Every child found carrying a knife in England and Wales will receive a mandatory, tailored plan aimed at preventing reoffending under new measures announced by the government.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said police will be required to refer all under-18s found with a knife to locally run Youth Justice Service teams – which will receive £320 million in funding over three years to deliver the intervention.
These multi-agency teams, spanning health, education and community services, will draw up specialised plans to address the root causes of offending, including exploitation by criminal gangs and childhood trauma.
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The plans, outlined in a new policy paper, could require children to attend mentoring programmes, remain in education or undertake social skills training to improve employability.
Engagement will be compulsory and if a child fails to participate or is deemed to pose an ongoing risk to the public, police will be notified and further action taken, with possible criminal charges and custody among the consequences.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: “Every life lost to knife crime is an unmitigated tragedy.
“With early targeted action, we can put children on the right path to a positive future and stop them falling into a toxic cycle of reoffending.
“Our reforms will give local services the security they need to help more young people and make our streets safer for everyone.”
Knife crime campaigner Pooja Kanda, whose son Ronan was murdered in 2022, said: “We must not let youths who are caught with a knife be left isolated, with no support and crying out for help.
“I believe this plan would have stopped my son’s attacker from re-offending and eventually taking my son’s life.”
The government said existing prevention schemes are showing impact, with more than 90% of children engaged in its Turnaround programme avoiding future cautions or court appearances.
The programme will receive guaranteed multi-year funding, including over £15mn this year.
The announcement forms part of a broader strategy to halve knife crime within a decade, combining early intervention with enforcement.
Outlining the plans in a ministerial statement, under-secretary of state for justice, Jake Richards MP, also said there would be changes to “oversight structures in the youth justice landscape”.
“These include refocusing the Youth Justice Board (YJB) towards supporting the frontline in a continuous improvement role, while transferring responsibility for the development, funding, and monitoring of youth justice policy to direct ministerial oversight in the Ministry of Justice,” he added.
YJB chief executive Stephanie Roberts-Bibby said: “Today’s ministerial announcement on youth justice reform presents some strong opportunities to respond to the complex challenges in youth justice.
“We welcome multi-year funding certainty for youth justice services, and we support the policy intent and delivery ambition of ministers.”
She added that proposed structural changes to the YJB were “part of a broader structural review across public bodies, not a reflection of the great work of the YJB workforce,” and said the board would “continue as an independent body with a clear and focused national role in continuous improvement, evidence leadership and practice support.”
Source: CYPNOW
