Children held on remand are to be classed as 'looked-after' by councils
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
All young people remanded in custody will have to be recognised as looked-after children by local authorities, under plans to reduce reoffending and shake up the justice system.
The additional responsibility for councils was outlined in the government’s response to a consultation on the sentencing green paper launched last December and set out in the Sentencing and Legal Aid Bill.
Also in the bill are plans for local authorities to become financially responsible for all young people held on remand, in an attempt to reduce numbers.
Meanwhile remand places will only be used where it is necessary to protect the public.
Other reforms in the bill include:
- establishing compliance panels to ensure that young people comply with community sentences
- expanding mental health liaison services for juveniles currently being piloted in six sites to divert children away from police custody and the courts
- making the referral order more restorative for young offenders by increasing the training that is given to referral order panel members
- removing the current restrictions on the repeated use of the order and allowing courts greater flexibility to give a young person who is in court for the first time, and pleads guilty, a conditional discharge as an alternative
- reforming secure remand for young people so that all children under 18 are treated in the same way for remand purposes, rather than treating 17-year-olds as adults
Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said the priority behind the reforms is public protection and cutting crime.
"As well as hard work inside prisons, we will introduce for the first time a focus on the most effective means of reducing reoffending, and have made clear that we will pay providers for services that successfully protect the public from repeat criminals," he said.
Paul McDowell, chief executive of crime reduction charity Nacro, said the proposals provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the criminal justice system by focusing on reducing reoffending, reducing crime and protecting victims.
"Today’s announcements are without doubt a step in the right direction," he said. "We look forward to helping the government achieve its crime reduction goals, and will be working with others in the private, voluntary and public sectors to design new, imaginative and highly effective interventions that will reduce costs and build public confidence in the criminal justice system."
