YOTs to take on young offender curfew monitoring

On 1 June responsibility for monitoring young offenders on curfew-only Youth Rehabilitation Orders (YRO) will transfer from the Electronic Monitoring Service to youth offending teams (YOTs).

But according to the Youth Justice Board (YJB), the Department for Communities and Local Government has “concluded that the costs are minimal and can be absorbed by local authorities without any transfer of resources”.

This follows a review into the cost implications of the move carried out by the YJB, the National Probation Service and the Electronic Monitoring Service.

According to the YJB, the decision is to be reviewed in 18 months. “Should evidence emerge that the burden is higher than expected, then the YJB and the Ministry of Justice will reconsider the position and ensure that appropriate funding is provided to local authorities,” it added.

But Association of Youth Offending Team Managers chair Gareth Jones questioned why councils will not receive payment for monitoring curfews.

He said: “It is interesting how the Ministry of Justice has been able to pay a private contractor to do this but when it moves to the public sector there is no additional cost.”

Last year, Capita took over the government’s electronic tagging contract for the next six years. The outsourcing firm took over from G4S and Serco, who lost the contacts following overcharging allegations.

While the transition takes place the National Probation Service has taken over temporary responsibility for curfew monitoring.  

Latest figures show that across England and Wales in 2013/14 there were 2,635 young people with a curfew in place. This is 15 per cent of the 18,031 YROs handed out during that year.