13th July 2011
The Prison Reform Trust in the UK has recently published a report examining reductions in child imprisonment from 2008-2011 entitled Last Resort? Exploring the Reduction in Child Imprisonment in 2008-2011. The number of children imprisoned in the period reduced by a third, from 3,000 to 2,000.
The Report notes in particular the decline in the number of children being sentenced to Detention and Training Orders which can be given to children aged between 12 and 17, and it attributes a substantial part of the decline to this. However it is worth noting that the Report does not credit any deliberate policy of central government with the reduction in numbers, instead noting that a number of other factors seem to be at work. At a governmental level the responsibility for Youth Justice shifted in 2007, from the Home Office to the Ministry of Justice and Department for Children, Schools and Families. This resulted in greater responsibility for local authorities ensuring that greater attention was paid to children in conflict with the law.
Incentives for police to bring minor cases into the system were also abolished and more constructive approaches adopted which resulted in fewer young people coming into the system in the first place. The number of children appearing in Court reduced by almost a quarter and of these fewer are now receiving custodial sentences than in 2008. This may be in part due to changes in Sentencing Guidelines but these were only came into effect in later 2009.
There has also been greater co-ordination between the Youth Justice Board and youth offending teams and a clear emphasis on a policy of custody as a last resort. Other campaigns and organisations outside the system such as Out of Trouble have also had a positive influence, as has the overall political, public and media climate which has not rejected the changes.
Crucially, the Report also points out that the reduction in imprisonment and detention of children has not resulted in an increase in youth crime.
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Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.