offending, to influence positive changes in self-perception, and to stimulate young offenders to consider the effects of crime on victims.
Source: Robin Moore et al., ISSP: Initial Report, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (0870 120 7400)
Links: Summary (pdf) | YJB press release | Young People Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Sep
A new book reviewed developments in evidence-based practice within both probation and youth justice, bringing together the findings of recent official research projects.
Source: Ros Burnett and Colin Roberts (eds.), What Works in Probation and Youth Justice: Developing evidence-based practice, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Sep
A joint inspectorate report said that Youth Offending Teams were developing into 'strong organisations' that were fulfilling their role in preventing offending. But none performed adequately when identifying the risk of harm to young people in their care, with full risk assessments being prepared in only a third of cases. (The teams were launched in England and Wales in April 2000 to bring together a range of services dealing with young people and crime prevention - including the police, probation services, social services, health and education.)
Source: The First Phase: Annual Report 2004, Joint Inspection of Youth Offending Teams, c/o HM Inspectorate of Probation (020 7035 2200)
Links: Report (pdf) | YJB press release | Young People Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Sep
Four linked reports were published from a major study of adolescent development and offending in Scotland.
Source: David Smith, The Links Between Victimization and Offending, Centre for Law and Society/University of Edinburgh (0131 650 9166) | David Smith, Parenting and Delinquency at Ages 12 to 15, Centre for Law and Society/University of Edinburgh | David Smith and Lesley McAra, Gender and Youth Offending, Centre for Law and Society The University of Edinburgh | Lesley McAra, Truancy, School Exclusion and Substance Misuse, Centre for Law and Society The University of Edinburgh
Links: Victimisation report (pdf) | Delinquency report (pdf) | Gender report (pdf) | Truancy report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Aug
A strategy was launched aimed at preventing offending and re-offending among children and young people in Wales.
Source: All Wales Youth Offending Strategy, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: WAG press release | Young People Now report
Date: 2004-Jul
A report evaluated the effectiveness of projects designed to divert young people away from the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. The general conclusion of the study was positive: the projects reflected and confirmed current theory and research about how to deal with young people at risk.
Source: Helen Dawson, Seamus Dunn, Valerie Morgan, and Amanda Hayes, Evaluation of the Youth Justice Agency Community Services, Research and Statistical Report 11, Northern Ireland Office (028 9052 7534)
Links: Report (pdf) | NIO press release
Date: 2004-Jul
A report said that black and minority ethnic youngsters were over-represented in the youth justice system. There was evidence of discriminatory treatment at various stages in the criminal justice process.
Source: Martina Feilzer and Roger Hood, Differences or Discrimination?, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (020 7271 3033)
Links: Summary (pdf) | YJB press release | Children Now report
Date: 2004-Jul
An annual survey of young people, both in and out of school, explored the prevalence of offending among young people, gauged any links between truancy and offending, investigated alcohol and drug taking behaviour, assessed young people's ethics and fears, and measured the proportion who had been victims of crime.
Source: MORI, MORI Youth Survey 2004, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (020 7271 3033)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
A report summarised the practical findings of a short study into preventative and behaviour management approaches for young people in local authority residential care.
Source: GHK, Preventative Approaches Targeting Young People in Local Authority Residential Care, Development and Practice Report 14, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A report summarised a series of studies focusing on the role that education could play in promoting individual life-chances and preventing offending by young people.
Source: Tony Holden and Richard Lloyd, The Role of Education in Enhancing Life Chances and Preventing Offending, Development and Practice Report 19, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A report described the perceptions of young people who had been held in prison service custody during 2001 2003. Just over a third of young people (both boys and girls) had felt unsafe at some time; this included all the girls aged 15. Young people were still held far too far away from home: only 30 per cent of boys and 23 per cent of girls said it was easy for their families to visit. School exclusion and care continued to be fertile recruiting grounds for custody: 83 per cent of boys had been excluded, and 43 per cent of girls had been in care or foster homes.
