Youth offending team managers are set to put pressure on MPs and peers to abolish the minimum length of antisocial behaviour orders for under-18s.
The Association of Yot Managers unanimously agreed at their annual meeting last week to lobby in Parliament for an end to the requirement that all Asbos last a minimum of two years, irrespective of an offender’s age.
Speaking to 0-19 after the meeting, association chair Pauline Batstone said: “Children change so quickly, and two years is such a long time.
“For some young people, the shock of the order can be enough to cause change. What we don’t want is for young people to be labelled as having an Asbo then having problems finding employment later on. We don’t want them to be further excluded.”
Batstone said that, if a total abolition was unachievable, a reduction in the minimum length to three months would still be a vast improvement on the current situation and would bring Asbos in line with other community penalties.
Reducing the length of Asbos would result in fewer breaches and therefore fewer young people in custody, she added.
The Yot managers also agreed unanimously to lobby MPs and peers over changes to current arrangements for dealing with young people who are convicted of an offence listed under Schedule 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
Batstone said that, under existing rules, a child could end up on the Schedule 1 Offenders List for the rest of their life for hitting another child in a playground.
The association wants only children and young people who present a significant and continuing risk to other children and young people to be placed on a register, and for registration arrangements to be subject to regular review.
