The government’s white paper, A Smarter Approach to Sentencing, sets out a number of proposed changes to the way the criminal justice system deals with child offenders.
The general thrust of reforms in the sentencing white paper is for longer sentences handed out and served for children convicted of serious crimes, and greater monitoring for those living in the community on licence.
Other proposals will change how youth offending services and children’s services practitioners work with young people.
Serious offences
The paper states that it is important that custodial sentences reflect the seriousness of their offending “for the very small number of children for whom custody is necessary”. It adds that reform is necessary to improve the “coherence” of sentences and ensure that courts “have the tools they need to pass appropriate sentences that properly reflect the seriousness of offending”. It proposes to:
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