Source: Mark Challen and Thea Walton, Juveniles in Custody, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103)
Links: Report (pdf) | Appendix (pdf) | HMP press release | Howard League press release
Date: 2004-Apr
A report examined how children in trouble were portrayed in the national press. It said that scaremongering and unsympathetic reporting added to a climate of fear which suggested that all children were a cause of trouble.
Source: A Vicious Circle?: What the papers say about children in trouble with the law, SHAPE, available from Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Report (pdf) | Barnardo's press release
Date: 2004-Apr
A report summarised the findings of a survey of female juveniles completing detention and training orders. The majority of those interviewed had poor educational histories with low levels of attainment; exceptionally low levels of self-esteem were prevalent in all but a small minority; the custodial part of the order provided a time of respite in a relatively safe and secure environment; attendance at education during custody was highly valued by the majority; but the community aspect of the order was 'fraught with risk' - it did not provide them with sufficient structure or support to cope with personal problems or help them to progress to further education, training or employment. The government reportedly announced that teenage girls would be held separately from adult women prisoners by 2006, following construction of four specialist units at existing prisons.
Source: Office of Standards in Education, Girls in Prison: The education and training of under-18s serving detention and training orders, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103) | The Guardian, 21 April 2004
Links: Report (pdf) | HMP press release | Howard League press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Apr
The government published a summary of responses received to a consultation paper on reforming the youth justice system.
Source: Consultation Response to Youth Justice: The Next Steps - Emerging findings, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Consultation document (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
Researchers said that mentoring schemes designed to cut criminal and anti-social behaviour by young people could prove counterproductive. There was no proof that mentoring by adult volunteers reduced offending or truancy, and they could have negative consequences if the relationship between the adult and the child went wrong.
Source: Helen Roberts, Kristin Liabo, Patricia Lucas, David DuBois and Trevor Sheldon, 'Mentoring to reduce antisocial behaviour in childhood', British Medical Journal, 28 February 2004
Links: Article | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
The Court of Appeal ruled that the Home Secretary must keep under periodic review the minimum terms in custody set by the Lord Chief Justice for under-18s convicted of murder.
Source: Secretary of State & Dudson v. Smith & Secretary of State, Court of Appeal 11 February 2004
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
A report said the children's hearing system in Scotland was under strain because of the huge rise in referrals on the grounds of care and protection rather than offending. It identified problems of inappropriate referrals, lack of community resources and social work staffing as the main reasons for the system not working in the way that was originally intended. It called on the Scottish Executive to build on the strengths of the hearing system as the most effective way forward in addressing the problem of youth crime: but it said the system needed to be 'fully resourced and enthusiastically supported' if it were to work to best effect.
Source: Where s Kilbrandon Now?, NCH (0845 762 6579)
Links: Report (pdf) | Community Care article
Date: 2004-Jan
The National Audit Office said that the Youth Justice Board, established in September 1998, had successfully developed and introduced a range of new non-custodial sentences and programmes for young offenders. There was scope, however, for the Board to improve forecasting of custodial numbers, deciding of placements, and agreeing common aims and objectives with the prison service. In some cases vulnerable young boys with mental health problems or at risk from self-harm had been placed in unsuitable secure accommodation, while other young offenders had missed out on vital education, because of pressures on the juvenile secure estate.
Source: Youth Offending: Delivery of community and custodial sentences, HC 190 (Session 2003-04), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | NAO press release | Community Care article
Date: 2004-Jan
The Audit Commission said that young offenders going through the new youth justice system were less likely to be reconvicted. Reconviction rates of young people given reprimands had fallen by 10 per cent since the reforms were introduced, and young offenders were much less likely to offend whilst on bail, with the rate falling from 1 in 3 in 1996 to 1 in 5 on the latest evidence.
Source: Youth Justice 2004: Review of the reformed youth justice system, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | YJB press release
Date: 2004-Jan