Launched yesterday (13 November) the Youth Justice Unit will develop policy on young offenders and children identified as at risk of committing crimes and work to ensure all children and young people involved in the juvenile justice system achieve the Every Child Matters outcomes.

The unit will direct the work of the Youth Justice Board and will be headed by Diana Luchford. It is jointly controlled by the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), but will be located in the DCSF.

Chris Stanley, head of policy and research at crime reduction charity Nacro, welcomed the launch. "You can't really work with young people who offend unless you also look at the causes of crime. This unit brings education and care together with criminal justice which we see as a big step forward," he said.

But Stanley warned that to make the unit work it was vital ministers, as well as civil servants, worked together and that other departments concerned with children and young people, such as the Department of Health, were also involved.