Youth Justice Board opposes placing 18 year-olds in young offenders’ institutions

One of the lesser reported statements by the Justice Secretary Alex Norris during his address to Parliament related to young offenders’ institutes. He said that the Government have “made the decision to hold 18-year-olds for longer (on a careful case-by-case basis) in the youth estate.” He said this will be an “interim arrangement”, subject to regular reviews, “that we will look to end as soon as possible”. 

Phil Bowen, Interim Chair of the Youth Justice Board, has expressed concerns about this change of policy, which had not been previously suggested. He stated: “We recognise the significant challenges currently facing the adult prison estate and the difficult decisions that ministers must make in managing prison capacity. However, the safety and welfare of children in custody remain [the Board’s] overriding consideration.

“We are therefore disappointed by the announcement to reverse the policy that prevented 18-year-olds from being held in the secure estate for children. Our oversight work, supported by wider evidence, demonstrates that children and young adults have distinct needs and require different approaches from staff and services. 

“The specialist skills required to support young adults effectively are not yet consistently in place across the children’s estate. Combined with ongoing challenges relating to staffing, the physical environment and the increasingly complex profile of children in custody, there is a real risk that this decision could have unintended consequences for the safety and well-being of both children and staff.”

He said that it is positive that over the last two decades, youth justice has achieved substantial reductions in the number of children entering the system and in the total number held in custody. Those improvements, he added, have not been driven by greater use of coercion or containment, but by a stronger focus on prevention, early intervention, partnership working and understanding the underlying causes of offending behaviour. 

He continued: “At the heart of this has been a commitment to evidence-informed practice and a clear theory of change that recognises offending is often linked to unmet needs, trauma, exclusion, poor mental health, unstable accommodation and a lack of positive relationships and opportunities. As the government considers the future of both youth and adult custody, there is a need for a coherent, evidence-based approach that is operationalised across the whole justice system. 

“This should focus on understanding what works to prevent offending and reoffending, building safer and more constructive environments, and ensuring that policy, commissioning, workforce development and operational delivery are all aligned to those aims,” he concluded, adding that in the Board’s view adding 18-year-olds into the YOI population could damage that progress.

In his parliamentary speech, Mr Norris also announced £4.5m of investment for “robust, community alternatives to locking children up”.