Youth Justice Board: Youth Justice Statistics 2023 – 2024 Insight Report
The Youth Justice Board has produced its Insight Report, which analyses the Youth Justice Statistics 2023 – 2024 which were published earlier this year.
Framed by the ‘Child First’ approach (which seeks to put the needs, rights and potential of the child at the centre of every decision and action), the report underscores both challenges and emerging strategies across these areas, while drawing attention to overrepresentation of specific groups and systemic issues such as trauma, exclusion, and disproportionality.
Details
The YJB's 2023–24 report highlights the following key findings:
- There was a sharp 47% increase in proven sexual offences committed by children (approx. 1,400), the highest since 2018. White boys were overrepresented among those charged, while most victims were girls.
- Knife and serious violence offences by children declined by 6%, continuing a six-year downward trend. Though despite this decrease, the figure is still 20% greater than it was 10 years ago. Most offences involved possession (99.7%), with 61% resulting in community sentences. Children frequently cited protection as a reason for carrying weapons, especially those with experience of care or special educational needs (“SEN”) school.
- Reoffending rose for a second consecutive year, with the highest rates among children leaving custody (66%) and those on Youth Rehabilitation Orders (59%). Black children had the highest reoffending rates despite a small decrease. School exclusions, poor access to education, and undiagnosed neurodiversity are identified as major contributing factors, alongside gaps in speech and language support.
- Time from offence to case completion reached a record 225 days. Delays are driven by long police investigations, digital evidence backlogs, and resource constraints. Black children are processed quicker by police but face the longest delays on average once in court. The rise in offences related to technology and online crimes is also cited as a potential cause of delay to completion due to the resources required for digital forensics.
- While the YJB does not yet publish diversion data, the increased use of diversion is evident. The Turnaround programme (the MoJ-led youth justice early intervention programme) showed early promise, with 83% of children avoiding further justice contact. However, access remains uneven; children with special education needs and disabilities, and those from minority backgrounds are less likely to benefit due to communication barriers and inconsistent police practices. It has also been noted that the use of Outcome 22 (i.e. where a case does not meet the public interest test for further action and the individual has been given the opportunity to engage with a diversionary activity) is inconsistent in its application.
The YJB has also set out its next steps and recommendations for tackling these issues. Key points include:
- Publication of the Prevention and Diversion Assessment Tool in 2026.
- Leveraging relationships with Government Departments (including Education, Home Office, Health, Justice and Welsh Government) – for example, in the context of prevention and diversion.
- Encouraging collaboration with police, the youth justice system, Home Office and other partners on disposals and deferred prosecution.
Commentary
The YJB’s report underscores persistent and systemic challenges in youth justice, with concerning increases in sexual offences and reoffending rates, alongside deep-rooted racial and educational disparities. For practitioners, this signals a pressing need to advocate for trauma-informed, culturally competent, and child-specific responses. Legal representatives should be alert to the risk of children, particularly those from marginalised backgrounds, being unfairly excluded from diversion or held in procedural limbo due to systemic delays.
Based on the YJB’s own recommendations for future activity and commentary in the report, practitioners should also:
- Push for early and consistent identification of SEN/neurodiversity.
- Monitor the use and fairness of diversionary outcomes like Outcome 22.
- Highlight racialised outcomes in decision-making and advocate for tackling systemic bias.
- Collaborate with education providers to prevent exclusion and secure meaningful education, training and employment pathways post-custody.
- Use Child First principles as leverage in advocating for the least-restrictive, supportive interventions at every stage.
Practitioners and volunteers may wish to revisit training materials on diversion, racial disproportionality, and SEN identification in light of this report.