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

[email protected]

1. Background

1.1 In March 2002, the Committee received a report setting out a strategy for ensuring that suitable community sentences, as opposed to custody, were made available for all young people except for cases where offences were so serious that custody was inevitable. Within the context of that report, it was noted that in Wessex there was some evidence that, when compared to white young people, young people from black and ethnic minorities were:

_ more likely to be remanded into the secure estate prior to sentence,

_ less likely to be remanded into non-secure Local Authority accommodation or placed on bail supervision,

_ more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and

_ less likely to receive a community penalty.

1.2 The degree of variance between the treatment of white young people and young people from black and ethnic minorities was not large in Wessex. However, such variance as there was reflected a well-established national trend. The Committee requested that the data be kept under review. It should be noted that according to the 1991 census, young people from black and ethnic minorities made up 2.5% of the population of 10-17 years old in our area. It should also be noted that there was no evidence at the time of the previous report that offences committed by these young people were either more numerous or, on average, more serious than those committed by white young people.

2. Findings

2.1 The following tables show the police decisions, (in relation to reprimands and warnings) and the courts' decisions (in relation to remand and sentencing), broken down by ethnicity for the calendar years 2000, 2001 and 2002. The data is for the entire Wessex area. Data for individual local authorities can be made available if Members wish to see this, although the numbers of young people from black and ethnic minority groups will be small in each local area.

2.2 In relation to the courts' decisions concerning the use of bail and remands to non-secure and secure accommodation, including custody, young people from black and ethnic minority groups were more likely to be remanded into the secure estate than their white counterparts in 2001, but less likely in 2000, and significantly less likely in 2002. The number of cases in which ethnicity was not recorded by staff in the Youth Offending Team or police reduced from 20% to under 7% which represents a significant improvement in the standard of recording.

Remand and bail decisions table:

2.3 The use of custody following an admission or finding of guilt shows an identical pattern to the pattern for remands. In 2001, young people from black and ethnic minority groups were nearly twice as likely as their white counterparts to receive a custodial sentence, but less likely in 2000, and significantly less likely in 2002. The level of non-recording of ethnicity reduced from 18.7% to a slightly more acceptable 10.1%. The highest proportion of "unknowns" are at the reprimand and final warning stage. "Unknowns" will include cases where the young person refused to provide information about his or her ethnicity to the police officer.

Police and Court Outcomes:

3. Conclusions

3.1 There has been an improved level of awareness among staff in the Youth Offending Team and the Constabulary about the importance of accurate recording of ethnic origin. In the Youth Offending Team, there has also been a greater level of scrutiny of proposals made by members of the team in their pre-sentence reports concerning young people from black and ethnic minority groups. This has been reinforced and supported by the Committee's interest in the subject. Partly as a result of this, 2002 was the first year since data was collected by the Youth Offending Team, in which young people from black and ethnic minority groups were more likely to receive a community sentence and less likely to receive custody than their white counterparts.

3.2 This is such an important topic that the Committee may well want to ensure that it is monitored each year through the Youth Justice Plan.

4. Recommendations

i. That the Committee note the report monitoring the treatment of young people from black and ethnic minority groups by the Youth Justice System.

ii. That the Committee request the Head of Youth Offending Services to continue to monitor and report on this subject through the annual Youth Justice Plan.

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.

NB. The list schedules:

(1) Published works.

(2) Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None