Big interview: Equal rights for Welsh justice - Steve Williams chair, Youth Offending Team Managers Cymru

For the past year, the Youth Justice Board, Home Office, Welsh Assembly Government, Youth Offending Team (YOT) Managers Cymru, and a range of voluntary and statutory organisations have been thrashing out what is expected to be the long overdue blueprint for youth justice in Wales.

For Steve Williams, outgoing chair of YOT Managers Cymru and manager of Torfaen and Monmouthshire YOT, the strategy represents the next step towards a fully co-ordinated youth justice policy in Wales.

"Unlike England, preventative funding for youth offending teams in Wales is not ring-fenced," he says. He explains that, as in England, core YOT funding is derived from local partnership agencies, but preventative funds in England are channelled via the Children's Fund, while in Wales money is channelled through Children's Services Partnerships' Cymorth strategies.