YJB policy risks unfair sentences

Under the plans, the Scaled Approach policy would see the intensity and duration of an off-ender's community sentence depend on their risk of committing further crimes, as assessed by their Asset score.

Asset scores are based on a checklist of factors that suggest a young person may offend, including mental health needs and a lack of educational attainment. Those with a higher score are judged more likely to commit an offence.

This September, the YJB will publish the Scaled Approach, which is due to come into effect in October 2009. It is part of wider changes to the youth justice system and ties in with the introduction of the youth rehabilitation order (YRO), which will replace all existing juvenile community orders with a set of requirements. Young people with a YRO will have to meet their youth offending team a set number of times based on their Asset score.

But Tim Bateman, senior policy development officer at crime reduction charity Nacro, is concerned. "Think about what will happen to two young people who commit the same offence," he said. "The expectation would be that they get the same interventions. But, under the Scaled Approach, if one had a high Asset score and the other a low one, it will be a different sentence and a higher number of meetings."

He said a high score is likely to mean the young person has more problems, so a larger number of meetings would make them more likely to miss them and breach their order.

David Monk, head of practice framework at the Youth Justice Board, said the Scaled Approach was consulted on widely and would provide interventions tailored to each person's needs.

"There is an advantage to an individual approach," he said. "We don't think a 'one-size-fits-all' attitude is the way to help young people desist from offending." He added that young people needed different levels of supervision, depending on their circumstances and risk of offending.

"The professional judgment of youth justice staff will be setting boundaries and helping children to understand them," he said. "That way Nacro's worst fears won't be realised."