One step forward, one step back?
Coalition policy on young people in
conflict with the law
Dr Jonathan Ilan, Lecturer in Criminology
SSPSSR, University of Kent
Present Structures
‘The New Youth Justice’ (Goldson et al., 2000)
• Inherited from New Labour
• Formalised
– Regimented
– Actuarial / Managerial
• ‘Risk’ orientated: ASSET
• Multi-agency
– Ubiquitous
• Well resourced
• Slightly reconfigured
New
Labour’s
Policy
Avalanche
1998 Crime and Disorder Act
1999 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act
2000 Criminal Justice and Court Services Act
2000 Youth Inclusion Programme
2000 Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act
2001 Criminal Justice and Police Act
2001 Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme
2002 Police Reform Act
2003 Anti-Social Behaviour Act
2003 Criminal Justice Act
2004 Children Act
2004 Youth Inclusion and Support Panels
2005 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act
2005 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act
2006 Police and Justice Act
2006 Respect Action Plan
2007 Offender Management Act
Source: Muncie, 2009: 313-4
2008 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act
2008 Youth Crime Action Plan
Changing Paradigms
Old
Welfare
Crim. Justice
Incarceration
Youth offending
New
Welfare
Crim. Justice
Incarceration
Youth offending
‘Net-widening &
mesh-tightening’
(Cohen, 1985)
Detention
(Source: Muncie, 2009: 343)
Fine-tuning?
• Change in
policing targets
• Increasing move
to ‘triage’ & noncriminal
disposals
Source: Green Paper Evidence Report: Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment,
Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders, 2010: 38.
Coalition Policy Pt. 1
Dec 2010 Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment,
Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders
• Mooted abolition of the Youth Justice Board
• Free & empower Local Authorities
– Sending them the bill for incarceration
•
•
•
•
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End rigidity of out-of-court disposals: ‘the conveyor belt’
Increase the use of restorative justice
Simplify sanctions
Lighter touch regulation of YJ system
Focus on beneficial results: reduce first time entrants &
custody numbers as well as reoffending
• Introduction of payment by results
Coalition Policy Pt. 2
• Incarceration as opposed to community sanctions in the
wake of the riots
• Payment by results shelved for youth justice
• Youth Justice Board retained
• Responsiblisation of Local Authorities to ‘realise’ vision
– Interaction with YJB?
– Where increasingly footing the bill will diversion and restorative
justice become more prevalent.
Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of
Offenders Bill
• Replaces the reprimand and warnings system
with a system of youth cautions (potentially with
conditions)
• More police discretion
• More local authority discretion (& financial input)
• Courts empowered to issue a non-criminal
disposal for first offence – more court discretion
• LA must treat those leaving detention as LACs
• 17 yr olds cannot be treated as adults for
detention
Conclusions
• Coalition policies on youth justice are in many
ways more progressive than those of New Labour.
• But the future is uncertain!
– Localism: Elected Policing & Crime Commissioners?
– Political capital behind Clarke & reform agenda?
– Creeping privatisation? Quality & value?
– Cuts to national services & local authority budgets
– Youth unemployment & regressive policies
– Cuts to education & general youth service provision
– Growing inequalities
• Spectre of malign neglect