Labour to extend youth offending team support to older young people

Speaking at the Youth Justice Board annual convention, Sadiq Khan said successes in reducing first-time entrants to the youth justice system and reducing the number of under-18s in custody could be replicated for young adults.

The idea was originally mooted by the previous Labour government and featured in the party’s 2001 election manifesto, but failed to materialise.

Khan argued that it was time to look at the concept afresh, citing statistics showing that the majority of first offences happen before the age of 24.

“If we can prevent people offending by the time they are 24 we have won it,” he said. “The basic multi-agency approach appears to be working for under 18s. Not only has youth crime reduced, but youth custody as well. ?

“Why not consider it for those who are a bit older? My forebears chose 20-years-old. I’m even more ambitious. Maybe we could go a bit older.”

Khan criticised the coalition government’s direction on youth justice, describing the desire to introduce payment-by-results schemes as “ill-judged”.

He said that Labour launched a pilot into payment-by-results in the criminal justice system, to ascertain evidence that it could work.

“I believe that was a sensible thing to do because nowhere in the world had a record of payment-by-results in justice,” he said.

“Chris Grayling [the Justice Secretary] has decided it works, has cancelled pilots and is not waiting for the evaluation of other pilots. I believe he is taking a gamble and a risk with public safety.”

Khan also condemned government plans for all prisoners to have access to a mentor when they are released from custody to help them get their life back on track.

“Committing to providing rehabilitation support to every single prisoner risks over-stretching programmes and undermining effectiveness,” he said.

“I intend to develop policies that reflect the values of myself and the party and are rooted in evidence. I don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver. That is a recipe for disaster in the criminal justice world.”