Interview: Youth justice's saviour? - Frances Done, chair, Youth Justice Board
Alison Bennett
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
It may have taken a year to replace outspoken chair Rod Morgan, but in February Frances Done did just that.
Taking over the reins at the Youth Justice Board (YJB) at a time when youth custody figures are close to an all-time high was never going to be an easy task, especially for an outside, but Done has slipped quietly into the role.
In one of her first interviews since taking over, Done refused to talk in depth about some of the more contentious issues, such as her views on the use of restraint and the problems at Oakhill Secure Training Centre. However, Done says she wants young people to receive better support in the community as part of a preventive approach to crime.
"One thing we need to get moving on is more successfully making sure young people who need support, for example with education, employment and training and mental health, get it," she says. "We need to make sure those resources are there on the day they need them. It's a top priority for me and I'm keen to work with local government on a national leadership level."
Done is tight-lipped over CYP Now's revelations that the YJB's chief executive, Ellie Roy, is leaving on Done's orders due to a conflict of interest between her job and her marriage to Phil Wheatley, director-general of the National Offender Management Service - despite a source claiming otherwise (CYP Now, 14-20 May).
"No one is leaving under my orders," says Done. "The situation with Ellie is that she's finishing a four-year secondment." Done hopes to have a new chief executive in place by January at the latest and is in talks about interim arrangements, which she cannot elaborate on.
She is also pragmatic about rumours of rows between Justice Secretary Jack Straw and Children's Secretary Ed Balls. She says the fact the YJB answers to two government departments with very different priorities means there are bound to be disagreements. "I haven't seen any rows but I would expect different perspectives between the justice and children's secretaries," she says.
With the government-ordered review of restraint due to report later this month, Done is clear restraint should be a last resort but says the review gives an opportunity for clarity across the board.
"I'm supportive of the review because we have three different types of secure accommodation with three different approaches to restraint," she says. "There needs to be an overview and we hope that, whatever the conclusions, they will allow there to be more consistency in the approaches."
Raising awareness of everyone's role in tackling youth crime is also high on Done's agenda. "There's a big challenge to get the wider world out there to see youth offending as everyone's responsibility," she says. "It's a big mission that we need to undertake, which we haven't managed before. There's a tendency to think other people have to solve youth crime."
Preventing young people from turning to crime is another key plank of the YJB's work and last October it recruited Andy Newsam as its group offending, gangs and weapons strategy manager. Done says his team has been working with youth offending and children's services in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and the East Midlands to tie up information on gang activity.
She also says youth offending teams and police have been working together to prevent young people from rival gangs being placed in the same establishments, in a bid to stop tensions simmering inside. "We have to place young people and we don't want to replicate gang rivalry," she says. "We can't avoid it if we don't have the information."
BACKGROUND FRANCES DONE'S CAREER HISTORY
- Frances Done was appointed chair of the Youth Justice Board for three years in February 2008
- She previously trained as a chartered accountant and worked for accounting and consulting firm KPMG for nine years
- She served as a councillor on Manchester City Council for 13 years and has held senior posts as treasurer and chief executive of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council
- Done has been managing director for local government at the Audit Commission and was director general of the Royal British Legion until October 2007
- Her most recent role was honorary chair of The Waterways Trust, which promotes the benefits of the waterways.