Youth Justice Board could face axe as government seeks to slash costs
Neil Puffett
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is at risk of being axed under the new Conservative-led government, it has been claimed.
On the back of last week's announcement that Tory veteran Ken Clarke will take the reins as Justice Secretary, a former YJB member said he believes the board's existence is up in the air.
Rob Allen, who now works as an academic, said Clarke may have been appointed to oversee cuts within the department.
"I suspect the YJB might be at risk," he said, pointing to the Tories' plans to abolish quangos. "It is possible that, certainly as far as the Ministry of Justice is concerned, Ken Clarke has been brought in to look hard at savings in that area.
"He is not a politician who needs to be popular as he is near the end of his career.
"Certainly I think there's a feeling that he might be there to slash and burn."
A review of the YJB, published in March this year, made a total of 23 recommendations for how it should be run in the future.
At the time, it was claimed that the review could be part of a plan by the then Labour government to scupper Conservative plans to break up the agency.
Concerns have also been raised over a pledge in the Conservative manifesto to introduce mandatory sentences for knife crime convictions by Labour MP for Nottingham Graham Allen, a strong supporter of early intervention policies.
It is feared the Conservative pledge to hand out tougher sentences for knife crime would lead to a surge in numbers of young people in custody.
"We pay judges to make sentencing decisions based on the evidence before the court," said Allen. "It is always a bad move for politicians to second guess that."
Figures released last month show that the under-18 custody population stands at 2,074, the lowest level in a decade and more than 500 down on last year.
Mark Day, head of policy at the Prison Reform Trust, said the Liberal Democrat and Conservative manifestos contained some welcome youth justice proposals including intervening early with young people. "We hope they will survive the political horse-trading of the coalition deal," he said.
The YJB declined to comment on the potential impact of the new government.
