Taylor Youth Justice Review

Health commissioners and providers in England and Wales should seize the opportunity presented by additional investment in children and young people's mental health services to rethink the way that mental health support is provided to children who are at risk and who currently do not get the access they need or deserve. (Paragraph 27)

Further work should be undertaken by the Home Office, local authorities, the police, the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education and the Welsh government to agree a complete set of mandatory national standards for appropriate adult schemes against which inspections should be conducted. These standards should cover those matters set out in paragraph 67. (Paragraph 67)

Ofsted, the CSSIW and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary should consider the most appropriate approach to inspection of appropriate adult services and develop a framework which takes account of the roles of the local authority in commissioning the service, and both the police and the local authority in operating the scheme. (Paragraph 68)

Children should not be required to make a decision about seeing a solicitor at interview. There should be a presumption that a solicitor is called and legal advice is provided, unless the child expressly asks not to. (Paragraph 69)

There should be a presumption of releasing a child and organising a voluntary attendance interview or bail with a pre-arranged interview time if a solicitor cannot attend within two hours of a child being arrested. (Paragraphs 69)

The College of Policing should introduce mandatory child-specific training for all custody sergeants. (Paragraph 70)

In order that the particular needs of girls are met while they are in police custody, any girl aged under 18 who is arrested should be allocated a named female officer who is responsible for her welfare. (Paragraph 71)

The police, CPS, local authorities and health services should establish local protocols in order that all charging decisions take account of health screening assessments conducted in police custody or as a result of the offence, and any relevant information on the child that the local authority holds. (Paragraph 74)

All local authorities should make sure that care home staff are properly trained to resolve minor incidents without recourse to the police, and protocols should be established with police forces to agree a proportionate approach to offending in care homes. (Paragraph 77)

The Home Office, the Department for Education, the Welsh government and the National Police Chief's Council should work together to make sure that police officers are able to apply their full discretion in responding to incidents and offences in children's homes, and that there is a presumption of no formal criminal justice action being taken unless it is so serious that this is absolutely necessary. This should include consideration of adopting the schools protocol in relation to minor offences committed in children's homes. (Paragraph 81)

The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office should develop a distinct approach to how childhood offending is treated by the criminal records system. (Paragraph 85) This should include: consideration of distinguishing between under-15s and 15-17 year olds in terms of the retention and disclosure implications of offending; (Paragraph 86) further reductions in the periods before which childhood convictions become spent; (Paragraph 87) all childhood offending (with the exception of the most serious offences) becoming non-disclosable after a period of time; (Paragraph 88) and the circumstances in which police intelligence on childhood conduct can be disclosed being further restricted. The Home Office should consider the introduction of a presumption that police intelligence dating from childhood should not be disclosed except in exceptional circumstances. (Paragraph 89)

The government should legislate to remove the requirement for local authorities to establish a youth offending team (YOT). The statutory duties which apply to YOTs should be transferred to local authorities, where appropriate, and the existing duties on the police, probation, education and health services to cooperate with youth offending services should remain. (Paragraph 37)

The judiciary should consider further what can be done to prioritise cases involving children and to make sure that they are not kept waiting at court unnecessarily. (Paragraph 101)

Court summons should make clear that both parents are expected to attend court hearings unless there are specific reasons in relation to the child's welfare why they should not, and looked after children should always be accompanied by their carer or social worker. (Paragraph 102)

The Ministry of Justice should review the fee structure of cases heard in the Youth Court in order to raise their status and improve the quality of legal representation for children. When this is complete the Bar Standards Board and the Solicitors Regulation Authority should introduce mandatory training for all lawyers appearing in the Youth Court. (Paragraph 104)

The Ministry of Justice should consider introducing a presumption that all cases involving children should be heard in the Youth Court, with suitably qualified judges being brought in to oversee the most complex or serious cases in suitably modified proceedings. (Paragraph 105)

The Ministry of Justice should consider whether the law on youth reporting restrictions should be amended to provide for them to apply automatically in the Crown Court, to children involved in criminal investigations and for the lifetime of young defendants. (Paragraph 107)

The government should introduce a new system of Children's Panels (paragraph 98) which includes provision for: children being referred to a Panel when they plead guilty to a charge or have been found guilty in the Youth Court, or have been given a sentence of less than two years in custody by the Crown Court; (paragraph 109) the Panel being made up of three specifically trained magistrates; (paragraph 110) Panels being attended by the child, his or her parents or carers, lawyer and keyworker from the local authority, and any other professionals that the Panel may require including from education, health and social care; (paragraph 110) the Panel investigating the causes of the child's behaviour, including any health, welfare and education issues, and putting in place a rigorous Plan that will tackle the factors associated with the offending and give victims and communities assurance that the behaviour is being addressed; (paragraph 111) Plans placing expectations on parents or carers, social care, housing, health and education services, with all parties – the child included – being held robustly to account for their contribution to its success; (paragraph 112) Plans including a period of time in custody where appropriate for the most serious offences; (paragraph 112) Plans including a process for regular reviews of the case by the Panel with the opportunity to change the terms of the Plan depending on its success; (paragraph 113) and Plans being published – with names and any other means of identifying the child removed – so that the process is open and transparent. (Paragraph 111)

