Pippa Goodfellow (Director of the AYJ) and Hannah Smithson (Chair of the AYJ) comment on the publication of the Sentencing White Paper by the Ministry of Justice, describing proposals as a ‘mixed bag’ of reforms for the youth justice system.

Childhood criminal records are undermining positive developments across the youth justice system. In a new briefing, we have considered how the current criminal records system acts as a barrier to the priorities and goals wished to be achieved by the Youth Justice Board, as set out in their new strategy.

Welcome developments in youth justice are being undermined by the current childhood criminal records system, strengthening the timely call for a widespread review. Criminal records are so clearly intertwined with a range of further issues in the wider criminal justice system and are actively impeding the efforts of government and civil society to tackle pressing issues like racial disparity and addressing the impact of violence and exploitation.