The Justice Committee has decided to hold a brief inquiry looking at the future of the Youth Justice Board and youth offending teams.
The Government has proposed to abolish the Youth Justice Board and establish a dedicated Youth Justice Division within the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice now has sole responsibility for national governance of youth justice—which used to be shared with Department for Education—and there has been more devolution of power and funding to local authorities.
The inquiry will seek to answer the following questions:
- What impact, if any, have changes to national governance arrangements for youth justice had on the Youth Justice Board and youth offending teams?
- What impact, if any, have changes to funding arrangements had on youth offending teams?
- How can reductions in the number of young people entering the criminal justice system and being sentenced to custody be maintained most effectively within existing levels of funding?
Call for Evidence
Written evidence should be in Word (no later than 2007) or rich text format with as little use of colour or logos as possible, and sent by e-mail to justicecommemo@parliament.uk .
The body of the e-mail must include a contact name, telephone number and postal address. The e-mail should also make clear who the submission is from. The deadline for submissions is 30 September 2011.
Submissions must address the terms of reference. They should be in the format of a self-contained memorandum and should be no more than 3,000 words. Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document must include an executive summary. Further guidance on the submission of evidence can be found at www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/witness.cfm Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere, though previously published work can be referred to in a submission and submitted as supplementary material. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee.
PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT COMMITTEES ARE NOT ABLE TO INVESTIGATE INDIVIDUAL CASES.
The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives, either by printing the evidence, publishing it on the internet or making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.
For data protection purposes, it would be helpful if individuals wishing to submit written evidence send their contact details in a covering letter or e-mail. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Further information
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