Young people in custody and youth justice

The Home Office has announced that revised PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence Act) code of practice will come into force on 27 October.

The revised PACE Code C requires that 17 year-olds detained in police custody are provided with an appropriate adult to assist them, and that a person responsible for their welfare (usually a parent or guardian) is informed. However, the changes will not give 17 year-olds held in police custody all of the rights of those aged 16 and under.

For further information visit www.gov.uk/government/speeches/revision-of-the-pace-codes-of-practice-a-b-c-e-f-and-h.

This comes shortly after the Howard League for Penal Reform has released figures showing that in 2011, there were more than 40,000 overnight detentions of children aged 17 and under in police stations in England and Wales. This equates to an average of 112 detentions per night. The Howard League is urging police to work more closely with parents and children's services to provide safe and appropriate care for children who come to their attention.

For further information visit www.howardleague.org/police-child-detention/?utm_content=buffer49c0b&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer.

In addition, a new independent initiative, backed by the Ministry of Justice, has been set up to review the outcomes and over-representation of young BME men throughout the criminal justice process.

The review, entitled Improving outcomes for Muslim and African/Caribbean young male offenders - An Independent Review led by Baroness Young of Hornsey, will report initially in December 2013 and again in autumn 2014.

For further information on the review visit www.t2a.org.uk/t2a-alliance-members-involved-in-new-review-of-outcomes-and-over-representation-of-young-adult-bame-men-throughout-the-criminal-justice-process.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has embarked upon a three year project to reduce reoffending. Its findings will enable the YJB, Youth Justice Partnerships and the secure estate to target resources where they can have the greatest impact.

The Reducing Reoffending Project will aim to analyse both national data, and local data through working with a number of youth offending teams, informing the YJB's understanding of the cohort and identifying effective measures to reduce reoffending.

Lastly, the House of Commons Library has published Young Offenders: What next?, a briefing paper, available at www.parliament.uk/Templates/BriefingPapers/Pages/BPPdfDownload.aspx?bp-id=sn05896, on recent policy direction around youth offending.

It has also published a briefing paper on Introducing "Payment by Results" in Offender Rehabilitation and Other Reforms, available at www.parliament.uk/Templates/BriefingPapers/Pages/BPPdfDownload.aspx?bp-id=sn06665.