The YJB has today responded to the Prison Reform Trust’s report ‘Criminal Damage’ which calls for the transfer of control of the national budget for child custody from the YJB to local authorities.
A YJB spokesperson said:
“The YJB is committed to reducing the absolute numbers of young people in custody and, in the last eight years, has achieved a reduction in the proportion of sentences which result in young people being committed to custody from 8% to 6%.
“We agree that the costs of custody in relation to each local authority should be transparent but, given the complexity of commissioning secure accommodation for children and young people who offend that is appropriate to their age and needs, there must be careful consideration as to how this can be achieved.
“The new local services performance framework introduced this year will, for the first time, reveal the performance of each local authority area in relation to the proportion of custodial sentences. This will highlight areas where councils with high proportions of young people going into custody need to focus on ensuring that support services are available to young people who offend to prevent unnecessary use of custody.
"In regard to custodial numbers relating to breach, the courts have a duty to act where young people fail to comply with their community orders – the public has a right to expect that young people will be held to account for their behaviour and the way they respond to their community orders.”
Click to see a copy of the report [opens in new window] or to read the news story on the Prison Reform Trust website [opens in new window].