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Too many young people are being drawn into crime, says Labour, which has published a Youth Justice White Paper.
While the 90-page document says that all crime is unacceptable and that so-called โlow-levelโ crime and anti-social behaviour can be devastating for victims and communities, it proposes a focus on ‘key areas of harm’: knife crime, VAWG (violence against women and girls) and terrorism. Subtitled ‘youth justice system reform and delivery plan’, it says on out-of-court resolutions (OOCRs) that ‘the current approach to diversion is falling short’, and ‘we must not see a return to the empty warnings and insufficient grip that has typified too many out-of-court resolutions’.
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy, said: “These reforms lay the foundation to intervene far earlier, support families, and tackle the drivers of offending so fewer young people become trapped in cycles of crime, creating safer streets and fewer victims.”
Among the proposals are ‘a fundamental look at the function and purpose of criminal courts for children’, and a trial of new problem-solving Youth Intervention Courts.
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Welcoming the White Paper, Ben Firth, a Policy Researcher at the think-tank Centre for Young Lives, said: “It recognises the problems. Delivering solutions is now essential.”
Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair of the Bar Council, gave a caveat that funding must be sufficient and must not lag behind. She said:ย โThere needs to be a shift from criminalisation โ which long has been shown to set a child onto a path of crime โ to rehabilitation. Protecting society and protecting childhood should not be competing aims and children should not be defined as criminals at a very young age.”
And for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Danielle Stone, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire, said: “PCCs already commission many of the services identified in the White Paper as essential to delivery, including prevention, early intervention and diversion initiatives. To realise these reforms, the government must ensure sustained, long-term ring-fenced funding for these locally delivered services, including beyond the planned changes to PCC arrangements in 2028.โ
