6th March 2025
Youth justice statistics 2023-2024
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has published its annual statistics about children in the youth justice system in England & Wales.
While the statistics show a decrease in the number of children who come into contact with the youth justice system, there were increases in several stages. For example, the number of custodial sentences increased significantly and for the first time in 10 years, the re-offending rate increased, and the average time from offence to completion at court was at the highest level on record.
The statistics also reveal that Black and Mixed children continued to be over-represented across most stages of the youth justice systems.
Details
Stop and Search
In the year ending March 2024, there were around 103,100 stop and searches of children. This was a decrease of 4% compared with the previous year. While London saw a 23% decrease in the number of stop and searches of children compared to the previous year, the North East and North West both saw increases of 18%.
Despite stop and searches being a key entry point into the youth justice system, 76% of these stop and searches of children resulted in No Further Action, with 10% resulting in arrest, 6% in Community Resolutions, and 8% in warnings or seizure of property.
First Time Entrants (‘FTEs’) to the Youth Justice System
Children who are FTEs to the youth justice system have been steadily decreasing in number since 2011, with just under 8,300 FTEs to the youth justice system in the year ending December 2023. This was a decrease of 3% from the previous year and FTEs were at the lowest ever level. The biggest year-on-year decrease in FTEs compared with other ethnicities was among Black children, with a 6% fall.
In the year ending December 2023, the three most common offences committed by child FTEs were summary offences excluding motoring (20%), violence against the person offences (17%) and possession of weapon offences (16%). While the number of possession of weapons offences and violence against the person offences decreased compared to the previous year, there were increases for child FTEs in many other offence groups, with robbery and theft offences up 21%.
Remand
The percentage of remanded children of the overall custodial population for children remained stubbornly high, at 43%, down only 1 percent from the previous. Nearly two thirds (62%) of children remanded to custody did not subsequently receive a custodial sentence.
Sentencing of Children
In the year ending March 2024:
- around 13,700 children received a caution or sentence, around the same level as the previous year and a fall of 67% from 10 years ago;
- the number of occasions where children were sentenced at court increased for the second consecutive year, by 8%, but is still 62% lower than 10 years ago;
- the number of custodial sentences increased by 21%, which is the first increase in the last 10 years;
- the average time from offence to completion at court was 225 days, an increase of 16 days to the previous year, the highest level on record, and higher than the year ending March 2021 that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic;
- for the third consecutive year, the average custodial sentence length has decreased, standing at 17.5 months;
- the number of remands given to children increased by 6% compared to the previous year, yet almost two thirds (62%) of children remanded to youth detention accommodation did not subsequently receive a custodial sentence; and
- there was an average population of 430 children in custody at any one time during the year, a decrease of 3% against the previous year and the lowest number on record.
Reoffending by Children
The proven reoffending rate for children increased to 32.5%, a 0.3% increase on the previous year and the second consecutive year-on-year increase. The number of children in the cohort and the number of re-offenders both increased for the first time in the last 10 years, while the number of re-offences increased for the second consecutive year. Children who reoffended committed an average of 4.34 reoffences (frequency rate), the highest this rate has been in the last 10 years.
Ethnic Disproportionality in the Youth Justice System
While there have been some reductions in the proportion of Black children accounted for across several areas including arrests and cautions, Black children continued to be over-represented across most stages of the youth justice system. For example, Black children accounted for 11% of all children cautioned or sentenced and 27% of all children in custody on remand, yet account for only 6% of the 10-17 population. While the re-offending rate of Black children decreased by 0.9% compared with the previous year, Black children continued to have the highest re-offending rate among all ethnic groups.
The numbers of Mixed children across various stages of the youth justice system have increased, including a twofold increase in the proportion of Mixed children in custody. Mixed children were also over-represented across a number of stages of the youth justice system. For example, Mixed children accounted for 10% of all children cautioned or sentenced and 19% of all children in custody on remand, yet account for only 6% of the 10-17 population.
Commentary
The latest youth justice statistics continue the trend of modest year-on-year reductions in the number of children involved in some stages of the youth justice system, such as stop and search, arrests, and in custody. However, the statistics show increases in the number of offences resulting in a caution or court sentence, rates of reoffending and the 21% jump in the number of custodial sentences is particularly concerning. Meanwhile the remand statistics demonstrate that the MoJ’s strategy aiming to reduce the proportion of custodial remands is not bearing fruit yet.
Moreover, the delays in the system are laid bare by the fact that the average time from offence to completion at court is the highest it has ever been. This suggests that the system is in crisis and lacking the resources to effectively deal with cases in a timely manner.
There also remains significant ethnic disproportionality in the youth justice system, despite some positive signs with continuing decreases in the number of stop and searches, arrests, cautions, and re-offending of Black children. Keith Fraser, the Chair of the Youth Justice Board, was quoted in a recent article stating that “YJB has been seeking to highlight the issues of over-representation within the youth justice system for over a decade” and that “[i]t is unacceptable that a child is more likely to be criminalised because of their background”.