Issue - meetings

To Council is asked to receive and approve the Youth Justice Plan, as recommended by the Cabinet (13 September 2023) (Minute 377 refers and replicated below). The Report is attached.

(a) that the 2023/2024 Youth Justice Service Plan be endorsed and in accordance with ‘Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000’, be recommended to the Council for adoption;

(b) that the existing contribution to a pooled budget to part finance Youth Justice Services in Devon of £299,200 be agreed, noting that no additional funding is being sought through the Report; and

(c) that in order to maintain an informed dialogue on youth justice matters within communities to achieve the ambitions of the plan to the greatest effect, for both the benefit of children and society as a whole, the Report be further endorsed.

The Leader of the Council MOVED and Councillor Leadbetter SECONDED that the recommendations of the Cabinet, as set out at Minute 377, be approved, as outlined below;  

(a) that the 2023/2024 Youth Justice Service Plan be endorsed and in accordance with ‘Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000’, be approved for adoption;

(b) that the existing contribution to a pooled budget to part finance Youth Justice Services in Devon of £299,200 be agreed, noting that no additional funding is being sought through the Report; and

(c) that in order to maintain an informed dialogue on youth justice matters within communities to achieve the ambitions of the plan to the greatest effect, for both the benefit of children and society as a whole, the Report be further endorsed.

The Motion was put to the vote and declared CARRIED.

The Council considered the recommendations of the Cabinet held on 13 September 2023 relating to the adoption by the County Council of the proposed Youth Justice Plan. The Plan had been circulated with the agenda.

The Leader of the Council MOVED and Councillor Leadbetter SECONDED that the recommendations of the Cabinet, as set out at Minute 377, be approved, as outlined below;

(a) that the 2023/2024 Youth Justice Service Plan be endorsed and in accordance with ‘Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000’, be approved for adoption;

(b) that the existing contribution to a pooled budget to part finance Youth Justice Services in Devon of £299,200 be agreed, noting that no additional funding is being sought through the Report; and

(c) that in order to maintain an informed dialogue on youth justice matters within communities to achieve the ambitions of the plan to the greatest effect, for both the benefit of children and society as a whole, the Report be further endorsed.

The Motion was put to the vote and declared CARRIED.

Report of the Interim Service Manager, Devon Youth Justice Service (CS/23/10), presenting the Annual Youth Justice Plan, attached.

RESOLVED

(a) that the 2023/2024 Youth Justice Service Plan be endorsed and in accordance with ‘Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000’, be recommended to the Council for adoption;

(b) that the existing contribution to a pooled budget to part finance Youth Justice Services in Devon of £299,200 be agreed, noting that no additional funding is being sought through the Report; and

(c) that in order to maintain an informed dialogue on youth justice matters within communities to achieve the ambitions of the plan to the greatest effect, for both the benefit of children and society as a whole, the Report be further endorsed.

(Councillors Biederman, Brazil, Dewhirst and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Interim Service Manager of the Devon Youth Justice Service (YJS) (CS/23/10), which presented the Annual Youth Justice Plan, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

Section 39 (1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 required the co-operation of the named statutory partners to form a YJS. Section 38 (1, 2) identified the statutory partners which were the local authority, education, police, probation service and health.

The national Youth Justice Board required each Youth Justice Service in England and Wales to submit an annual report to inform the strategic oversight of the service and set out the ambitions for the upcoming year. This plan had to be agreed by the Chair of the local Youth Justice Management Board, prior to submission to the YJB for scrutiny (completed 30^th June 2023). The ‘sign off’ by the Chair was an indication that the wider management board had approved the submitted plan and all sections outlined in the Youth Justice Plan Structure had been covered.

There was also a requirement for full Council sign off, which had been in place since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 enabled Youth Offending Services (the national title).

The autumn 2022 inspection process by HMI Probation recorded a GOOD rating with several outstanding features (see appendix 1).

The work of Devon YJT was driven by the YJ Management Board and its annual objectives (outlined at appendix 2) and objectives and progress were regularly reviewed in quarterly Board meetings.

The Devon YJT was a statutory service with multi partner funding sources together with a national YJB grant and completion of the sign off process was necessary to ensure the grant was received in a timely fashion, to enable the effective operation of YJ services.  

The YJ Plan previously submitted to the national YJB contained performance data for the 2022/2023 year as required, as could be seen at appendix 3.

Section 5 of the Report also outlined the feedback which formed an integral part of YJT evaluation, from children, parents and carers as well as anonymised case studies and good practice examples being regularly shared with the Board (appendix 4 denotes).

The strategic plan of Devon Youth Justice system was well aligned with a range of the Council’s Strategic Plan priorities and the table at section 6 outlined those priorities aligned to various actions in being ambitious for children and young people, supporting sustainable economic recovery, tackling poverty and inequality, improving health and wellbeing and helping communities be safe, resilient and connected.

The Devon YJS operated under a 5 part pooled budget – the core membership plus the YJB grant. The Budget for 2023 – 24 was reported in section 7 with the agency, staffing costs, and delegated funds.

The Cabinet noted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 377