Nacro's response to Breaking the Cycle Green Paper

Breaking the Cycle: Nacro’s response | 46avoided – it is contrary to the underpinning principles of the panel system. However, safeguardsagainst disproportionality and unfairness should be bolstered, including legal oversight.The current guidance should be reviewed with less emphasis on traditional youth offending teaminterventions, less on reparation (unless meaningful and relevant) with more of an emphasis onrestorative conferencing involving the family and friends of the offender, as far as is appropriate.Nacro believes that RJ is a measure that has wider application outside of the youth justicesystem. It is one of the interventions that resonates powerfully with victims of crime andenables a process of healing to take place. Some offenders also find the experience achallenging but ultimately positive one, citing awareness of the impact of their crime on victimsas being a particularly strong influence in desistance. However, victim-offender mediation andrestorative conferencing is not a cheap option. Neither is it suitable in all cases. Expert, suitablyqualified practitioners and effective multi-agency partnerships must be in place to ensure highqualityservice provision. The voluntary sector can be an effective partner in RJ models, with astrong track record of achieving participation and engagement of both offender and victim.Q50 How can we increase the effective enforcement of youth sentencing?Overall, Nacro favours an approach that works to gain compliance, but safeguards must be inplace to ensure that over-reliance on compliance panels does not become counter-productive,nor has the perverse outcome of increasing (as opposed to reducing) the number of breachesand detracting from professional discretion. That said, panels may provide some scope for thereview of orders and revocation wherever possible. There is a place for panels and this shouldbe at the point of complete failure to comply/at the start of breach proceedings.Supervision/sentence plans should be clear on what elements are enforceable and which arenot. This can be articulated through the deployment of primary and secondary contracts withthe offender. The notion of breach being applied only where there is a failure to work towardsthe main achievable aims and objectives of supervision should be established, as opposedto breaching only for process points. Thus, difficulty in keeping to what can be complex diaryand travel arrangements without positive adult support or in the face of domestic stress shouldbe addressed via innovative and imaginative methods of attrition prevention. We know thatvoluntary and community sector organisations are particularly effective in engaging youngpeople and that their ethos and methods of work can secure better outcomes. Attritionrates and improved levels of compliance will be achieved through the greater involvement ofvoluntary and community sector organisations in the delivery of services.Q51 How can we succeed in reducing the need for custodial remand for youngpeople?The proposed single remand order is tentatively welcomed, but this is entirely dependenton the detail. For example, a single order based on a straight remand in custody would beregressive and inappropriate and contrary to children’s rights.