Agenda item

The Committee to receive an outline of Westminster City Council’s (WCC) Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Plan for 2019-22: A Pathway to Positive Choices.

5.1      Jayne Vertkin (Head of Early Help) introduced the report which outlined Westminster’s Youth Strategic Partnership Plan for 2019-22. The Committee also invited Sarah Newman (Interim Executive Director of Children’s Services) and Nicky Crouch (Interim Director of Family Services) to join the discussion on this item.

5.2      The Committee was interested to note the report which covered a 3-year period and detailed the work undertaken to develop localised responses in assisting children and young people maximise their outcomes. An overview was also provided of the work of the Youth Offending Team (YOT) which was a multi-agency team which sat within Family Services and worked closely with the full spectrum of Children’s Services from early intervention through to more specialist services.

5.3      The Committee was informed that the number of young people aged 10—17 entering the Youth Justice System for the first time had reduced between October 2017 and September 2018 from the same period the previous year. However, the complexity, nature of the offences and rates of reoffending of the remaining cohort remained a challenge. Difficulties had been experienced in reaching and engaging with this cohort, 50% of which were not in education, employment or training. As a result, the YOT would be carrying out a targeted piece of work, following a scoping exercise, to look at the young people that had reoffended and determine any missed opportunities.

5.4      In response to questions from the Committee it was explained that the strategy was underpinned by a relational and trauma informed approach. This would focus on understanding the reasons for the behaviour, rather than just the result of the behaviour, and support young people to make and sustain change. This whole system approach to youth justice targeted early interventions, placed the children first and engaged them in activities to prevent them entering the Youth Justice System. This included significant school inclusion work being undertaken targeting those children of Primary School age identified as at risk of exclusion. The Committee was pleased to note that the number of young people entering the justice system in Westminster had reduced 3 years in a row which suggested that the early intervention strategy was proving effective. It was explained that as part of this work an Early Help Strategy had recently been developed and this could be circulated to the Committee

5.5      A discussion was held over engagement work carried out with different communities, in particular the Kurdish community. It was confirmed that currently there was not a specific charity relating to the Kurdish community however engagement work with it was being commenced. This was being undertaken through Youth Hubs, partnership working with the Police and the introduction of a new Community Engagement Officer to begin to identify the main concerns of this specific community and explore options to address these concerns. The Committee welcomed this development and requested an update be provided at the next meeting on progress in engaging with the Westminster Kurdish community.

5.6      The issue over young people classified as ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEETs) was highlighted by the Committee who was interested to learn what efforts were being made to engage them. It was confirmed that a NEET Panel had been established to identify and address concerns regarding this issue. Their work involved significant crossover with the Integrated Gangs Unit (IGXU). The Committee noted that 75% of young people referred to the service were continuing to engage with it and 62% had subsequently returned to employment or educational training. Information on the work of the IGU was provided including the workshops it delivered to schools. The Committee expressed interest in the workshops and requested that the possibility of attending a future event be explored.

5.7      The Committee stressed the importance of coordination between the various stakeholders and Council services, in particular the education and employment services, in order to ensure there was integrated working which provided appropriate support and opportunities for young people who had needs which were impacting on their life choices. The Committee expressed its thanks to the Officers for all their hard work in this area and on the positive progress being made.