Number of young people in custody falls to new low

Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that in July there were 861 under-18s being held in custody - a fall of 3.26 per cent on the 890 being held in June.

The current level now stands at around a quarter (28.03 per cent) of the level of the recent peak, when in June 2008 it stood at 3,072.

However, ethnic disproportionality within youth custody is continuing to rise.

Of the 861 under-18s in custody, 399 are black, Asian, or from an ethnic minority (BAME) background - representing 46.34 per cent of the total, compared with 50.87 per cent who are white, with 2.79 per cent classified as "not known".

Compared with the same month last year, the number of BAME young people has dropped by 21. The number of white young people being held has dropped by 140.

Colin Allars, chief executive of the Youth Justice Board, said: "The number of young people in custody has fallen to its lowest ever level - just 861 were in custody in July, 73 per cent lower than October 2002 when there were 3,200.

"Those working across the whole youth justice sector have delivered a huge reduction in the numbers of children in the system - falling from 147,800 at its peak in 2006/7 to just 37,900 in 2014/15.

"This has significantly reduced the impact of young people's offending on society, their potential victims, and on the young people themselves, as well as helping to deliver savings to the economy."