Expansion of restorative pilot across England and Wales - GOV.UK
On 21 May 2026, the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales announced the expansion of a national restorative justice pilot for children in the youth justice system.
Restorative justice is a process through which those harmed by offending and those responsible may communicate, directly or indirectly, to address what happened and how harm can be repaired.
Details
The pilot will test a shared practice model for delivering restorative justice consistently across 10 Youth Justice Services in England and Wales. It builds on a 2025 national pilot co-designed with Youth Justice Service teams, practitioners and children with lived experience.
The expansion responds to longstanding concerns that restorative justice has been used inconsistently across youth justice services. It aims to build a stronger evidence base, improve consistency and quality, support children to understand and repair harm, and ensure victims’ needs are properly considered.
The pilot is led by Restorative Justice for All, supported by the Youth Justice Board, funded by the Youth Endowment Fund, and independently evaluated by Coram.
Key features
The pilot introduces a shared practice model for children aged 10 to 17, replacing variable local approaches with a clearer common framework for referral, preparation, delivery and follow-up.
Youth Offending Teams may seek victims’ views before sentencing and explore whether they wish to take part in restorative justice initiatives where appropriate.
The model sets out 10 practical steps covering the full process. It supports direct approaches, such as a facilitated meeting, and indirect approaches, such as letters where face-to-face contact is not appropriate.
It also introduces tailored training and implementation support for each service, with oversight to promote consistency and quality. The model sets minimum expectations but allows services to adapt delivery to local needs. Coram’s independent evaluation will test whether this structured approach improves outcomes and can inform wider adoption.
Participating Youth Justice Services
The 10 participating Youth Justice Services are Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, Buckinghamshire, the Isle of Wight, Lambeth, Leeds, Northamptonshire, Salford, West Mercia and Southwark.
Commentary
For children, the pilot may support meaningful participation in decision-making. Properly delivered, restorative justice can help a child understand the impact of their behaviour, take responsibility and make amends, without reducing the child to the offence committed. It has the potential to divert children involved in low-level offending, address persistent offending, and support alternatives to custody where safeguards are in place. This Child First framing matters because children in the system often have vulnerabilities and should be supported to build strengths, not simply punished.
More broadly, the pilot should create a framework that achieves greater consistency across England and Wales, giving children, families and practitioners greater predictability in how the process is navigated and what outcomes may follow, whilst leaving room for services to adapt delivery to local needs and existing practice.
Practitioners should be alert to opportunities to raise restorative justice, including when victims’ views are sought before sentencing, and to ensure children are prepared and supported to take part.