Plan to give children on remand looked-after status could overwhelm councils

In response to the sentencing green paper consultation, the government has announced proposals aimed at reducing reoffending and improving the justice system. These include giving all children remanded in custody looked-after status, affording them a number of additional rights.

Children will be entitled to care planning while in custody and, if they spend 13 weeks or more on remand, care leaver support encompassing entitlement to financial support and accommodation.

Under existing legislation, around 800 children a year subject to court-ordered secure remand or remanded to non-secure local authority accommodation are given the status.

But changes outlined in the government's response and set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, could mean an additional 3,000 children become classed as looked after.

Overwhelming entitlement

Di Hart, principal officer for youth justice at the National Children's Bureau, said that in theory children on remand would get a more holistic assessment of their needs.

"It is to be welcomed because it gives the children some kind of entitlement to support from the local authority and will give some of them leaving care entitlement up until the age of 21 or possibly 25."

But Hart added that current legislation relating to looked-after children in custody remains too complicated given the different forms of remand and the different statuses afforded to young people.

"We haven't been that effective at meeting obligations to children who are looked-after in custody so far," she said. "If you add another 3,000 children into the mix, there is a real risk of local authorities being overwhelmed."

A report published by the chief inspector of prisons in May raised concerns about support for looked-after children in custody. It found that at several establishments, staff were unclear about the entitlements of children in care and did not feel confident that all looked-after children were identified.

Government reforms also mean local authorities will be made responsible for the cost of remands to secure accommodation, while the threshold for remanding children in custody will be raised.

Reduction in remand

Andrew Webb, lead on youth justice at the Association of Directors of Children's Services, believes these measures will lead to a reduction in numbers remanded, but the additional responsibility will prove challenging and "potentially expensive".

"In principle we support this because these are very vulnerable children," he said. "If we are better organised at meeting the needs of young people coming out of custody we would be more likely to have an impact on post-remand and post-sentencing offending."

Penelope Gibbs, director of the Out of Trouble programme at the Prison Reform Trust, said she hoped that eventually all children in custody will be given looked-after status.

"I think for most of the children's charities, this is just a step in the right direction," she said. "It would give them at least the chance of getting better services."

SENTENCING REFORMS FOR YOUNG OFFENDERS

• Youth offending teams will establish compliance panels to ensure young people comply with community sentences
• Pilots of mental health liaison services for juveniles to be expanded beyond six current sites
• The referral order to be made a more restorative disposal for young offenders
• Current restrictions on the repeated use of the referral order will be removed and courts given flexibility to give first-time young offenders a conditional discharge if they plead guilty