Issue - meetings

The Council considered the Youth Justice Plan for 2024 – 2026.

On a motion from Councillor Paul May, seconded by Councillor Dine Romero, it was unanimously

RESOLVED to approve the Youth Justice Plan.

The Local Authority has a statutory duty, in partnership with Health, Police and Probation, to produce a Youth Justice Plan. The Plan sets out how services are to be organised and funded and what functions will be carried out to prevent youth offending and re-offending across Bath and North East Somerset. The Plan is also presented to Cabinet and Council for approval and a final version is then submitted to the national Youth Justice Board (YJB).

Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services introduced the report to the Panel. He said that it was important to recognise the report in terms of an impending inspection of the service later in the year and the need to put the child first. He added that the work undertaken as part of the Knife Crime Review has also been important and that overall the risk to our children & young people was relatively low.

The Director of Children’s Services explained that this was a two-year plan and had been written from a child first perspective.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services addressed the Panel and stated that whilst it is a two-year plan it would be reviewed annually. She informed them that the plan complies with the legislation and guidance and that putting the child first was at the heart of their work.

She stated that there were four strategic priorities within the plan.

·  Reduce Disproportionality

·  Strengthen Participation

·  Embed Child First Principles

·  Reduce Serious Violence

She explained how important it was to hear the voices of the children concerned alongside those of their parents and carers. She added that there were strong performance figures within the plan and highlighted that the custody rate is low as well as the rate for re-offending.

Kevin Burnett said it was thankfully pleasing that overall they were talking about low numbers, but asked if any further comment could be given to the rise in first time offenders.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that a small increase had been anticipated due to the new Police child gravity matrix which required consistency over the level of official cautions to be given.

Kevin Burnett asked if further information could be given around the strategies for schools for those children with SEND who offend and those who offend who have been excluded from school.

The Head of Young People's Prevention Services replied that with regard to exclusions she was part of a working group on this issue and they were looking into the matter of disproportionality and forming an action plan. She added that they were also seeking to work with those children who were being repeatedly suspended from school to prevent further exclusions.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding added that the increase in offenders with SEND is likely to be due to having their needs identified at an earlier stage rather than in previous years it would not have been the case. He explained that as part of his role he sits on the Youth Justice Board and they will be looking to work with the SEND & AP Advice Service to provide support to schools on suspensions, exclusions and training relating to race and ethnicity.

He added that there are additional resource bases in place in advance of the planned new AP school. He said that he believed that overall this year there have been fewer exclusions and would seek to try to do better again next year.

Kevin Burnett asked if  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20

The Cabinet is asked to recommend approval of the Youth Justice Plan to full Council.

Cllr Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, introduced the report, moved the updated officer recommendation, and made the following statement:

“I’m pleased to propose that the Cabinet endorse the Youth Justice Plan for 2024 to 2026 and it will be a recommendation through to the full Council that will make the final decision.

The overall goal of the Plan, and the Youth Justice Service, is to help make Bath and North East Somerset a safer place and support local children to live crime-free lives.

Our annual Plan is developed through the Bath and North East Somerset Youth Justice Service – a statutory, wide partnership with Avon and Somerset Police, the Probation Service, NHS Bath, Swindon, and Wiltshire (BSW) Integrated Care Board (ICB), Oxford Health, housing, Curo, housing, colleges and the Youth Bench plus other members. It is a wide partnership. 

This year’s plan comes in an important year for the Youth Justice Service. Our long-standing and very much valued head of service has retired, and an external inspection is scheduled for later this year, so it’s vital we have a robust plan in place.

There are four strategic priorities for 2024 to 2026, as affirmed by the Youth Justice Service Partnership Board.

Firstly, working to reduce disproportionality – this means working to reduce the over-represented groups in B&NES who are in the Youth Justice service, such as children with Special Educational Needs and from minority ethnic backgrounds. We have clear targets for our future efforts to tackle overrepresentation.

Secondly, strengthening participation for children and families within the service and continuing to develop a more collaborative approach. This includes initiatives such as focus groups, new ways of gathering feedback, and more support.

The third strategic priority is embedding ‘Child First’ Principles to addressing offending behaviour. This will include offering individually tailored assessments, plans and interventions that are trauma-informed and recognise the child’s needs.

Finally, and importantly, we aim to reduce serious violence.  The issue of knife crime is still high on the agenda and high in residents’ concerns. This has been a focus over the past year, with continuing weapons awareness work with children, education in schools, Street Doctors first aid and safety training as well as targeted prevention services. Four knife crime awareness events for parents and carers have taken place and further events are planned.

Reducing serious violence and making Bath and North East Somerset a safer place will continue to be an important priority. We are looking forward to the report from the Children, Adults, Health and Wellbeing Panel task and finish group later this year.

I also want to highlight that we have low numbers of children in the formal justice system – a real plus for this area. The Youth Justice Team does incredible work ensuring that children and young people avoid custodial sentences and steer away from offending again. Bath and North East Somerset has a low number of first time ‘entrants’ compared to the average in the South West and across England  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27