The Government should remove or substantially restrict the availability of short custodial sentences. The minimum amount of time that a child should spend in detention is six months (equivalent to the current 12-month Detention and Training Order). The only exception to this should be those few offences for which Parliament has established mandatory minimum terms. (Paragraph 117)

Children aged under 16 should only be given a Plan with a custodial element in exceptional circumstances, and usually where they pose a significant risk to the public. (Paragraph 117)

There should be close monitoring by the government of such a change to make sure that children who would previously have received a short custodial sentence are not instead sent to custody for longer periods of time. (Paragraph 119)

The Ministry of Justice should consider whether further changes could be made to the conditions for a remand to youth detention accommodation to make sure that custody is always used as a last resort. (Paragraph 122)

The Ministry of Justice should roll the money that it contributes to YOTs into the English local government finance system, and into the funding which the Welsh government provides to local authorities in Wales, and remove the ring-fence requiring that this is narrowly spent on youth justice services. (Paragraph 39)

The Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education and the Welsh government should work together to create Secure Schools in England and Wales which: are created within schools legislation, and set up, run, governed and inspected as schools. In England they should be commissioned in a similar way to alternative provision free schools; (paragraph 141) accommodate up to 60-70 children and are located in the regions that they serve; (paragraph 141) provide head teachers with the autonomy and flexibility to recruit and train their own staff, to commission vital support services (including a stronger role in commissioning health services such as mental health and speech therapy), to establish the approach to managing behaviour and rewarding success and, as a result, to create a productive and therapeutic culture which will raise attainment, improve behaviour and promote rehabilitation; (paragraph 142) provide children with a bespoke package of support and an education that will address their difficulties and their offending behaviour, as well as giving them the skills, knowledge and qualifications that will help them to succeed when they are released; deliver an improved and better integrated health offer; (paragraph 143) put behaviour management in the hands of skilful, well trained education, health and welfare support workers. (Paragraph 144)

Local authorities should always aim to retain the same social worker during a child's time in custody. (Paragraph 151)

Local authorities should make sure that all children should know where they are going to live at least two weeks before they leave custody, and if they are in care or will be living away from the family home they should have the opportunity to visit the accommodation, see their room and meet the staff who will look after them. (Paragraph 153)

The law should be amended so that only children who are already looked after retain this status when they are remanded or sentenced to custody. (Paragraph 157)

Secure Schools in England should be inspected by Ofsted, with support as necessary from the Care Quality Commission, and held to the same standards as alternative provision schools in the community. In Wales, Secure Schools should be inspected by Estyn, with support from the CSSIW and the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales. (Paragraph 158)

The Ministry of Justice should create an Office of the Youth Justice Commissioner, a specific directorate within the department which replaces the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) and brings together in a single place responsibility for policy and delivery of youth justice. The Youth Justice Commissioner would have the responsibilities set out in paragraph 169. (Paragraph 169)

The Ministry of Justice should establish a new expert committee in order that the government receives independent advice and challenge on its approach to youth justice and the operation of the system across England and Wales. (Paragraph 171)

The Ministry of Justice should halt the centre's role in routine performance management of youth offending services, and remove the requirement for local authorities to produce an annual youth justice plan. (Paragraph 43)

The Ministry of Justice should give further consideration to whether local authorities should be able to use their own assessment systems, rather than use systems prescribed by the centre, while making sure that central government continues to have access to the data it needs. (Paragraph 44)

Local authority youth offending services in England should be inspected by Ofsted as part of the inspection of children's services. Similarly, youth offending services in Wales should be inspected by Estyn and the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW). (Paragraph 46)

When local partners have developed the required capability, the Ministry of Justice should devolve the money it spends on custodial places to local areas, regions or the Welsh government in order that they can assume responsibility for commissioning their own secure provision. (Paragraph 52)

All local authorities, police forces and health services should jointly operate diversion schemes for children who offend, incorporating the principles set out in paragraph 59. (Paragraph 59)

Children should not be held in police custody for longer than six hours unless, owing to the seriousness and complexity of the case, an inspector authorises extending the period of detention and clear reasons are provided. In addition, the Home Office should re-examine the statutory review times for detained children with a view to reducing these to three hours. (Paragraph 62)