Agenda item

·       Youth Justice Board update

·       Troubled Families

·       Cohorts where there are links to the Safer Communities Partnership Strategy, including Domestic Violence and VAWG, crime and ASB and demand pressures

(Relevant to Priority 4 of the Community Safety Strategy)

Ms McElligot presented her slides about the team’s activities over the past six months:

• There is still a high prevalence of children in need, and health and DV are the other two largest categories of need in relation to attaching families in Barnet.
• The secondee had been appointed from CRC to the Troubled Families Programme enables professionals to be co-located from other agencies into Family Services as required. Two additional Welfare Advisors had been recruited due to the increase in furloughed and unemployed residents. A decision was awaited on funding for the Troubled Families Programme beyond March 2021.
• Current data on young offenders is skewed, appearing much smaller than true figures, due to Covid. Offending overall has reduced, but a lot of young people had had hearings adjourned which would affect national data for several months.
• Barnet’s custody rate remains one of England’s lowest and shows the Court’s confidence in the Youth Offending Service’s community interventions.
• There appears to be a decrease in those at risk of reoffending and at high risk of serious harm, probably due to lockdown, but data delays make this difficult to confirm.
• Youth Offending Officers saw people face-to-face during this period and the local Criminal Justice Magistrates had commended Barnet Youth Offending Services for providing this support during a difficult time.
• Breaches have remained consistent during the past six months and Barnet officers had seen most individuals virtually, and in cases of non-compliance with the Order have ensured the individuals are returned to Court and had their sentences reviewed.
• First time entrants to the criminal justice system had been low during the pandemic. Barnet remained lower than London and national averages.
• Data revealed an increase in caseload for the YOT; however, 20% of this cohort are aged 18 and above and remained in this group due to deliberate delays in transfers to probation services during the pandemic so that they continued do receive support. The transfers had now begun.
• Barnet’s prevention efforts in the aged 14 plus group of offenders, which disproportionately affects individuals from BAME backgrounds had been discussed with magistrates to try to ascertain whether those from BAME backgrounds had been sentenced more harshly than white people for the same crimes. The magistrates continue with his piece of work.
• Barnet had signed up to Operation Harbinger which focuses on the ‘golden hour’ to ensure that children arriving into custody are promptly safeguarded. 
• Barnet is working with the NPS to pilot a Resettlement in Transition Programme with the Youth Custody Replacement and Resettlement Service, to ensure that there is better preparation for when young people leave custody. There had been issues regarding housing due to Covid-19 so virtual meetings would be held to plan for their accommodation.
• New community volunteers are being recruited to the Referral Order Panel; both virtual and face-to-face meetings would be held during the pandemic.
• Fresh Start in Education Ltd has been appointed to support children at risk of exclusion from school, since this cohort is at high risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system.
• The Vulnerable Adolescents Partnership has published its Strategy to 2022, available in hard copy via the Governance Officer, tracy.scollin@barnet.gov.uk if required and available on the Barnet Safeguarding Children Partnership website.
• The Trusted Relationships Programme, set up for vulnerable adolescents in the community, has one year’s funding remaining. Its Prevention Programme has been disrupted over the Covid period and the voluntary sector is looking at ways to restart them with a mix of online and face-to-face activities.
• MOPAC Rescue and Response is funded until March 2021 to support under-18-year-olds who have been picked up for County Lines activity.
• NHS England and Troubled Families funding has been used to provide speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, a forensic psychologist and a Liaison and Diversion worker until March 2022 to assess the needs of young people coming into the service.
• Funding for the Sibling Mentoring Programme has been extended to October 2021 due to disruption from the pandemic.

The Chairman asked how Barnet compares to other London Boroughs regarding young people’s involvement in County Lines activity. Ms McElligot responded that Barnet’s figures are lower than other London Boroughs though she does not receive full data from other Boroughs. 

The Chairman enquired how activities for young people as Ms McElligot had described at the previous meeting could continue during the pandemic. Ms McElligot responded that this is a challenge as the campsite that was used is closed. The team is exploring the possibility of other outdoor activities.

The Board resolved to note the report.