Taking a risk with youth crime

The riots, which started in London this summer and spread north, were by no means exclusively perpetrated by young people but the ages of some of those involved were as shocking as the crimes themselves. Since the disturbances, new political emphasis has been given to the need to tackle youth crime. We’ve seen government commissions and strategies on gangs, talk of punitive measures which may deter future riots, but nothing that can take away from the fact that this government are planning to abolish the one public body with a proven track record in reducing youth crime – the Youth Justice Board.

The statistics speak volumes – between 2005 and 2010, the number of first time young offenders fell 40%. Over a similar period, there was a 35% drop in offences committed by young people. And the number of under-18s in the prison population dropped 40% from 2000 to 2010. When you bear in mind the cost of keeping a young person in Secure Training Centre can be up to £160,000 a year, not only did this success lead to a huge financial savings, it also lead to fewer victims with the reductions in misery this entails. These are remarkable achievements to such an extent that it has even been possible to take out of service some secure accommodation for young people because of falling demand.

These achievements can, in part, be ascribed to the dedicated focus Labour gave to youth justice. Back in 1998, we created the Youth Justice Board (YJB), providing the youth justice system with much needed leadership that had previously been lacking. Free of the fluctuations of daily politics, it focused solely on what was in the best interests of youth justice and allowed it to, amongst other things, commission custody places in an efficient and effective manner.

It worked in partnership with another success of our youth justice system – Youth Offender Team (YOTs). In 2000, 157 of these were created in all local areas, bringing together local education, health and police services in order to focus on getting young people on track and addressing offending behaviour. There is a general acceptance across the field that YOTs have proven to be a success – albeit all are under increased financial pressures – and the YJB has performed a key role in co-ordinating the spread of best practice amongst the teams.

However, the enormous strides since 1997 are under threat. In their dogmatic bonfire of the quangos, the coalition government in their wisdom have determined the YJB should go up in flames. Unsurprisingly, given the successful track record of the YJB, an array of organisations have leapt to the defence of the Board – amongst others, the Prison Reform Trust, the Magistrates Association, the Association of Directors of Childrens’ Services, Catch 22, the Children’s Society and the Association of Chief Police Officers. But the government has simply dismissed the expert views of these groups and persist in their desire to see the board abolished.

The reasons behind the original creation of the YJB are as valid today as they were in 1998. In fact, given this summer’s disturbances, it could be argued that the work of the Board is even more important. That is why the decision to abolish it is simply bizarre. A government placing ideology over what has proven to improve the safety of communities is a dangerous precedent. The YJB has a record of success – arms length from government, unencumbered of the day-to-day fickleness of party politics, able to focus on what matters most. The real fear is that youth justice will simply be swallowed up and lose its identity in the wider work of the Ministry of Justice.

The peculiar thing is that none of the YJB functions will be abolished. It will simply be enveloped by the Ministry of Justice – all to save, as the department’s own impact assessment reveals, just £250,000 per annum. Yet, the National Audit Office has calculated the financial cost of youth offending is a staggering £11billion a year. This is a catastrophic misjudgement, and is nothing to do with deficit reduction.

Already, colleagues in the House of Lords have voted once to retain the YJB, and have been overruled by this out of touch government. On the today, the House of Lords have another opportunity to vote to save the Board from abolition, and we continue to urge them to oppose this Government’s ill-thought out proposals on youth justice.

Sadiq Khan MP is the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice.