Youth Justice overhaul to keep streets safer
18 May 2026 12:51 PM
Children and young people will get earlier support to steer them away from crime under a major overhaul of the youth justice system unveiled by the Government today (Monday 18 May).
- Landmark reforms will intervene earlier and stop more young people falling into crime.
- Parents and carers to face tougher accountability when children offend.
- New youth intervention courts to tackle repeat offenders.
- Part of Government action to cut crime and create safer streets.
Published by the Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, a new Youth Justice White Paper provides the blueprint for earlier intervention, more targeted support, and tackling the root causes of youth crime to create safer communities and fewer victims.
The announcement comes as figures show eight out of ten prolific offenders committed their first crime as a child, while two-thirds of those released from custody reoffend within a year.
New measures announced today include piloting new Youth Intervention Courts, which will for the first time bring together judges, youth justice services and specialist support to tackle the drivers of offending and keep young people on track. The courts will also provide intensive supervision and tailored interventions, including health or educational requirements, while closely monitoring compliance to break cycles of repeat reoffending.
Parents and carers will also face greater responsibility for children who commit crime or cause anti-social behaviour, recognising the vital role families play in reducing reoffending. The Government will strengthen and expand Parenting Orders, which can compel parents or guardians to address their child’s behaviour – including attending counselling or guidance sessions – or face penalties such as fines.
The move comes after the use of Parenting Orders declined dramatically, from more than 1,000 in 2009/10 to just 33 in 2022/23.
There will also be a greater emphasis on addressing children who present the highest risk of committing the most serious and violent offences. Ministers will explore strengthening Youth Rehabilitation Orders with intensive supervision and surveillance, allowing electronic monitoring to track their whereabouts alongside robust rehabilitation activity to keep the public safe. However, the Government is clear custody will always remain essential for the most dangerous offenders.
Crucially, the reforms look to modernise the youth justice system, ensuring it keeps pace with new and emerging risks faced by today’s children including online harms, exploitation and rising vulnerability.
Further measures set out in the White Paper include:
- An extra £15.4 million per year investment in the Government’s flagship Turnaround programme to help a further 12,000 children at risk of entering the youth justice system, over the next three years. As of December 2024, just 7% of children who had completed Turnaround interventions had gone on to receive a sentence or caution.
- Fundamental reform of the youth out-of-court resolution framework, setting out our proposals in autumn 2026.
- Taking a fundamental look at the function and purpose of criminal courts for child defendants, reporting by August 2027.
- A commitment to end unnecessary custodial remand for children – slashing its use by 25% this Parliament to ensure children awaiting trial or sentencing are not held unless public protection requires it, backed by £5 million for robust community alternatives.
- Widening the range of tough community sentences available to the courts and reducing ineffective short custodial sentences – which combined with remand reforms could reduce the youth custodial population by 20%.
- Consulting on childhood criminal records reform by the end of the year. This will consider potentially ending lifelong disclosure requirements for childhood offences so people aren’t forever held back by mistakes made as children.
- Delivering on the commitment to create a new child criminal exploitation offence – going after the adults who prey on children and draw them into offending.
Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy said:
Too many young people are being drawn into crime, with devastating consequences for victims, communities and their own futures.
These reforms lay the foundation to intervene far earlier, support families, and tackle the drivers of offending so fewer young people become trapped in cycles of crime, creating safer streets and fewer victims.
Minister for Sentencing and Youth Justice, Jake Richards, said:
Put simply, the youth justice system is not working – not for children, victims and communities blighted by crime.
These reforms will modernise the system, keep pace with emerging risks and ensure young offenders get the support they need to turn their lives around, while improving public safety.
The reforms announced today are backed by figures which show more than two-thirds of children released from custody reoffend within a year, but just over one-third of children sentenced to community sentences reoffended.
In addition, following sustained efforts across the system for many years, the number of children entering the youth justice system has fallen significantly. The result is a far more complex cohort of children, many victims of exploitation and with extensive offending histories including serious offences.
The White Paper seeks to address this challenge head on – ensuring the youth justice system intervenes earlier, is firmer where necessary, and is consistently focussed on preventing harm.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said:
As Children’s Commissioner, I have consistently been clear about the need to reform the youth justice system. We must build an approach that keeps children safe, diverts them from crime wherever possible, and prioritises meaningful behaviour change.
Education is central to this. It is the most powerful tool we have to prevent offending in the first place, and it remains vital for those in Young Offender Institutions who have already fallen through the cracks. I am therefore pleased to welcome the Youth Justice White Paper published today, and that I have been asked to undertake a review of the education children in YOIs receive, with the aim of improving outcomes and giving these children a better chance for the future.
Anti-knife crime campaigner and founder of Fazamnesty, Faron Paul, said:
Fazamnesty welcomes the Government’s proactive approach in the Youth Justice White Paper, which focuses on early intervention, prevention, and support for young people facing growing pressures and exploitation. Prevention is always better than cure. By working together with organisations like Fazamnesty and other community groups, we can help guide young people away from crime and create safer communities for everyone.
These reforms build on recent Government action to tackle the most serious issues affecting young people including knife crime and violence against women and girls.
Every child in England and Wales caught carrying a knife will now be given a mandatory specialised plan to stop them reoffending, part of the Government’s commitment to halve knife crime within a decade.
Meanwhile, the Government’s violence against women and girls strategy seeks to better protect girls from abuse and steer young boys away from harmful misogynistic influences.