Youth Justice
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in the proportion of diversionary outcomes for children in the youth justice system.
Answered by Jake Richards
The Youth Justice Board’s recent statistical release, ‘The use of diversionary outcomes in England and Wales 2025’, includes the first official assessment of regional variation in youth diversionary outcomes. This confirmed the ‘postcode lottery’ in youth Out of Court Resolutions that we highlighted in our Youth Justice Reform & Delivery Plan. As we set out in that white paper, we will set out plans later this year for fundamental reform of youth Out of Court Resolutions to drive consistent and effective diversion.
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