Devolving custody costs requires further exploration, says government report

The government response to the Justice Select Committee's report Cutting crime: the case for justice reinvestment, said there is a "strong case" for exploring greater devolution of custodial budgets across the entire secure estate, but referred to it as a "complex process".

Devolving the cost of custody has risen to the top of the youth justice agenda after the Youth Justice Board (YJB) backed the idea.

YJB chair Frances Done has argued it would remove "perverse incentives" in the current system whereby the cost of prevention work is funded by local authorities while custody is not. She is now proposing a three-year trial involving one or two groups of local authorities.

The government response said a change to the current system would require initial investment to enable local authorities to bring down levels of custody prior to its introduction. It would also require greater engagement between local authorities and the courts.

"We are not convinced that simply making local authorities pay for custodial places represents the most constructive means of redistributing resources," the response stated.

"We do not believe that this will be either possible or acceptable unless some money is invested up-front to enable local authorities to reduce the use of custody in their area.

"There is support for local partners to share money and invest in jointly funded services if there is some initial pump-priming.

"Devolution of custodial budgets must therefore be viewed as a longer-term goal."

The response adds that, in respect of youth custody, government would need to "understand the potential risks and benefits of transferring financial responsibility". "We consider that this kind of policy change would need careful, controlled testing."

In a statement Frances Done, said the YJB has submitted a proposal to ministers for a pathfinder scheme to test out the potential for local authorities to be responsible for their own custody budgets.

"We believe that when ministers have the opportunity to weigh up the advantages and the risks involved they will be persuaded that the proposal to test the approach through a pathfinder scheme is worthy of support," she added.