Youth Justice Plan 2007 to 2008
Local Planning Environment
Please describe your local planning environment focusing on those elements that support or perhaps hinder delivery of YOT objectives. Please outline how the YOT currently links with other partners and partnerships that have complementary targets / objectives as well as those areas where there may be some conflict and how these conflicts can be addressed, focusing specifically on how equivalent links are maintained with partners in Children’s Services, partners in Community Safety/ Criminal Justice and Public Protection (MAPPA).
Organisationally, the Youth Offending Service (YOS) is located within the Chief Executive’s Department. The Head of Youth Justice and Safer Communities (YJSC) has responsibility for the YOS, the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) and the Community Safety Team. This ensures effective working across the County Council and encourages strong links with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs).
The YOS is represented on a number of key strategy and operational groups. For instance:
- The Head of YJSC sits on the Leicestershire Children and Young People’s Board, the Local Criminal Justice Board (LCJB), the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Community Safety Programme Board (CSPB), the Connexions Board, the DAAT Board, the Civic Alliance Demonstration Project and chairs the Corporate Community Safety Group.
- The Head of Youth Justice and Safer Communities is a lead officer for the Leicestershire Local Area Agreement (LAA) Safer Communities Block which has a target to build respect in communities and reduce the level of anti–social behaviour and which shares a target with the Children’s Block to improve life chances and secure better opportunities for vulnerable young people. A joint delivery group delivers this target through a multi-agency approach to targeted preventative support for vulnerable children and young people. One of the reward indicators within this target includes increasing the percentage of young people prevented from further offending after receiving a reprimand.
- The Head of the YOS sits on the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Strategic Management Board, Leicestershire Children and Young People’s Strategic Management Group, the Local Safeguarding Children Board, Rutland’s Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership (CYPSP), the Rutland DAAT, Leicestershire’s 13-19 Strategy Partnership Board, the Prolific and Other Priority Offender (PPO) Strategy Group, the Youth Justice Working Group (a sub group of the LCJB) and the CAMHS joint steering group.
- The Head of the YOS chairs the Young Offenders Into School (YOIS) panel, the Remand Strategy group and the Creating Safer Schools Group and co-chairs the Reducing Offending in Looked After Children’s Group (ROLAC).
- The Head of the YOS chairs the Regional Youth Resettlement Pathway Group (part of the regional NOMS Changing ways Reducing Reoffending Action Plan) which brings together YOTs and the secure estate to improve provision for young people whilst in secure establishments and upon release.
- Operational Managers sit on the Victims & Witness Work Group and the Enforcement Work Groups of the LCJB, and the Parenting Strategy group
- The Policy and Performance Manager sits on the Rutland Community Safety Partnership (CSP).
- The YOS has a Community Safety Officer who attends CDRPs.
The YOS has ensured that there is maximum possible consistency between the Leicestershire and Rutland LAAs. The YOS was consulted on and contributed to the development of the Children and Young People’s Plans for Leicestershire and for Rutland.
The Police target of Offences Brought to Justice (OBTJ) conflicts with reducing new entrants to the Criminal Justice System and as a result the YOS found it difficult to reduce the rise in First Time Entrants (FTE) to the criminal justice system during 2005/6. The FTE target is owned by the LCJB and the YOS and Police have produced a joint action plan which should resolve the conflict between OBTJ and FTEs. Along with the interventions of the Prevention team with those young people identified as at risk of offending, this should enable the YOS to meet the FTE target. Performance up to quarter 3 indicates that we are likely to achieve an 8% reduction in first time entrants by the end of 2006/07 compared with the 2% reduction target.
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