Council considered a report which proposed the approval of the Youth Justice Plan 2017 -2018. The Plan was moved by Councillor JG Lester, Cabinet Member Young People and Children’s Wellbeing who commented that the rates of youth offending in the county were relatively low and a downward trend in rates of offending was attributed to a greater emphasis on preventative and early intervention programmes. 

Council made the comments below in the debate which followed:

·         The rate of reoffending detailed in the Plan was a concern.

·         Clarification regarding the proportion of looked after children in rates of offending was requested. The re-establishment of the looked after children reference group was commended and further detail was requested as to when this would be completed. Councillor Lester confirmed that as of 31 July 2017 6.7% of Herefordshire young people on the youth justice service caseload were looked-after children. The Corporate Parenting Strategy included actions to address the issue. A written response regarding the timing of the re-establishment of the looked-after children reference group would be provided.  

·         Facilities that young people within the criminal justice system were detained within were queried and whether they were appropriate institutions. It was confirmed that during the course of the year there had been one custodial sentence. A written response would be provided with detail of the institutions to which young people were referred.

·         A query was raised regarding the outcomes of the review of mental health proposed in an earlier version of the Plan. There was very little mention of the impact of mental health in the current plan. The impact of mental health on the Plan and youth offending was acknowledged and it was confirmed that there was a part-time Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) worker in the Herefordshire Youth Justice Team.

·         It was requested that the draft Plan be circulated to the general scrutiny committee at an early stage next year to ensure effective engagement on its content. Further work was needed to ensure effective working arrangements with partners and other local authorities and the notion of joint scrutiny with other councils involved in the Plan was proposed. Greater involvement of scrutiny to assist in policy development in the area of youth offending was also raised. It was confirmed that an attempt would be made to involve scrutiny at an earlier stage during the production of the Plan in future years.

·         The relative proportions of boys and girls committing offences were queried and why the split was so wide. This was an important societal question.

The recommendation in the report was approved by a majority of the Council.

Resolved – that the Youth Justice Plan (at appendix A) is approved.