Councils combine to drive down youth crime

THE newly-combined Youth Offending Service covering Cheshire West, Halton and Warrington has launched.
It will create a new way of working with children and young people who break the law, or who behave in an anti-social manner, or who are in danger of heading down that path.
Frances Done, national chair of the Youth Justice Board and a speaker at the launch event, said: “By joining forces these three local authorities will be able to provide a Youth Offending Team which remains focused on rehabilitating young people and protecting the public, while being much more cost-effective.
“I am confident that this new approach will bring together the best local expertise to respond to community issues, helping drive down youth offending and reducing the number of people who get caught up in the youth justice system.”
Of the 125,000 young people living across the three boroughs, only 270 are young offenders currently registered with the service. The boroughs have seen a reduction in first-time entrants to the service of 70% since 2005.
Head of the combined service, Gareth Jones, added: “The new Youth Offending Service will use a range of methods including education and training, health and substance misuse services, restorative justice and reparation to victims.
“By combining our skills and experience throughout three local authorities we are keeping a high quality workforce focused on the task in hand – to reduce youth crime for the benefit of everyone.”
The new service will be chaired by Warrington Borough Council’s executive director of children and young people’s services, Kath O’Dwyer.