Youth Justice News
| Author | Tim Bateman |
| Published date | 01 April 2009 |
| Date | 01 April 2009 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1473225408101434 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
YOUTH JUSTICE NEWS
Copyright © 2009 The National Association for Youth Justice
Published by SAGE Publications
(Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC)
www.sagepublications.com
ISSN 1473–2254, Vol 9(1): 87–96
DOI: 10.1177/1473225408101434
Youth Justice News
Compiled by Tim Bateman
Correspondence: Tim Bateman, Nacro, Youth Crime Section, Park Place, 10–12 Lawn Lane,
London SW8 1UD, UK. Email: tim.bateman@nacro.org.uk
Figures Show a Fall in the Number of ‘First Time Entrants’ to the
Youth Justice System in England and Wales
In its Corporate and Business Plan 2005/06 to 2007/08, the Youth Justice Board for England and
Wales established a target to reduce the number of children who come to the attention of the
youth justice system by 5 per cent by March 2008 against a baseline fi gure for March 2005.
Subsequently, in the Youth Crime Action Plan, published in July 2008, the UK government
committed itself to achieving a 20 per cent fall by 2020.
Figures published by the Board on 20 November 2008 confi rm that their own target has
been surpassed. According to the fi gures, there were 87,367 ‘fi rst time entrants’ to the system
during 2007/08, a reduction of just over 10 per cent. The Board attributes this ‘huge drop’ to
successful partnership work between the police, youth offending teams and other local authority
agencies, and to the increased reach of prevention programmes, which, during the relevant year,
engaged more than 25,000 children and young people.
On the same day, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) also published
fi gures showing a decline in the fi rst time entrants in the 12 months leading to 31 March 2008.
However, these data differ in certain respects from those provided by the Board. Part of the
discrepancy is attributable to the fact that the DSCF has no responsibility for Wales and so its
fi gures relate to England alone. However, that is far from being the full explanation since the
DCSF fi gures still show considerably higher levels of fi rst time entrants than those indicated
by the Board. Moreover while the Board’s trend data shows a fall in both of the two years from
April 2006, those of the DCSF show a rise in the fi rst year followed by a reduction in the most
recent twelve months, as shown in Table 1. On that basis, over the two year period, the recorded
fall is lower, at 7.7 per cent.
Table 1. First time entrants to the justice system 2005/06 to 2007/08
2005/06 2006/07 2007/08
First time entrants: Youth Justice Board data
(England and Wales)
97,329 93,730 87,367
First time entrants: DCSF data (England only) 101,507 103,955 93,601
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