Fewer under-18s entering criminal justice system

Offences by under-18s and the number of young people entering the criminal justice system for the first time fell last year, figures from the Youth Justice Board today show.

The number of crimes declined for the third year running to 277,986, some 17,000 fewer than in 2006-7.

Despite the overall decline, the number of girls committing crimes rose by 10% over the previous three years, while there was a 6% drop in boys’ offences.

There was also a dramatic rise – 32% – in the number of young people dropping out of their Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) last year. The YJB said this could be due to an increase in the number of young people starting the programme as part of the Detention and Training Order licence rather than as part of their bail package, making it more “difficult” for participants to complete it.

Performance targets

Figures on the performance of youth offending teams from 2007-8 show that Yots failed to meet eight of the 12 key performance targets, including on placing young people in education and employment, mental health and substance misuse services and suitable accommodation.

They also failed to reduce the number of young people sentenced to custody. The number rose slightly in 2007-8 to 2,932 compared with 2,914 the year before.

Yots met targets on reducing first-time entrants to the criminal justice system, the use of restorative justice, victim satisfaction and parenting interventions.

More information

YJB Annual Workload Data 2007-8

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