Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) have produced their annual report on youth offending services. The report covers inspections of 26 youth offending services over the past 12 months and finds that services are providing inconsistent supervision and support to children and young people who have committed minor offences. It also saw significant variation in the way police and youth offending teams decide whether a young person should receive an out-of-court disposal or be charged with an offence and dealt with by a youth court.
Responding to the report, John Bache, National Chair of the Magistrates Association, said:
The MA are very concerned that the HMIP report identifies disparity across different areas in relation to diversion for children and young people from court proceedings. It is worrying that the lack of consistency means that some CYP are missing out on the positive opportunity offered by diversion where it is appropriate as well as the fact out of court disposals are being used for serious cases which should be in court.
The MA calls on scrutiny panels to be robust in scrutinising the use of out of court disposals for CYP in their area, and to follow up to ensure lessons are learnt to improve practice on the ground. We agree with the proposal by HMIP that with the increase in knife crime and the risks linked to county lines activity, it would be useful for there to be national guidance to support youth services.