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Safer SocietyFEATUREorPhoto: Michael GrieveBAILJAIL?BY KEITH TOWLERPhilip Knight was 15 whenhe took his own life inSwansea prison in 1991.Despite the outcry whichfollowed and legislation toend penal remands forjuveniles, eight years onboys like Philip are stillbeing sent to prison.Dealing with youngsters on remand has proved one of the mostdifficult problems of criminal policy in recent years. Everyoneagrees that jail is no place to hold unconvicted school children, butever since the panic about bail bandits in the early nineties concernabout offending on bail has been high. New secure children’s homes intendedto provide alternative accommodation for imprisoned 15 and 16 year olds arebeing used instead to allow courts to lock up children as young as 12. Thelaw’s intention that the most vulnerable boys in the older age group are heldthere too may be scuppered by lack of places.The Government’s answer to the problem lies in greatly extending the rangeand quality of bail support and supervision and other community-basedinitiatives for remanded juveniles. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 willrequire local authorities to provide bail support amongst its services foralleged and convicted young offenders and the Youth Justice Board (YJB)will be devoting £35 million over the next three years to the development ofnew projects up and down the country. The Board’s bidding guidance usesNACRO’s definition of bail support as:‘Community-based activities in programmes designed to help ensure thatdefendants awaiting trial or sentence successfully complete their periods ofunconditional or conditional bail by returning to court on the due datewithout committing offences or interfering with the course of justice and toassist the bailee to observe any conditions of their bail. Activities andprogrammes may be aimed at: improving social and life skills, controllinganger and aggression, reducing drug and alcohol misuse and tacklingdifficulties with family relationships, schooling, employment oraccommodation.’NACRO has worked over many years to improve remand arrangements atnational and local level. A series of surveys undertaken with the Associationof Chief Officers of Probation highlighted the areas from where the largestnumbers tended to go to prison. The Community Alternatives to SecureAccommodation project has set more detailed monitoring of remanddecisions in place in Wales, while the committee chaired in 1996 by formerprisons minister Sir Peter Lloyd published guidance on best practice for allthe key local agencies (NACRO, 1996). The 1995 Directory of Bail Supportmapped existing projects and identified considerable gaps (NACRO, 1995).Not surprisingly, NACRO is set to play an important role in theforthcoming expansion of bail support. Four demonstration projects, fundedby the lottery, will be getting underway in Bradford, Newcastle, Bristol andInner London in the spring. By using volunteer mentors and exploring thepossibility of bailed youngsters making amends for their crimes, theprojects will add genuine innovation to what is known to work best fromexisting projects. In addition, the Home Office and YJB have agreed tofund a small policy and dissemination unit which will ensure the emerginglessons from the projects are learned and applied. This will be particularlyimportant given the large number of projects likely to come into being withfunding from the YJB. NACRO has been contracted by the Board to advisepotential bidders and hopes to play a continuing role in providing thedevelopment, monitoring and information services which an initiative likethis needs if it is to make an optimum impact. Expert advice and assistancewill be key to meeting the objectives of reducing offending on bail,reducing remands to care and custody and helping reduce delay.There are a number of key lessons from NACRO’s diverse experience sofar. First, it is important to locate bail support within an agreed localstrategy, to which all of the agencies sign up. Second, there is a need toNACRO SAFER SOCIETY MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 1999 20