5th Special Report - Young adults in the criminal justice system: Government Response to the Committee’s Eighth Report of Session 2017-19

This is the government's response, published 7 September 2018.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government agrees that young adults have distinct needs but says it will continue to manage them within the adult offender population, while committing to develop approaches within the adult system and to "consider carefully" any future programme of work.

• On extending the detention in a youth offender institution (DYOI) sentence to age 25, the government would not wish to replicate a strict upper age limit; it "will consider the continued utility" of the sentence and will explore whether a coordinated approach within the adult estate might supplement or replace it.
• It is developing a Model for Operational Delivery for young adults and has a scoping project on best practice, which "is due to conclude by late autumn". It will look to consult stakeholders before implementation.
• It states it has "no plans to centrally pilot courts for young adults" and is concerned that piloting specific prosecutors for particular cohorts would cause an imbalance in resources and slow processes for other vulnerable groups.
• It plans a young adult tool kit for pre-sentence advice, with national rollout in Spring 2019, and says the maturity screening work in OASys "should be complete by April 2019".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error