Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Acknowledged
The Ministry told us that it is focused on early intervention to improve outcomes for...
Conclusion
The Ministry told us that it is focused on early intervention to improve outcomes for children.75 We asked the Ministry how it knows what works in terms of diverting children away from the youth justice system.76 It informed us that it is working closely with the Youth Justice Board and youth offending teams on what community provision and diversion looks like.77 It pointed to funding of £60 million a year for the Turnaround programme—an early intervention scheme for children in the community—and told us that the evidence these diversionary activities are working could be seen in the long-term decline in the number of children entering custody.78 However, the Ministry does not have good data to understand the reasons for this reduction in full, including the extent which it is due to a reduction in crime or more children been diverted from formally entering the youth justice system.79 The Ministry and HMPPS acknowledged that it is both hard, but important, to evaluate diversionary tactics because of the absence of a counterfactual.80
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of early intervention and community-based support, referencing the 9.8% uplift in funding to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) and the new ‘Turnaround’ programme.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2.3 In May 2022, the government announced a substantial investment in early intervention and community-based support. The Ministry of Justice provided a 9.8% uplift in funding to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) in 2022-23 to provide them with the resources and capacity to work with children and address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour. This involves working across other parts of local support services to address issues related to mental health, exclusion from school, an unstable home life or any of the other challenges that can lead to children entering the youth justice system. 2.4 The government also announced a new ‘Turnaround’ programme designed to work with children on the cusp of offending, before they would normally get support from YOTs. 2.5 These steps and other interventions are aimed to reduce the number of children in the youth justice system, particularly in custody.