14 November 2012

Peers debate young adult offenders

News and events

On Tuesday 13th November members of the House of Lords debated an amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill on dealing non-custodially with offenders. The amendment was tabled by former Chief Inspector of Prisons Lord Ramsbotham, who in advocating intensive alternatives to custody for young adults, cited the “remarkable work” of the Transition to Adulthood Alliance and commended the approaches set out in both Pathways from Crime and the Alliance’s most recent publication, Going for Gold.
 
The campaigning efforts of the Prison Reform Trust were praised by Baroness Howe, while Baroness Linklater, who spoke on an amendment about women in the criminal justice system, also welcomed T2A’s work.
 
Responding for the Government, Justice Minister Lord McNally noted that there were lessons to be learnt from successes in reducing offending among under-18s, saying:

“[Y]oung adult offenders are a very important group, and if we are going to succeed in a rehabilitation revolution it is in that group that we have to find our success. We must explore ideas to get effective programmes for them.”

 
Noting the recent introduction of the Youth Justice Board’s transitions framework for young adults being transferred to adult probation services, and forthcoming youth to adult portal, he went on to say:
 

“I can confirm that this Government share the concerns raised by the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, and are committed to ensuring we deliver services that take account of young adult offenders’ particular needs. We recognise that transition between youth and adult services is a potential point of vulnerability for young people and we are already working hard to ensure more consistent processes for supporting young people who are transferring between systems.”

 
The full debate can be read on the Hansard website.