Government U-turn on scrapping of Youth Justice Board

The government has reversed its decision to scrap the Youth Justice Board (YJB).

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced the YJB will no longer be included in the Public Bodies Bill, currently going through parliament, which is often referred to as the government’s “bonfire of the quangos”.

The abolition of the YJB has been the subject of a “ping-pong” debate between the House of Lords and the House of Parliament. The Lords insisted it should be removed from the bill and remain an independent government agency. Peers claimed its continued success in reducing youth offending would be endangered by moves to absorb it into the MoJ.

Yesterday, a report from the justice select committee refused to comment one way or another on the proposed abolition but recommended a number of safeguards be put in place if the abolition went ahead.

Today an MoJ spokesperson said: “Following careful consideration we have decided not to pursue the abolition of the YJB as part of the Public Bodies Bill. However, we still believe that youth justice system should be reformed to make it more efficient and directly accountable to ministers.

“Further details will be announced in due course.”

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Guide to the role of the Youth Justice Board and youth offending teams