This first report from the Young Advocates Project presents findings from engagement with over 120 young people across England and Wales, and focuses on the three priority topics of stereotypes, education and warning signs, and jail (custody). The aim was to identify patterns that run through society, and the education and justice systems overall, to find out what young people feel increases the chance of entering the justice system.

AYJ has responded to the Ministry of Justice’s Prisons Strategy White Paper which sets out the government’s 10-year vision for a reformed prison system. At the AYJ, we welcome that the MoJ has not included the children’s secure estate in its strategy for prisons. However, we also recognise that a comprehensive, long-term vision for the children’s secure estate is desperately needed and long overdue.

At the AYJ, six principles for youth justice policy underpin our way of working. We have used these as a framework for our response to the Commission’s call for evidence which focuses on children in, or at risk of involvement in, the justice system. Thank you to all AYJ members who took the time to support our submission.

‘I wanted to be heard’ focuses on girls and young women in contact with the criminal justice system and their experiences of violence, abuse, and exploitation. In particular, it highlights the experiences of Black and minoritised young women, and young women with experience of the care system.

Our extensive second reading briefing, examines the impacts of the Bill, identifying where new measures should be added to address missed opportunities; where provisions stand to reverse recent progress in youth justice and must be removed; and where existing proposals should be amended to maximise their positive potential or address unintended negative consequences.

This literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the existing policy, practice and research literature about the impacts of COVID-19 on the youth justice system. The review considers the impacts of the pandemic across each stage of the youth justice system, bringing together findings from community-based responses, the courts, and the secure estate.

The AYJ has published written evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) on the implications of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill for children.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, currently at Committee Stage in the House of Commons, introduces a whole host of provisions with a range of impacts across the youth justice system. Our Committee Stage briefing examines the proposals.

Falling Through the Gaps sets out the policy context and key findings of young women’s experiences as they turn 18 and move from the youth to adult justice system, as well as experiencing changes in other kinds of provision, including mental health support, accommodation, reduced safeguarding responses and leaving care.

AYJ responds to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, introduced to the House of Commons on 9th March 2021 and due to have its second reading on 15th and 16th March 2021.

Along with Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk, we are publishing our literature review as part of the Young Women’s Justice Project which shines a light on the experiences of young  women aged 17–25  years old in contact with the criminal justice system, including the experiences of girls transitioning into adult services as they turn 18.

The Government’s sentencing white paper outlines plans to reform the criminal records system. While we warmly welcome these reforms, we believe we can and should go further for children, and are calling on the Government to conduct a wide ranging review of the system to ensure it is child-specific and better reflects the nature of childhood offending.

The Government’s sentencing white paper sets out proposals for reform of the legislation governing remand to custody for children. We support the decision to revisit the threshold for the remand of children into custody, particularly given the Government’s stated aim that remand to custody should be used only as a last resort for children.

We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Home Office consultation on Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs). We consulted widely with our members to ensure that the breadth and depth of their expertise informs our submission to the consultation.

Welcome developments in youth justice are being undermined by the current childhood criminal records system, strengthening the timely call for a widespread review. Criminal records are so clearly intertwined with a range of further issues in the wider criminal justice system and are actively impeding the efforts of government and civil society to tackle pressing issues like racial disparity and addressing the impact of violence and exploitation.

We are proud to publish a new report, Ensuring custody is the last resort for children in England and Wales. Developed with an expert group of our members, we recommend that custody should only ever be used as a last resort for children is enshrined in domestic law and international human rights conventions, but is not currently applied as such.

In this unprecedented public health emergency, our members and stakeholders are working intensively through the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be implications for all children and young people in our communities, particular challenges for those in the youth justice system, and exceptionally critical risks for children in custody. Over the past few weeks, we have been working with our members to gather information and insight, enabling us to highlight issues and make practical suggestions.

We responded to the Justice Select Committee inquiry into children and young people in custody. Our response covers a range of topics including custody as a last resort; Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) children in custody; the harm of the secure estate; staffing; restraint; placements; and resettlement.

We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Home Office consultation on the Knife Crime Prevention Order (KCPO) guidance. We worked closely with the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) during the parliamentary stages of the Offensive Weapons Bill to assist parliamentarians on scrutiny of the bill’s provisions. Our work helped to secure the consultation on the guidance on KCPOs as well as the piloting of KCPOs, with a report on the pilot to be laid before Parliament prior to the further roll out of the orders.

Both the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats have recently consulted on their criminal justice policy. We responded to the consultations setting out our position and recommendations around priority areas of the youth justice system.