LAYJ Newsletter

This is the first of what, it is hoped, will be a very occasional newsletter to compensate for the fact that the July meeting of the Association was cancelled as a result of industrial action. It contains some of the information that would have been circulated at that meeting.

Thursday 15 August – 2.30pm Main discussion topic:

Progress of Referral Orders

September – NAYJ conference – no London meeting

Tuesday 15^th October – 2.30pm

Discussion topic to be confirmed

Monday 11^th November – 2.30pm

Discussion topic to be confirmed

16^th December – Nacro/ LAYJ Conference

No London Meeting

All meetings at The Coram Family Headquarters 49 Mecklenburgh Square, LONDON WC1N 2QA

(Can be tricky to find – ring Tim Bateman 020 7840 6436 or

Lis Davies 020 8345 5557 for directions)

Nearest tubes – Russell Square / Kings Cross / Euston

At the last meeting during the discussion on the street crime initiative, the issue of how much of the issue was media generated. An article has subsequently appeared in Safer Society (Nacro’s magazine) looking at the history of moral panics which has some relevance to that discussion. Safer Society is available from Nacro on 020 7582 6500.

Information from a variety of sources has been published in the last month which has a bearing on our knowledge about the level of crime and reoffending.

1. The Home Office has published ‘Crime in England and Wales 2001/ 2002’ which for the first time brings together data for recorded crime (that is police statistics) and the British Crime Survey (where members of the public are asked about their experience of crime). Both types of data have drawbacks: the first because a large proportion of crime is not reported to the police and so cannot be recorded (generally thought to be around 50%); the latter only generates information on crime against individuals rather than commercial bodies and does not look at the experiences of those under 16 – so misses a lot of youth crime.

Recorded crime is up over the past year by 2% overall. However, new procedures for police recording are thought to account for most of that increase. At the level of individual offences however there is a large rise in robbery (about 28%) – though this still accounts for just 2% of all crime – and a fall in violent and sexual offences.

The British Crime Survey (BCS) by contrast shows a decline in crime by about 2% - with the chances of being a victim of offending lower than they have been since 1981 when the BCS started.

The best way of interpreting the overall picture is probably that crime has stabilised after a decade of falling but that there is a worrying increase in some forms of street crime.

‘Crime in England and Wales 2001/ 2002’ is available free from the Home Office on 020 7273 084.

2. The Home Office has also published research looking a reoffending rates for young people which has generated headlines such as ‘Youth reoffending rates slashed by 14.6%’. The research entitled ‘One Year Juvenile Reconviction Rates’ is available only on the internet and according the LAYJ’s maths actually shows a fall in reconviction rates of between 4.2% and 4.6%. Moreover the results vary according to the disposal type: reoffending rates following court disposals have not fallen at all. Some sentences do better than others – thus the conditional discharges perform better than reparation and action plan orders and supervision orders show a rise in reoffending. Moreover reprimands do as well as final warnings – suggesting overall that any reduction is unlikely to be as a result of YOT interventions.

3. The YJB’s Annual Review also contains some data of reoffending. It suggests that:

Splash schemes have reduced ‘juvenile nuisance’ by 16%, drug offences by 25% and motor crime by 11%. (The LAYJ notes with interest that this contrasts markedly with Home Office research released this week –admittedly dealing with an earlier year - which shows that only one of the three projects for which data was available showed a fall in crime and, in that area, the report says ‘It is possible that doing to engage young people … could have a beneficial effect… In the remaining two sites, no impact on crime and disorder was associated with additional funding’ for Splash.)

Parenting orders are successful with a reduction of a third in reoffending by the children of those parents attending

The LAYJ is impressed but wonders why, given this massive impact on youth crime, the latest figures suggest that it stable having been in decline for many years before the reforms were implemented.

