Youth justice: reflections on where we are and where we are going Tim Bateman NAYJ 2 April 2012

New administrations – new proposals for criminal justice New Labour – ‘This White Paper seeks to draw a line under the past and sets out a new approach to tackling youth crime.’ No More Excuses, 1997 The coalition Government - ‘Our plans represent a fundamental break with the failed and expensive policies of the past.’ Breaking the Cycle, 2010 For New Labour, the ‘youth justice system …too often excuses the young offenders before it, implying that they cannot help their behaviour because of their social circumstances. Rarely are they confronted with their behaviour …’ The Coalition complains that ‘If we do not prevent and tackle offending by young people then the young offenders of today will become the prolific career criminals of tomorrow.’

A rapidly expanding universe

Rate of prosecution 1992 – 2008 (percent)

A contracting universe: first time entrants to the youth justice system

Youth justice disposals: 2006/7 against 2010/11

The Coalition government and custody Remand provisions of the Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Bill Reducing custody – one of three high level targets for the youth justice system But: breach to be available for DTOs even if the order has expired

Some other stings in the tail Maximum curfew increased from 12 – 16 hours per day and from 6 – 12 months in duration Mandatory custodial sentences for 16 – 17 year olds for certain form of knife crime Consultation on requiring ‘a clear punitive element in every sentence’ Any raising of the age of criminal responsibility ruled out

The elephant in the room: the financial context ‘Our ambition to reform must be married with the reality of the fiscal position and the inevitable constraints on the public finances …Achieving savings will mean driving value for money and delivering more from less’ (Nick Herbert, 2010) The contracting universe - YOT budgets: /10 = £281m;2010/11 = £273m Ministry of Justice to find another £2b savings by 2014/15 Resolving the paradox: punitive rhetoric v a less interventionist, slimmed down, youth justice system

The resurgence of professional discretion ‘ We will signal a clean break with the controlling, centralising tendencies of the past by making a clear commitment to decentralisation. We will provide frontline professionals with greater freedoms in how they manage offenders… ‘...There will be fewer targets for providers and less prescription in the way that different agencies work together.’ (Ministry of Justice, 2010)

The Government’s ‘rehabilitation revolution’: payment by results ‘ We will create a rehabilitation revolution that will change those communities whose lives are made a misery by crime … [A] new approach where providers are increasingly paid by their results at reducing reoffending… incentivising local partners to reduce youth offending and re-offending...’ (MoJ, 2010) From the YJB as boss to the market as arbiter of effective practice

Using renewed discretion Work with young people as offenders who pose a risk or as children with welfare needs? Effective practice means regarding young people not as: ‘objects of ‘treatment’ or ‘intervention’, characterised by needs and deficits and presenting risks, but as active participants in their own rehabilitation, with strengths, skills and potential as contributors to their communities’ (Raynor, 2004) Giving up offending is correlated with ‘hope’; young people need to have aspirations and a confidence that they can achieve their goals (Burnett and Maruna, 2004) The conditions of effective practice include: ‘empathy and genuineness; the establishment of a working alliance; and the adoption of person-centred, collaborative and ‘client- driven’ approaches’ (McNeill, 2006)

Using renewed discretion [2] Improved engagement – higher completion rates Motivation to comply – the ‘F’ word Completion is a two way street – reducing the incidence of breach

Rate of breach against highest and lowest custody YOTs:

An optimistic conclusion? Enhanced discretion – child focused and child friendly Reductions in first time entrants, reoffending and custody Benefit from target related incentives under payment by results