Context

The Government, somewhat grudgingly in my opinion, acknowledges that the youth justice service model of local, multi-agency partnerships is fundamentally sound and the majority of Youth Offending Services perform to a high standard – in marked contrast to any other statutory part of the criminal justice system at the moment.

However, the Government argues that the oversight system is fragmented:

“responsibilities are spread across the Ministry of Justice, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and HM Inspectorate of Probation, with no single national performance framework to hold statutory partners accountable at both strategic and operational levels.”

It also says the funding model is “outdated, inconsistent and no longer reflects the needs of the system”, noting that funding from the MoJ now makes up on average around one-third of youth justice services’ funding, but the proportion varies dramatically between areas – from as little as 9% to as much as 64% – with the remainder funded by local authorities, police, probation, health and others.

Funding

The Government promises “stable and sustainable funding” and says it will set out plans for a new funding formula “in the coming months”.

Restructuring and Centralising

Despite the MoJ already commissioning a review of the Youth Justice Board in December 2024, undertaken by Steve Crocker. However, the Government now wants to go further and says it is clear “that more significant reform is required than that report recommended”.

Essentially, the Government wants to centralise control of the youth justice system:

“responsibility for several key functions will transfer from the YJB to the Ministry of Justice – including national oversight of the youth justice system, monitoring of youth justice service performance in England and Wales and development of National Standards. These are functions that should sit under clear democratic accountability. The core grant for youth justice services, which has long been administered by the YJB, has also transferred to the Ministry of Justice – aligning funding, oversight and policy responsibility in one place.”

At the same time as the Government is centralising most things it also promises to devolve more youth justice power to both the Welsh Government and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. 

Technology

The White Paper also promises to “harness technology to strengthen practice”. As well as obvious modern gains such as AI-based transcription services, already very popular with probation staff. The Government also says:

“there is significant untapped potential to use data and technology more proactively to support earlier and more appropriate intervention. A more modern approach to data use could allow services to bring together existing information – including assessment scores and outcomes – alongside professional insight. Used responsibly, this could support a more rounded understanding of a child’s strengths, needs, risks and vulnerabilities, enabling earlier and more precisely targeted support.” 

The Government says it will explore how machine learning for this purpose although that they do not intend to automate decision-making. It will purse this idea by:

“establishing an Advisory Panel on preventative analytics for youth justice in spring 2026, bringing together academic and practitioner expertise to inform future development and ensure that high standards are maintained and risks mitigated.”

Thanks to Jon Tyson for kind permission to use the header image in this post which was previously published on Unsplash.