Giving local authorities control of the existing £279 million annual budget for child custody would cut crime and reduce the number of children in jail, according to a Prison Reform Trust plan published today on the tenth anniversary of the Youth Justice Board.
The plan, contained in a report entitled ‘Criminal Damage’, comes just days before the Government’s youth crime action plan is expected to be published and calls for a radical reform of the failing youth justice system which this year missed its key target to cut the number of children behind bars in England and Wales.
The Youth Justice Board (YJB), established in 1998 to lead the Government’s drive to cut youth crime, had set itself a target to reduce by 10 per cent the number of children in custody between 2005 and 2008 but figures published earlier this year revealed it had failed. Instead it had presided over an 8 per cent increase, with more than 3,000 children in jail in April 2008 and the number expected to rise further this year.
The Prison Reform Trust plan calls for the transfer of control of the national budget for child custody from the YJB to local authorities - who already control budgets for non-custodial sentences - because local authorities would have a greater incentive to prevent offending and to offer robust alternatives to custody if they had to foot the bill for every child in their area who goes to jail. Under this measure the YJB would continue to manage children’s jails, but stronger links would be forged between the YJB and the local authorities from which the children come.
The report reveals that, despite the official policy of only jailing children in exceptional circumstances, many children in jail have not committed serious or violent offences. At least one third are locked up for non-violent crimes like breaking ASBOs or theft. In 2006, 286 children were imprisoned for motoring offences, 192 for drug offences, 26 for fraud and forgery and 2 for drunkenness1.
The number of children sentenced to custody in England and Wales more than tripled between 1991 and 2006 and the UK now has highest proportion of children in custody in Western Europe.
The report also publishes for the first time the full findings of an ICM poll revealing that the public believe locking up children is damaging and counterproductive. The poll, of over 1,000 people across the UK conducted on behalf of SmartJustice, reveals:
- Almost two thirds of people (62 per cent) believe prisons are ‘universities of crime’;
- Two thirds of people (65 per cent) believe imprisoning children for non-violent crimes is ineffective;
- Over eight out of ten people (84 per cent) say the most effective way of reducing re-offending by young drug addicts is by making them do compulsory work in the community as well as requiring them to undergo drug treatment.
Penelope Gibbs, director of the Prison Reform Trust’s Programme to Reduce Child and Youth Imprisonment, said:
“In England and Wales we imprison more children than any other country in Western Europe and yet show no signs of getting a grip on the numbers. The children we lock up today become tomorrow’s long term prisoners. There are children as young as twelve imprisoned for non-violent offences. Children do need to understand the often devastating effect of their crimes, but jail is not the answer. Our survey proves the public don’t believe locking up children works.”
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:
“How long are we going to put up with children’s depressing journey from family breakdown, school exclusion and local authority care through to prison, homelessness, unemployment and more crime when there are ways to intervene at every stage to enable young people to get their lives back on track?”
The Prison Reform Trust plan proposes 12 ways to reduce the number of children imprisoned in England and Wales. The plan is part of the Prison Reform Trust’s five year programme to reduce child and youth imprisonment, which is supported by The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. Other measures in the Prison Reform Trust plan include:
- Greater use of police and Crown Prosecution Service discretion and restorative justice schemes to stop the criminalisation of troubled children;
- Banning the imprisonment of under-18 year olds for non-violent offences;
- Requiring local authorities to do more to understand and take action to prevent the high numbers of children in their care ending up in custody - 30 per cent of imprisoned children have been in local authority care.
ENDS
Download the briefing below.
To arrange interviews or for further information, please contact Penelope Gibbs, Director of the Programme to Reduce Child and Youth Imprisonment on 07906098686, Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, on 07762093105 or Imran Hussain, Head of Policy and Communications on 07870216095
NOTES
[1] Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2006 Supplementary table 7.14.
[2] Three quarters of under-18 year olds locked up are re-convicted within a year of their release.
[3] 29 children have died in penal custody since 1990; most by suicide but one following restraint by staff.
[4] More facts about children in custody are contained in the Prison Reform Trust’s June 2008 Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile
[5] The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund continues the Princess's humanitarian work in the UK and overseas. By giving grants to organisations, championing charitable causes, advocacy, campaigning and awareness-raising, the Fund works to secure sustainable improvements in the lives of the most vulnerable people in the UK and around the world. In 2007, the Fund committed to supporting the Prison Reform Trust’s programme to reduce child and youth imprisonment for five years. | 
