What do the party manifestos say about youth justice?
With the General Election fast approaching we’ve taken a look at what the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat party manifestos say about youth justice. We’ve assessed how they stack up against the four priorities we have outlined for how the next government can support children to thrive and stop the costly cycle of harm and offending.
AYJ Priority: A focus on prevention - recognising the complex relationship between vulnerability, victimisation and children’s involvement in crime, prioritising safeguarding and local support over enforcement and punitive action.
The Labour manifesto states:
Labour will intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime, creating a new Young Futures programme with a network of hubs reaching every community. These hubs will have youth workers, mental health support workers, and careers advisers on hand to support young people’s mental health and avoid them being drawn into crime.
We will not wait for those at risk to come forward. Local prevention partnerships will identify young people who could be drawn into violence and intervene.
To offer young people a pathway out of violence, we will place youth workers and mentors in A&E units and Pupil Referral Units, funded by full recovery of the cost of firearm licensing.
We aim to halve knife crime in a decade.
A very young person caught in possession of a knife will be referred to a Youth Offending Team and will receive a mandatory plan to prevent reoffending, with penalties including curfews, tagging, and custody for the most serious cases.
To get knives off our streets Labour will ban ninja swords, lethal zombie-style blades and machetes, and strengthen rules to prevent online sales. Labour will also introduce a new offence of criminal exploitation of children, to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime.
The children of those who are imprisoned are at far greater risk of being drawn into crime than their peers. We will ensure that those young people are identified and offered support to break the cycle.
The Liberal Democrat manifesto commits to:
Adopting a public health approach to the epidemic of youth violence which identifies and treats risk factors, rather than just focusing on the symptoms. This means police, teachers, health professionals, youth workers and social services all working closely together to prevent young people falling prey to gangs and violence.
Investing in youth services that are genuinely engaging and reach more young people.
Making youth diversion a statutory duty so that every part of the country has a pre-charge diversion scheme for young people up to the age of 25, ensuring better outcomes for young people and less strain on police resources.
Transferring responsibility for identifying modern slavery victims from the Home Office to local safeguarding agencies.
Both the Labour and Liberal Democrat party manifestos acknowledge the need for greater support for children and include policies that focus on prevention and promise an improved multi-agency approach.
For such polices to truly make a difference in keeping children safe and preventing contact with the justice system, support an safeguarding must be prioritised over punitive action. Labour’s commitments to prevention sit alongside enforcement policies, whereas the Liberal Democrat’s make a welcome and clear commitment to a statutory duty for youth diversion through a pre-charge diversion scheme for children and young people.
Notably the Liberal Democrats are clear that they are referring to young people up to the age of 25 in relation to youth diversion but elsewhere and throughout Labour’s commitments it is not always clear whether ‘young people’ refers to only children or includes young adults as well.
Unfortunately there is nothing in the Conservative Party manifesto that speaks to our priority for a focus on prevention.
AYJ Priority: A plan to address racial injustice and tackle cumulative discrimination experienced by racially minoritised children before, during and after their contact with the youth justice system.
The Labour manifesto says:
Labour will introduce a landmark Race Equality Act, to enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority people, strengthen protections against dual discrimination and root out other racial inequalities.
The Liberal democrats commit to:
Requiring the Home Secretary, the Mayor of London and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to draw up an urgent plan to implement the recommendations of the Baroness Casey Review and tackle sexism, racism and homophobia, while encouraging other police forces to do so where appropriate.
Ending the disproportionate use of Stop and Search.
The Conservative Party manifesto makes no commitments in relation to racial justice and the commitments made by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, while welcome, do not specifically focus on racial injustice and discrimination experienced by racially minoritised children within the youth justice system.
The Liberal Democrats plans around policing are welcome proposals to address some of the racial injustice that drives racially minoritised children into the system. Labour state that their Race Equality Act will root out other racial inequalities beyond unequal pay and dual discrimination, but it is currently hard to see how the cumulative discrimination faced by children before, during and after their contact with the youth justice system will be tackled by such legislation. Given the Lammy Review highlighted racial disparities in youth justice as its biggest concern, it is disappointing not to see more from Labour to specifically address this.
AYJ Priority: A strategic vision and ambition to ensure that custody is a last resort for children and that where it is used children are held in small, welfare based and rights respecting establishments close to their homes.
The Liberal Democrat manifesto commits to:
Replacing Young Offender Institutions with Secure Schools and Secure Children’s Homes.
We particularly welcome the Liberal Democrats’ specific commitment to close Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). Secure Children’s Homes offer the provision that is closest to the evidence base on what children in custody need. While the Secure School model seems to be much improved compared to YOIs and Secure Training Centres, the first school has yet to receive any children and it is an untested model.
Disappointingly neither the Conservative or Labour manifesto set out a vision for addressing the challenges currently facing youth custody. Both also include a number of wider punitive policies for which it is unclear if they will be applied to children. This includes, in the Labour manifesto, enforcement policies around knife crime, as outlined above, and new respect orders for anti-social behaviour, which could potentially draw more children into contact with the youth justice system. Conservative plans include increased sentences for some serious crimes, some of which were outlined in the Criminal Justice Bill, and which, if applied to children, would increase the number of children in custody and the amount of time they are there for.
AYJ Priority: Leadership and accountability for meeting the needs of all children, including those in, or at risk of involvement in the justice system, through the creation of a Secretary of State for children.
The Liberal Democrat manifesto commits to:
Appoint a Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People
We welcome this from the Liberal Democrats, it is disappointing to not see the Conservatives or Labour Party make the same commitment.
Influencing the next government
Overall there are some promising commitments from Labour and the Liberal Democrats in relation to prevention, as well as the welcome commitment from the Liberal Democrats to close YOIs. However no party has addressed all four of the priorities we have set out or any individual priority comprehensively.
The next government has a critical opportunity to reimagine youth justice and we will be working to ensure that this is not missed. We are continuing to work with members to further develop a more detailed agenda for whoever forms the next government and look forward to engaging with them on it after the 4th July and into the future.