Despite a decline in the number of first-time entrants to the youth custody estate nationally over the last decade, numbers in Dorset have increased year-on-year since 2016.
Statistics show 344 young people per 100,000 entered the youth justice system in Dorset for the first time in 2017/18, compared with a national average of 237.
In a report to Dorset Council’s police and crime panel, PCC Martyn Underhill blamed this increase on cuts to youth services across England and Wales.
Citing a recent YMCA report which shows that youth services have lost 70 per cent of funding since 2010/11 - the equivalent of £1.4bn - the report states: “The PCC remains cautious about the current provision of youth services in Dorset and acknowledges the accepted evidence base that has linked this reduction to the challenges of youth offending and serious youth violence (particularly knife crime) that have been the feature of many towns and cities across the country in recent years.”
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