Agenda item

The Council considered a report, introduced by Councillor Chris McGuinness, Cabinet Member for Communities, Voluntary Sector and the Environment, which sought approval of the statutory Youth Justice Plan for 2019/20, covering the work of the Youth Offending Service (YOS) in Doncaster.  The Youth Justice Plan had to be reviewed and considered by Council each year under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, in order to identify how Youth Justice Services would be provided and funded.

It was reported that the Plan set out the resourcing and value for money, performance against last year’s plan, structure, governance and partnership arrangements, and risks to future delivery of the service. The Plan also included the actions and timescales set to develop the service and ensure the best provision for the children and young people of Doncaster.

In addition to the statutory Plan, a Young People’s Youth Justice Plan had also been produced, which was designed to be accessible and understandable for young people and families.  The Plan highlighted some exceptional performance against the targets set in last year’s Plan, particularly for reducing the number of young people entering the Youth Justice System for the first time, and for the use of custody.

It was noted that the success in reducing the number of young people entering the formal Youth Justice System had enabled the service to shift some of its resource further “upstream” into Team EPIC, to work preventatively with those at risk of entering the system.  This meant that more young people could be helped to avoid further offending without them being given a criminal record which could severely restrict their future prospects.

Councillor McGuinness reported that the Youth Justice Plan outlined Doncaster’s performance against the national Youth Justice indicators including:-

·         The re-offending rate;

·         First Time Entrant (FTE) rate;

·         Custody rate;

·         The proportion of young people completing Court Orders who were in education, training and employment; and

·         The proportion of young people completing orders who were living in suitable accommodation.

In welcoming the report, Councillor McGuinness reported that across all of the indicators, the YOS had performed above target, which had seen Doncaster having its lowest first time entry rate (FTE) in its history.  Doncaster’s FTE rate was one of the fastest reducing in England and Wales, and was on the cusp of being within the lowest 10% amongst all areas.  As a result of this, more young people were being diverted away from the formal Youth Justice system.  Those remaining in the system were on average, more entrenched in offending and have more complex needs than previously.  This had brought about a marginal increase in the re-offending rate, as although the number of young people re-offending and the number of further offences they committed had both reduced, the number of young people in the cohort had reduced even more, which meant that the proportion who re-offended was higher.  However, Councillor McGuinness reported that on the annualised re-offending rate, Doncaster remained below the England average.

It was noted that the custody rate had continued to reduce significantly, with only 3 young people subject to custodial sentences in 2018/19.  The YOS had continued to prioritise young people being in suitable accommodation, and a 100% performance had again been achieved against this indicator.

Members’ attention was drawn to page 21 of the Youth Justice Plan, which highlighted the work undertaken to prevent child criminal exploitation across Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster, led by the YOS, which aimed to protect and divert young people who were at risk of this form of exploitation.

In conclusion, Councillor McGuinness reiterated that young people who entered the criminal justice system were at the lowest rate in Doncaster’s history and for those young people that entered in to the system, they received specialist interventions necessary to assist them leading positive and offence free lifestyles.

Following the presentation of the report, Members were afforded the opportunity to comment on the report.

Members welcomed the report, commending the work of the YOS and the excellent progress made, which had demonstrated exceptional performance against the targets set last year, in particular in relation to reducing the number of first time entrants into the Youth Justice System.  Members congratulated the Service for developing a framework that had been recognised nationally as an example of best practice and had been adopted by other areas throughout the country.

Members also gave thanks and highlighted the ongoing work of the Youth Council, which was engaging with and consulting young people across the Borough with regard to key issues of concern, and was also working with various organisations to seek solutions to knife crime.

Councillor Jane Kidd, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee commended the report and referred in particular to those young people who had been supported who were in danger of going in to the criminal justice system, due to issues with speech and language and communication.

RESOLVED that the Youth Justice Plan 2019/20, be approved.