While we are on the subject of the Board’s review, it contains the Board’s plans for future development. These include:

§ YOTs establishing multi agency at risk panels for very, young children (8 – 13 years) who are considered to be at risk of offending

§ Pressing for ‘modest changes’ to the sentencing framework. These modest changes would involve abolition of the conditional discharge, attendance centre order, supervision order, community rehabilitation order, community punishment order, community punishment and rehabilitation orders, curfew orders and exclusion orders.

The only community sentences remaining would be an action plan order extended up to 12 months and a new Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Order for a minimum of a year with intensive supervision for a minimum of 6 months.

The Conference is to be held on 16^th December at a cost of £45 per delegate or £35 for bookings of 4 or more.

Speakers and seminar leaders are now confirmed – see relevant page on this site for draft programme. The line up is – we think – pretty impressive. Offers of workshops are still being sought. Anyone interested, please contact Tim Bateman on 020 7840 6436.

The Observer newspaper has launched a campaign on child custody with a 5 point manifesto –

3. Repeal of Section 130 of Criminal Justice and Court Services Act which relaxes criteria for custodial / secure remands

The campaign has been well received and support has been pledged by a number of organisations including Nacro, NSPCC, the Children’s Society (who have been involved in developing the campaign), the Howard League, the NAYJ and, of course, the LAYJ. The addition of the latter should tip the balance.

A recent case might lead to changes in the way that decisions about refusing jurisdiction are made for kids under 15 years of age. Previous case law has held that the determining factor is whether the sentencing court ought to have sentencing powers not available in the youth court jurisdiction ought to be refused. In the case of those over 15 that means more than 2 years; in the case of those under 15 it can mean any custodial sentence if a DTO is not available (that is for 10 –11 year olds and non persistent 12 – 14 year olds).

The new case suggests however that this is the wrong approach. The test should generally be whether more than 2 years ought to be available to the sentencing court even if no custodial sentence is available in the youth court. This is the second case in recent months confirming the same position – although they do both involve the same judge, currently being criticised at the Court of Appeal by Mike Mansfield, the barrister acting for Barry George convicted of killing Jill Dando.

The LAYJ hopes that the case will set a precedent and encourages YOT staff to draw it to the attention of local courts. Report of the case, from the Justice of the Peace attached

It was reported last month that the LPA is in the middle of a massive financial crisis. This is in fact untrue - it is rather a ‘challenging financial position’ and staff are not allowed to us the ‘c’ word. It appears that while the situation in London is worse than elsewhere the crisis – sorry challenging financial position – is affecting the probation service nationally. In London there are currently 9 vacancies for probation officers within YOTs. Four of these will not be filled but the remaining 5 will be advertised. |

1. Nacro has published a new report: Violent Crime: Reconfiguring the Debate. Available from Nacro on 020 7852 6500

2. The Home Office (Research Findings 173) has recently published a survey of prisoners nearing release which shows that 76% do not have a job to go to and 33% had no accommodation. Available on the Home Office website on: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/r173.pdf

3. The Home Office (Research Findings 171) has also published research on patterns of offending behaviour which suggests young people commit different types of offences on average from older offenders and that reconviction rates vary according to types of offending. Thus ‘versatile’ young males are much less likely to reoffend than those who commit violent offences or vehicle crime. Available on Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/r171.pdf

1. LAYJ / Nacro Conference – Working in the Youth Justice System – 16^th December – London. Details on this site or call Tim Bateman on 020 7840 6436.

2. NAYJ 3 day Conference – Misspent or Misjudged – 17^th – 19^th September – Shropshire. Details on NAYJ website on: www.nayj.org.uk

3. Nacro / Children Law UK one day Conference – Reducing custodial sentencing for young offenders: The European Experience. Details from Nacro on 020 7582 6500.

Agenda items or apologies for the next meeting at Coram Family on 15 August to Lis Davies on 020 8345 5557 or Tim Bateman on 020 7840 6436.

LAYJ Newsletter Number 1 – July 2002

(please ensure full circulation within your team)