Written evidence to be reported to the House

Part of Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 5:15 pm on 16 October 2007.

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Jan Berry: That would depend on the requirements of the particular youth, but in many areas of the country there are superb youth offending teams that are working really effectively and have some creative ideas for how to keep young people out of crime. When a youth offending team works effectively—there are areas in which they do not—it is vital that they are part of the decision-making process on the right course of action for a particular person. It is extremely unlikely that the team have not met such a person—they are more likely to have seen the young person a few times—and they will be the best people to determine what will work for that person, and to find out what is available in their area.

One of the other issues on availability is that, although you might have some good programmes in a given area, there might be insufficient places. The youth offending team would be in the best place to find out what is available and what is most suitable to a young person.