It believes that this has led to uncertainty amongst those working in youth justice as to what is expected of them and that public confidence in the system has been undermined. There is no clear statutory direction about what the primary objective of the youth justice system should be. The Government's reform programme is intended to correct these deficiencies and to establish a more open, accountable youth justice system with an emphasis on outcomes and not simply on processes. 5.3 The starting point will be a new statutory aim for the youth justice system of preventing offending by children and young people and a new statutory duty on those working in the youth justice system to have regard to that aim. The White Paper also sets out the Government's strategy for strengthening the youth justice system to achieve that aim.
Young people are responsible for a large proportion of crime.
An effective response to offending by young people can help reduce the overall level of crime as well as protecting the welfare and interests of young people. Also, although the great majority of young people who commit crimes do not persist in offending, a small hard core do and continue to offend in their adult life. These are the key objectives of the Government's reform programme. A first priority is to reduce delays in young offender proceedings and, in particular, to halve the current time of 142 days from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders. Comprehensive inter-departmental guidance to help achieve more effective and efficient procedures within the current legislative framework was issued at a national conference on 15 October 1997.