Contact: Philip Sutton, Head of Youth Offending Services, Tel No. 01962 876100

e-mail: [email protected]

1. Background

1.1 Each year, local authorities with the co-operation of Police, Probation and Health, are required to submit a Youth Justice Plan. The plan sets out how youth justice services will be provided and funded in the local authority area. In March 2002, as in previous years, a single Youth Justice Plan was submitted on behalf of the four local authorities of Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton.

1.2 Youth Justice Plans are submitted to the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales in a specified format. The common format assists the Board to fulfil its responsibility to compare the quality and cost of provision in different parts of the country. In 2002, the Board required a three-year plan, providing specific targets and a firm budget for 2002/03, together with outline targets for the following two years. At the same time, the Board published thirteen performance measures and associated targets for 2002-05.

1.3 For 2003-04, the Board requires only an update to this three year plan, and has again prescribed the format of this "update". For the first time, the plan requires a summary of the actions being taken to prevent young people becoming offenders, as opposed to the management of known young offenders. It requires a review of performance in relation to the thirteen performance measures, a re-statement of the arrangements for the management of the Yot, the budget and the human resources plans.

1.4 The plan is required by 31^st March 2003, and should include data relating to the calendar year 2002. This data becomes available at the end of January.

2. The Draft Plan

2.1 An early draft of the "update" to the Youth Justice Plan is attached to this report. (Appendix A).

2.2 At the request of Elected Members in one of the local authorities, the document provides separate data for each of the four local authority areas, together with the Wessex data. Only the Wessex data will be published by the Youth Justice Board when it begins the process of comparing the performance of Yot Partnerships.

2.3 Members will note that the crime prevention strategy has been enhanced by the contribution from the Children's Fund. Twenty-five percent of the Children's Fund budget in 2003-04 has to be spent on crime prevention services, agreed with the Yot. In addition, some of Hampshire's District Councils are appointing staff to work in the Yot with a view to preventing anti-social behaviour by young people.

2.4 As far as the thirteen performance measures are concerned, Members will note the performance is at or above the required level in the following areas:

Use of Secure Estate (sentenced cases) Measure 4.

Restorative Justice Measure 5.

Victim Satisfaction Measure 6.

Parental Satisfaction Measure 7.

Performance is improving, and is expected to meet the targets before the required date in the following areas:

Final Warnings Measure 3.

Mental Health Measure 13.

Data is not yet available in relation to:

Prevention Measure 1.

Recidivism Measure 2.

Both these measures require data which can not be obtained until the end of January 2003.

2.5 The plan for 2003-04 will propose that the partnership concentrates its efforts on the following performance measures:

Prevention Measure 1.

Use of Secure Estate (remanded cases) Measure 4.

The use of the ASSET Assessment tool Measure 8.

Pre-sentence Reports Measure 9.

Detention and Training Orders Measure 10.

Education, Training and Employment Measure 11.

Accommodation Measure 12.

2.6 As far as finances are concerned, discussions are still in progress with the partner agencies. The Youth Justice Board has already announced its contributions to Yots. For Wessex, this grant is approximately £1.2m in 20003-04, plus the ring-fenced grant for the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme. The Youth Justice Board's grant is given on condition that local partners do not reduce the level of funding which they provide. Given that the Operational and Value for Money Review also recommended that the budget be left unchanged for 2003-04, it is hoped that local partners will be able at least to maintain their level of financial contributions in real terms. In Spring 2003, an Inter-departmental Ministerial Circular is expected to make recommendations as to how the funding of Yots should be shared between partner agencies. This will have implications for Wessex Yot from 2004 onwards.

2.7 The human resources strategy includes a commitment to work with other Yots in the South East of England, and with partners in the secure estate, to establish a regional training consortium. The consortium will co-ordinate the arrangements for new training and accreditation programmes, such as National Vocational Qualifications in Youth Justice. A bid is being made to the Youth Justice Board for the South East Region to pilot these arrangements using funding given to the Youth Justice Board in the Government's 2002-05 Spending Review.

3. Next Steps

3.1 The draft plan is being made available for consultation during January 2003. The outstanding data for 2002, together with comments received during consultation will contribute to the production of the final version during early March. Members will receive the finalised version of the plan just a few days prior to the Youth Justice Board's deadline.

4. Recommendation

4.1 It is recommended that the Committee:

i. note the report concerning the annual youth justice plan;

ii. promote opportunities for consultation over the draft plan in their agencies during February 2003;

iii. receive a final version of the youth justice plan in March 2003, prior to its submission to the Youth Justice Board.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents:

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

N.B. The list schedules:

i. Published works.

ii. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None.

P. Sutton

13.1.03

update 200205 YJ Plan