Analysis: Youth justice - Prevention schemes on knife-edge

Crime prevention programmes go hand in hand with keeping young people out of prison. So it was an interesting quirk of fate that the Youth Justice Board announced the secure estate was full in the same week that the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers (AYM) wrote to the government to voice concerns about crime prevention funding running out after March 2008 (CYP Now, 12-18 September).

Responsibility for the YJB is shared between the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), but there have been whispers that the two departments are fighting for control, leading to a failure to decide on future funding.

Mike Thomas, chair of the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers (AYM), believes conflict between government departments is causing the delay. "You have (children's secretary) Ed Balls saying he decided to readvertise the position of YJB chair because he wants someone with a grounding in prevention, when they can't make their minds up which area is whose responsibility," he says. "It's impacting on us because decisions aren't being made or are being deferred. With respect to Graham Robb, he is the interim chair of the YJB and will be restricted in terms of how he can take it forward."

A YJB spokeswoman says: "Targeted prevention programmes have made a major contribution to tackling youth crime and protecting communities and it is essential that successful local programmes continue," she says. "We are concerned that successful projects may close - and that skilled staff may leave - if funding is not confirmed as soon as possible."

Adrian Quinn, service manager at Bristol youth offending team, says a lack of clarity from the government means concern about the absence of prevention funding is a national problem. "Prevention projects in the city are subject to considerable uncertainty about funding from 2008/09 onwards depending on whether they continue to receive Neighbourhood Renewal funding and resources from the Children's Fund or not," he says.

"The issue is not a local one but a problem across the country with the same uncertainties for all prevention projects. These uncertainties are caused by central government delaying decisions regarding the next public spending round covering 2008 to 2011 until this autumn."

In a letter to the government the AYM estimates 35,000 young people across England and Wales are involved in prevention programmes and could potentially enter the criminal justice system when funding starts to fall short.

The problem of prevention budgets runs wider, as numerous workers in the voluntary sector have discovered to their cost. Cash-strapped councils have been accused of cutting prevention budgets as a "quick fix", meaning the true implications could be disastrous in years to come.

Paul Cavadino, chief executive of crime reduction charity Nacro, says the fact that courts send too many young people to custody already will be exacerbated by the lack of prevention projects. "If there are fewer resources for prevention and larger numbers of young people offending, that all adds further pressure on the custodial system," he explains. "Unless there's a change in the court process it will break into an increasingly vicious circle."

An MoJ spokeswoman says the National Offender Management Service is working with the YJB to limit the impact of "current population pressures" on the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.

"The National Offender Management Service is closely monitoring the custodial population and continues to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity," she says. She adds that decisions about prevention funding are "currently being considered" as part of the comprehensive spending review. But Thomas says it is not just the lack of general prevention funding that is worrying, but also the lack of cash to prevent reoffending.

"We called for money to be given to youth offending teams that is equal to the prevention work funding," he says. "That way we can reduce reoffending, but it needs the MoJ, DCSF and YJB to say there is money - and it will save money at the end of the day. We know the only way to stop young people going into custody is to come up with effective programmes and that's not just for those at risk of custody but those further down the tariff."

A spokesman for the DCSF was unable to shed any further light on the matter, simply stating: "Decisions about central government spending from April 2008 onwards are currently being considered as part of the comprehensive spending review, which is expected to be published in the autumn."

A YEAR OF YOUTH JUSTICE PROBLEMS

January 2007 - Rod Morgan resigns as chair of the YJB, branding the surge in young people in the system as "swamping"

June 2007 - The Ministry of Justice is created to ease pressure on the Home Office. Responsibility for the YJB now sits within the MoJ

July 2007 - Gordon Brown takes over as Prime Minister and creates the DCSF, which will share responsibility for the YJB

September 2007 - The Association of Youth Offending Team Managers writes to the government stating that 35,000 young people at risk of offending will suffer if it does not give the green light to further prevention funding; the juvenile secure estate reaches full capacity.