§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Paul Goggins)The Youth Justice Board's annual review for 2002–03 has today been laid before Parliament. Copies have been placed in the Library.
The Youth Justice Board for England & Wales is an executive non-departmental public body established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to monitor the operation and performance of the youth justice system and to identify and disseminate good practice to prevent offending by children and young people. Since April 2000, the Board has been responsible for commissioning services for young people under 18 who are sentenced and remanded to secure facilities.
The Annual Review for 2002–03 reports on the continuing progress in implementing reforms to the youth justice system including a successful reduction in juvenile non-custodial reconviction rates and the 30WS continuing delivery of the Government's pledge to halve the time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders.
The review outlines a year in which new orders and programmes have been successfully introduced—most notably the extension of Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes to 80 per cent. national coverage (ISSPs) targeting persistent and serious offenders and the nationwide roll-out of referral orders and youth offender panels for offenders convicted for the first time.