Youth Justice Board spared the axe

24 Nov 11
The government has abandoned plans to abolish the Youth Justice Board and bring its functions into the Ministry of Justice, citing ‘considerable opposition’ both in and outside Parliament.

By Nick Mann | 24 November 2011

The government has abandoned plans to abolish the Youth Justice Board and bring its functions into the Ministry of Justice, citing ‘considerable opposition’ both in and outside Parliament.

The board, which is responsible for overseeing the youth justice system, had been earmarked as one of a ‘significant number’ of arm’s-length bodies to be abolished in the Public Bodies Bill.

But in a debate on the Bill in the House of Lords yesterday, justice minister Lord McNally revealed the government was ‘no longer pursuing’ the abolition of the YJB. He explained that ministers’ original view had been that ‘now that an effective youth justice system was in place, the oversight provided by the YJB was no longer required and direct ministerial accountability for youth justice should be restored’.

However, he said, the future of the board had proved to be an ‘emotive issue’. The government had faced ‘considerable opposition’ to its abolition in debates on the Bill in both Houses and in responses to the government’s justice green paper, published last November.

He added: ‘I must be clear, though, that the abolition has never been about saving money – the MoJ does not have major savings contingent on its abolition. That is why we are no longer pursuing the abolition of the Youth Justice Board as part of this Bill.’

The decision came just hours after the Commons justice select committee raised concerns over whether youth offending could be ‘overwhelmed’ by broader departmental priorities at the MoJ if the abolition of the YJB went ahead. This would be a ‘dangerous and retrograde step’, a report from the MPs said.

McNally told the Lords that the government had always intended to keep youth justice separate within the MoJ.

He added: ‘I want to be absolutely clear that this government remains committed to maintaining a distinct focus on the needs of children and young people in the youth justice system.’

The government will now consider the ‘strong case’ for reforming the YJB outside the Public Bodies Bill to ensure more direct ministerial accountability and involvement in youth justice, he added.

An MoJ spokesman told PF that further details on these changes would be announced ‘in due course’.

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