Justice written question – answered at on 16 July 2008.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to provide a greater range of non-custodial sentencing options in cases where young offenders are convicted for non-violent offences.
We have developed a range of community sentences that can be used by the courts for young people. In addition we have provided out of court disposals which are particularly suitable for dealing with low level offences without the need for recourse to the courts.
We have passed legislation recently in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 which will establish a new non-custodial sentencing structure for young offenders aged under 18.
The primary community sentence for young offenders aged under 18 is the referral order under which the young offender must appear before a youth offender panel, including two lay members from the community and a member from the youth offending team. The young offender must agree to undertake reparation and rehabilitation in a contract agreed with the panel. The Act will extend the circumstances in which a referral order can be made and allow a second one to be made in exceptional circumstances. In the Act we also introduced a new generic community sentence for young people, the Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO), which will replace nine existing community sentences. The YRO has 14 different requirements that may be added to an order and is designed to increase the options available to sentencers to deal with young offenders in the community with effective and tailored interventions. The YRO also provides two further requirements for serious and persistent young offenders that are set as alternatives to custody.
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