NO - ROB ALLEN, director, International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College, London
I came to the conclusion after being on the Youth Justice Board's board that the Home Office is the wrong place for young offenders because it's all about punishment and protecting the public from serious offending, which only applies to a small number of young offenders. The best way to prevent offending is to provide good education, support for parents, and access to specialist mental health, which can't be provided by the Home Office.
YES - PAULINE BATSTONE, chair, Association of Youth Offending Team Managers
My personal view is that we should remain with the Home Office but have close links with the Department for Education and Skills. We are a youth justice agency and should report to the Home Office. It's a bad idea to become part of the education department because we would get sucked further into local children's services. We are about preventing offending, whereas children's services are about child protection.
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