Wessex Youth Offending Team

Since 1998, Hampshire has been at the forefront of implementing major changes in the way young offenders, aged between 10 and 17 years, are sentenced by courts or referred by the police. Working in partnership with the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton, the Wessex Youth Offending Team (YOT) was created.

The YOT brings together health workers, police officers, probation officers, social workers and teachers to tackle crime committed by young people.

A key change since the YOT began has been the introduction of the final warning scheme, which replaced the discredited repeat cautioning system. Every young person given a final warning is assessed by the YOT. If re-offending is thought likely, an intervention is put in place. All interventions include what is known as ‘restorative justice’, which tries to make amends directly to the victim of their crime or to their local community. For example, the manager of a store where a young offender had shoplifted was offered direct contact. He declined, but asked instead for a letter of apology, which he received.

He wrote to the YOT saying: “Thank you for listening to me. I accept the young person’s apology and would like to be kept informed of his progress.” Final warnings have a sting in their tail. Any re-offending, however trivial, within two years of a final warning, leads straight to court.

The YOT has Parent Support Co-ordinators who work with parents of young offenders subject to Parenting Orders, which courts can now impose. The majority of their work is actually with parents who are crying out for help, who attend voluntarily. This has been so incredibly successful that it was the subject of a three-part BBC documentary. One parent said:

“When I received a Parenting Order I was really angry. I hated my son for the grief he had caused me and because of him I had to go to parenting classes. In the end, I really enjoyed the meetings. They did help me and it was good to meet other people with the same sort of problems.”

About 25% of crime is committed by a small number of persistent young offenders who cause misery to their communities. Since 2002, an Intensive Surveillance and Supervision Programme has been operating in South East Hampshire to target this group. The programme provides a minimum of 25 hours a week constructive activity to tackle their offending, combined with voice verification technology to check their whereabouts and compliance. In 2002 there was a 35% fall in car crime committed by young offenders in South East Hampshire, a sign that the scheme is beginning to impact. In October this year the scheme rolled out to cover the rest of Hampshire.

Did you know...

• In 2002, 97% of young people in Hampshire, aged between 10 and 17 years, didn't get into trouble with the police.

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		Wessex Youth Offending Team

Page last updated on: 03/02/2006