The publication of the Government White Paper Strong and Prosperous Communities [opens in new window] in October 2006, and the subsequent passing of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 [opens in new window], has swept away many of the current performance management processes at a local area level.
The Act introduced a new streamlined approach, based on key priorities of central and local government, and includes a new framework for local authority delivery, performance reporting and improvement and changes to inspection arrangements.
The major manifestation of these changes has come in the form of the new local area agreements (LAAs), but these will have a major impact on various aspects of the youth justice system and how the YJB monitors its performance in England.
In Wales there is also a drive to streamline and improve the delivery of public services and to enable local areas to concentrate on local priorities. The Welsh Assembly Government’s response to the Beecham Review [opens in new window] and its subsequent policy statement on local government reform, A Shared Responsibility [opens in new window], will lead to changes in the delivery environment for YOTs in Wales. The implications of these changes, as well as the requirements of the devolved policy context, have prompted a review of how the YJB monitors the performance of the youth justice system in Wales. Continue reading this page for information on the revision of our performance monitoring arrangements, and click to read more about the detailed options for Welsh YOTs in light of these changes.
The YJB will continue with its statutory duty to monitor the performance of youth justice services and the system as a whole through new Youth Justice System Performance Management Frameworks for England and Wales. This will eventually replace the current YOT Performance Framework and arrangements for secure estate performance monitoring.
However, it has been agreed with our sponsor departments (Ministry of Justice and Department for Children, Schools and Families) and Communities and Local Government that youth justice performance reporting and monitoring in England must be aligned with the new arrangements for English local authorities.
Amendments to the YOT performance framework
The current performance framework measures performance against set performance indicators, combined with activities designed to drive improvement in practice and compliance with the National Standards for Youth Justice Services.
We have successfully negotiated to have six of the current performance indicators included in the new National Indicator Set.
This means that local areas, through negotiation and where appropriate, can have up to six youth justice performance indicators included in their LAA as improvement targets. We are hoping that this will help to raise the profile of youth justice performance in local authorities in England.
Performance reporting data requirements
For the next financial year (from April 2008), YOTs in England will still be required to report on a quarterly basis to the YJB against the six performance indicators that are now part of the new National Indicator Set, although these will not be scored. The reoffending indicator has been revised, and YOTs will not need to submit reoffending data on 30 April 2008, but must instead submit data by 31 July 2008 for the January-March 2005 cohort, as the baseline for the new measure, according to the revised counting rules.
YOTs will not however be expected to report to the YJB on the remaining performance indicators as they will be discontinued. Locally however, YOTs may wish to continue to collect data on the discontinued indicators but this will be for them to decide with local partners.
YOT Capacity and Capability Assessment
In addition to these changes, we will be amending the planning requirement, EPQA and National Standards reporting, and introducing an annual YOT Capacity and Capability Assessment process. The process will include self-assessment and validation by the YJB regional teams. The process will also include case sampling against criteria set out below and agreeing priorities with YOTs for the following year.
For England, the Capacity and Capability Assessment process will be designed so that the self-assessment and validation can feed into the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) process directly, in order to avoid any duplication of effort on the part of YOTs.
The process will assess the extent to which each YOT Partnership has:
- contributed to reducing the number of children and young people entering the youth justice system, and reducing any disproportionality including BME
- contributed to reducing reoffending by children and young people, and reducing any disproportionality including BME
- contributed to reducing the number of children and young people, sentenced or remanded to custody, and reducing any disproportionality including BME
- effectively managed the risk of harm and risk of serious harm to the public
- contributed to the safeguarding of children and young people
- tried to contribute to improving public confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System
- tried to improve victim satisfaction with the Criminal Justice System.
Click to see a simple diagram of how the process will work [18Kb PDF, opens in new window].
The Capacity and Capability Assessment for Wales will focus on the same elements but will be adjusted to fit different policies, partnerships and inspection regimes.
Click to read about the transition from EPQA to the Capacity and Capability Assessment process.
Implementation
We plan to develop guidance for the Capacity and Capability Assessment, and an examplar, in January 2008, and will be running a series of workshops in all the English regions and Wales throughout February and March 2008. We will aim to have sign-off by YJB regional and Wales staff by the end of June 2008.
The remainder of 2008/09 will be used to plot the process, in collaboration with YOTs, making any necessary amendments and ensuring that the remaining measures are relevant to each local area and support continuous improvement in performance, as well as being aligned to the new LAA reporting process in England, and those for the Children and Young People’s Partnerships in Wales.