Issue - meetings

Purpose: To provide members oversight of the annual Youth Justice Plan for 2024/25 which is submitted to the Youth Justice Board.

Council considered a report (Agenda Item 12) concerning the Youth Justice Plan 2024/25.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Justin Pemberton and seconded by Councillor Martha Vickers:

“That Council agree and formally endorse the Youth Justice Plan 2024/2025.”

Councillor Pembertonintroduced the report and highlighted that it was requirement in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to formulate an annual Youth Justice Plan. He indicated that the plan had been based on the Youth Justice Board guidance and included a roadmap for supporting young people and parents. The plan would build on the Council’s existing partnerships and direct resources into the places that best worked to produce positive outcomes and promote prevention. On prevention, the plan also outlined the Council’s attempt to prevent reoffending which would lead to safer communities and fewer victims.

Council noted that the Youth Justice Board provided positive feedback on plan, and that an inspection of the service by HM Inspectorate of Probation in 2023 resulted in an ‘Outstanding’ rating.

Members welcomed the Plan and were pleased to see the Council had received another Outstanding rated inspection. However, there were some areas of concern in the report that were raised, such as the increased number of girls that had been involved in violent crimes. Council noted that work was ongoing into researching the reasons behind this as well as on training in the team to try to tackle this rising problem. The number of school exclusions was also highlighted, and Members encouraged the sharing of best practices amongst schools to help combat this.

Overall, Council was satisfied with the Plan and noted that fewer young people were entering the justice system than in previous years which was very positive and reflected the low crime rate in the area more broadly.

The Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.