PCCs set out stall for children
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Police and crime commissioners outline how services for the young will fare under the new system
When police and crime commissioners (PCCs) were elected across England in November, the jury was out as to how the new posts would impact on children.
Four months on, all 41 PCCs have drawn up budgets for the coming financial year and published draft policing plans for the period up to 2017, giving an insight into how services for young people will fare under the system.
In Kent, independent PCC Ann Barnes is maintaining funding for local youth offending teams (YOTs) and charities this year.
She intends to use the coming 12 months to decide how to adapt spending to meet pledges in her plan.
“One of my officers is looking at the commissioning landscape,” she says. “It is a new world for us and I want to get a feel for the work that is going on. There may be duplication in some places and gaps in others. Until I really understand what is going on in Kent, it is difficult to allocate money. It is like a jigsaw puzzle without a picture on it.”
Central to Barnes’s policing plan is a pledge to support initiatives that educate young people about the harm caused by substance misuse. She also wants to provide more positive activities to divert young people from crime.
In the meantime, she is pressing ahead with the appointment of a youth commissioner. The postholder, who will be paid £15,000 a year, will represent the views of young people from around the county, working closely with Barnes’s team, and liaising with youth groups, YOTs, schools and colleges.
Barnes, a former teacher, explains: “I know there is this chasm between young people and the establishment, including the police. I want to do something to try to bridge that. If we can keep youngsters out of the criminal justice system, they will more often than not stay out of it. If you had to target one age group, you would target the young – it is the most logical place to start”.
Early intervention
In Avon and Somerset, another independent PCC, Sue Mountstevens, is making early intervention a priority as part of her policing plan. She want
