Who should foot the youth custody bill?

10 March 2009 2 mins read Howard Williamson Youth Justice

There has been renewed debate about whether local authorities should be charged when "their" young people are sentenced to custody. Frances Done, chair of the Youth Justice Board (YJB), backed the councils being charged in her recent interview with CYP Now (29 January-4 February).

There is certainly a strange scenario that some of the costs of a non-custodial sentence are picked up by the local authority through the work of the youth offending team and the programmes it is required to deliver, while custodial placements are financed through the YJB. The idea that local authorities should also pay for the latter was first mooted some five years ago.

However, even if the principle may be logical - especially in that it might "incentivise" local authorities to work harder for cheaper alternative community penalties - putting it into practice is rather more complicated. It is certainly not simply a case of transferring some pro rata resources from the YJB to local government. Rates of offending and sentences to custody vary markedly between local authorities.

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits: