The bonfire of the quangos

Policy Exchange has been arguing for some time that the Youth Justice Board  should be abolished, with its functions shared between the Ministry of Justice and local councils. It has just been revealed that the body will indeed be scrapped, despite rumours that the Justice Secretary tried to buy more time before making a decision on its future,  before eventually losing out to the Cabinet Office.  There will inevitably be concern at the news from various children’s charities and penal reform organizations who will argue that young offenders need to be treated as a distinct group. So, why did we argue for the YJB to be scrapped and what will it really mean for the future of youth justice?  

The YJB was responsible for commissioning secure accommodation for young offenders, coordinating and funding youth offending teams around the country, and acting as a policy and research repository. It is only fair to point out that it had some very good officials and had done its best to recalibrate a system which had a number of shortcomings in the 1990s, not least a lack of focus on proper partnership working between the different responsible agencies.