Launch of new West Mercia Youth Offending Service

Today (Monday 1 October 2012) sees a major change in the way youth offending is organised and delivered in West Mercia with the launch of a new West Mercia Youth Offending Service (YOS). 

This new service, which aims to support young offenders and help prevent them from reoffending, replaces the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Youth Offending Service and the Worcestershire and Herefordshire Youth Offending Service. 

The idea behind the creation of a single YOS is to improve efficiency; improve outcomes for young offenders – building on the strengths of the existing services; and create significant savings that would otherwise have had to come from the frontline.  The links with probation will also open up the possibility of further savings from future collaboration.  

The new service will be managed day-to-day by West Mercia Probation Trust and headed up by Keith Barham, previous Head of Service for Worcestershire and Herefordshire YOS.    Although the responsibility for youth justice will ultimately remain with the four main local authorities, the new arrangement anticipates the coming of the Police and Crime Commissioner and will give the commissioner a West Mercia focus to youth offending. 

The trust is keen to capitalise on the real opportunities this provides to work with young adult offenders, across the current arbitrary change of agency from youth to adult at 18 – which is also the age of peak offending.  Under these new arrangements the YOS and Probation will explore the development of a transition service for 15- to 21-year-olds. 

David Chantler, chief executive, West Mercia Probation Trust, said:

“My enthusiasm for this project is driven by an observation that, in 35 years of working in probation, I have known very few people who started offending as adults.  If we can stop troubled youths from becoming troublesome adults it would enhance their lives and prospects immensely and free up resources in a range of adult services to be reinvested in early interventions.  That would be an innovation of which to be proud.” 

The new YOS will deliver a defined core service for young offenders, which includes those activities that are statutory youth justice services and must be carried out by a YOS, such as the preparation of court reports.   This core service will be supported by commissioned activities which do not have to be carried out directly by a YOS.  Some of the commissioned activities will be statutory, such as reparation activities; and others will be discretionary, such as mentoring.  The commissioned activities will be subject to a commissioning process. 

Gail Quinton, chair of the West Mercia Project Board, said:

“The creation of this new service is an innovative approach which will lead to an improved service for young offenders, as well as providing wider benefits and increased links across each of the local authority areas. 

“These increased links will provide opportunities to help prevent reoffending as well as offering financial savings.  It will also provide opportunities for enhanced provision through integrated working with other local services such health, schools and adult services, as well as West Mercia Police and the proposed elected police commissioner.”  

The new head of service, Keith Barham, said:

“The new arrangements will allow for clear pathways to be developed into a range of other services, and opens the potential for integrated working with children and family services across West Mercia, with the shared aims of reducing youth crime and improving outcomes for young people who are in or at risk of entering the youth justice system.” 

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for youth offending, added:

“Today marks the beginning of a more co-ordinated approach to preventing youth offending and reducing the risk of re-offending in the West Mercia region. 

“The creation of the single Youth Offending Service is bringing our resources and expertise together across the area, freeing up resources locally for earlier intervention.  The integrated service will help to ensure we are achieving our aims and can explore the best ways to further develop the service.” 

For a short period from today, 1 October, the two YOS areas will inevitably continue to function as two teams with a shared manager, but by the end of March 2013 they will be separated into five teams, one each for Shropshire, Telford, Herefordshire, North Worcestershire and South Worcestershire, operating under the umbrella of the new West Mercia wide service.