A thematic report into the management of gang issues among children and young people in prison custody and the community was today published by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, HM Chief Inspector of Probation and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary.
The review, carried out as part of a service level agreement with the YJB, examined youth offending teams (YOTs) and young offender institutions (YOIs) to find out how in practice the police, probation and prison services at local level were dealing with the issues.
Frances Done, Chair of the Youth Justice Board, said:
“The Youth Justice Board welcomes the findings of this report, which we commissioned, to help change the lives of young people involved with gangs. However, since the field work began in 2008, significant progress has been made on some of the recommendations.
“We have made huge strides in coordinating the work between the police and YOTs, to map out gang activity in different communities. And we have worked with custodial centres to safeguard under-18s by identifying gang members and placing them appropriately. We will continue to help and safeguard young people involved in gangs both in custody and the community. The YJB has also made a significant contribution to the Tackling Knives Action Programme by facilitating the introduction of 97 knife crime prevention programmes in the last two years.”
