Following its call for evidence, which closed in late September, all of the written submissions to the Justice Select Committee’s Inquiry on Young Adult Offenders have now been published.

An initial analysis of the submissions shows that:

• There is near-unanimous support for taking account of maturity of young adults aged 18-25 at all stages of criminal justice decision making;
• The majority of responses call for the retention of a distinct approach for young adults in custody;
• Many support T2A’s call for the sentence of Detention in a Young Offender Institution to be extended from 18-20 to 18-25;
• There is strong support for evidence on neurological development to be taken into account (that the adult brain is not fully developed until the mid-20s);
• Many call for initiatives that divert young adults away from the criminal justice system should be developed, promoted and extended nationally. 

There were 35 submissions in total, including the response from T2A (listed as Barrow Cadbury Trust) and 9 T2A Alliance members. In addition, several of the T2A Pathway delivery organistaions made submissions.

Others to submit include Maslaha, the Centre for Justice Innovation, the Restorative Justice Council and the British Psychological Society. A number of academics also submitted responses, including Professor Sir Tony Bottoms and Dr Nathan Hughes.

Statutory bodies that submitted include the Ministry of Justice, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the Youth Justice Board, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Magistrates’ Association.