Youth Detention

Jeremy Wright Excerpts

Monday 25th February 2013 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jeremy Wright)]

Today the Ministry of Justice and the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales are publishing a joint response to a consultation paper issued last year entitled “The new remand framework for children: Allocation of new burdens funding to local authorities”.

The aim of the consultation paper was to seek views from local authorities and other interested parties on our proposals in relation to the funding to be allocated to local authorities following the implementation of the new remand framework for children as provided for by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

The consultation, which ran from 21 September to 16 November 2012, received 107 responses, mainly from local authorities and youth offending teams. In addition, feedback was obtained from over 400 practitioners who attended a series of engagement events linked to the consultation.

The joint response explains how the indicative budget of £20.2 million has been calculated; provides a summary of responses to the consultation exercise and addresses the equality impacts raised during the consultation process. It has been made available on the Justice website. Local authorities will be notified of individual allocations today.

Devolving greater financial responsibility to local authorities for children remanded to youth detention accommodation will create stronger incentives for local authorities to reduce unnecessary remands, develop effective community alternatives and improve outcomes for young people. To improve further the outcomes for young people in custody, the Ministry of Justice published on 14 February a consultation paper. “Transforming Youth Custody: Putting education at the heart of detention”, setting out plans to reduce reoffending, improve education and reduce the costs of youth custody. The consultation period closes on 30 April.

Copies of the response have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The document is also available online, at: www.justice.gov.uk.