§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they evaluate the Bridges Project set up in Sheffield as a community alternative to secure training orders (STOs); whether it will be continued and repeated elsewhere; and, given that STOs are 100 per cent. Home Office funded, whether they propose to take any action to overcome the difficulty posed by the cost of community alternatives falling mainly on local authorities. [HL1924]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe Bridges Project was a three-year community based project part funded by the Single Regeneration Budget and involving four local authorities in South Yorkshire in partnership with the National Children's Home Action for Children. It was aimed at 12 to 14 year-old persistent young offenders and the project was evaluated by Manchester Metropolitan University in October 1998. The project finished in March 1999.
The Government are in the process of a fundamental reform of the youth justice service in England and Wales, and are committed to ensuring that courts have a range of effective sentencing options—community based as well as custodial—for all juvenile offenders. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 introduced new community-based court disposals to prevent or address youth offending and its causes. The Government recognise that local areas expected to deliver these new youth justice services may need extra resources. These were estimated in the November 1997 White Paper and in the Financial Memorandum to the Crime and Disorder Bill and these estimates are now being tested through pilots. Additional resources will then be reflected in the relevant local funding settlements.