Recommendation SP66: Guidance for parents of children found with weapons
From The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1, published 13 April 2026.
Recommendation
The Youth Justice Board should ensure that a form of clear practical written guidance is drafted which relevant professionals (social care, healthcare, police, education) can provide to parents of children who have been found with a knife or offensive weapon, explaining the importance of informing agencies if they become aware that the child has purchased or obtained a weapon.
In brief (written by this site)
In July 2026, HM Government reported that the Ministry of Justice agreed on the importance of focused interventions and supported the recommendation for the Youth Justice Board to issue written guidance for parents of children who have been found with a knife or offensive weapon (Home Office response, Jul 2026). The record holds no update since the government's response of July 2026 (Home Office response, Jul 2026).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
The Ministry of Justice agrees with the Chair that is important that youth justice services can hold young offenders to sufficient standards and boundaries in referral orders, and that interventions are focussed and appropriate. The Ministry of Justice therefore supports the Chair's recommendation 47, calling for an independent audit of the Lancashire County Council Child and Youth Justice Service, and recommendation 66 for the Youth Justice Board to issue written guidance for parents of children who have been found with a knife or offensive weapon.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The government's response to Phase 1 (CP 1623, 2 July 2026) agreed with all 67 recommendations in one sentence, and names only 39 of them individually. Where a recommendation is not named, the response shown is the passage the response gives for the group it belongs to (the recommendations for organisations outside central government, or the recommendations to policing bodies), which is not a response to that recommendation alone; the response does not list the members of any group. The 10 recommendations for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider show no response: the response introduces them (paragraph 20) but answers none of them. The government accepts the recommendations that are for central government to deliver. Where a recommendation is for an organisation outside central government, the government's agreement is not that organisation's acceptance.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Youth Justice Board for England and Wales has been found in the sources searched (last checked 2 July 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Ministry of Justice
Response