Youth custody: Diana fund backs plan to tackle custody crisis

The work is being funded by a grant from the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. It ties in with a resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention last week, which advocates national action plans to reduce the imprisonment of juveniles and to set targets for fewer children in prison. The trust will work with partners including non-governmental organisations and groups of service users.

The strategy will feature an independent inquiry into the treatment of, and conditions for, young prisoners and their families and review the range and effectiveness of alternatives to custody. It will also examine the social and economic costs of youth imprisonment.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the number of young people being sentenced to custody has almost doubled in 10 years and punitive policies and a reliance on imprisonment are "damaging and excluding young people already existing on the edge of society".

Over the next few months, the trust will appoint a programme director and agree initial partnership arrangements.