Youth Justice Statistics
Source: data.gov.uk (2016-01-26)

Annual publication reporting statistics including demographics, remand episodes and behaviour management of young offenders.
Source agency: Justice
Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics
Language: English
Alternative title: Youth Justice Statistics

Youth Justice Statistics  
2012/13 
 
England and Wales 
 
Youth Justice Board / Ministry of Justice  
Executive Summary 
 
Published 30th January 2014 
Also available on the Gov.uk website at 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-justice-statistics 

 
 
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Executive Summary  
This publication looks at the English and Welsh Youth Justice System (YJS) 
in 2012/13 in terms of the number of young people in the system, their 
offences, outcomes and the trends over time.  
Overview 
The Youth Justice System (YJS) in England and Wales works to prevent 
offending and re-offending by children and young people under the age of 18 
years. The system is different to the adult system and is structured to address 
the needs of young people. The YJS is far smaller than the adult system (see 
Chapter 11 for more details). The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is the executive 
non-departmental public body that oversees the YJS in England and Wales.  
 
The overall number of young people in the YJS continued to reduce in 
2012/13. Reductions have been seen in the number entering the system for 
the first time, as well as reductions in those receiving disposals in and out of 
court, including those receiving custodial sentences. There has also been a 
fall in the number of young people in the re-offending cohort and small 
reductions in re-offending rates for the first time since 2007/08. 
Since 2009/10, there have been 55 per cent fewer young people coming into 
the Youth Justice System and 36 per cent fewer young people (under 18) in 
custody. 
Arrests and out of court disposals1 
Latest available arrests data relate to the 2011/12 financial year. In 2011/12 
there were 1,235,028 arrests for notifiable offences in England and Wales, of 
which 167,995 were of people aged 10-17 years. These 10-17 year olds 
accounted for 13.6 per cent of all the arrests and 10.8 per cent of the 
population of England and Wales of offending age2. 
There were 30,778 reprimands, warnings or conditional cautions given to 
young people in England and Wales in 2012/13. This is a decrease of 26 per 
cent on the 41,343 given in 2011/12, and a decrease of 64 per cent on the 
86,469 given in 2002/03. 
There were also 2,883 Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) given to 16-17 
year olds in 2012/13 and in 20123 there were 273 Anti Social Behaviour 
                                            
1 A disposal is an umbrella term referring both to sentences given by the court and to pre-
court decisions made by the police. Disposals can be divided into four separate categories of 
increasing seriousness starting with pre-court disposals then moving into first-tier and 
community-based penalties through to custodial sentences. 
2 In England and Wales people of offending age are classed as those aged 10 years or older. 
The general 10-17 population figures are from the ONS mid year estimates for 2011.  
3 In the calendar year 

 
 
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Orders (ASBOs) given to young people. In the last year, the number of PNDs 
issued to young people has decreased by 46 per cent and the number of 
ASBOs issued decreased by 27 per cent.  
Proven offences by young people 
Overall there were 98,837 proven offences by young people in 2012/13, down 
by 28 per cent from 2011/12 and down by 63 per cent since 2002/03. The 
largest falls in proven offences between 2009/10 and 2012/13 have been in: 
breach of a statutory order which fell by 61 per cent, motoring offences by 60 
per cent and public order offences by 58 per cent. The smallest reduction has 
been in robbery offences which reduced by 32 per cent between 2009/10 and 
2012/13.  
Young people receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction (first 
time entrants) 
In 2012/13, there were 27,854 first time entrants (FTEs) to the Youth Justice 
System. The number of first time entrants fell by 67 per cent from 2002/03 to 
2012/13 and fell by 25 per cent in the last year. 
Trends in first time entrants, 2002/03 to 2012/13 
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Num ber of First Tim e Entrants
Reprimand or final warning
Conviction 
 
 
The Ministry of Justice has commissioned an analytical project, which aims to further 
its understanding of the drivers of the falls in youth FTEs. Findings are planned to be 
available by the end of 2014/15. 
 
 

 
 
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Young people receiving a substantive outcome4  
There were 49,222 young people who received a substantive outcome in 
England and Wales in 2012/13. This number has reduced by 26 per cent from 
2011/12 and by 54 per cent since 2009/10.  
Young people sentenced 
In 2012/13 there were 43,601 young people sentenced in England and Wales. 
This has fallen by 28 per cent in the last year. The number of young people 
sentenced for immediate custody fell by 31 per cent from 4,024 in 2011/12 to 
2,780 in 2012/13. This number has fallen by 61 per cent since 2002/03, when 
there were 7,110 young people sentenced for immediate custody.  
Young people in custody (under 18) 
The average population of young people in custody in 2012/13 (under 18) was 
1,544. The average population in custody (under 18) has reduced by 21 per 
cent in the last year, and by 36 per cent since 2009/10. The average custody 
population in 2012/13 including 18 year olds held in the youth secure estate 
was 1,708. This represents a 20 per cent reduction on the average of 2,141 in 
2011/12. 
Overall the average length of time spent in custody increased by eight days to 
85 days in 2012/13. For Detention and Training Orders (DTOs), it increased 
by eight days (from 107 to 115), for remands it increased by three days (from 
42 to 45) and for longer sentences it decreased by 51 days (from 353 to 302). 
Trends in young people in custody, 2002/03 to 
2012/13
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Average No. young people in custody
Custody Population (under 18)
Custody Population (inc 18)
 
 
                                            
4 A substantive outcome is a pre-court or court disposal.  

 
 
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Behaviour management in the youth secure estate 
There were 6,455 incidents of restrictive physical interventions (RPIs) used in 
the youth secure estate in 2012/13, down by seven per cent from 2009/105 
and a reduction of 23 per cent since 2011/12. The number of RPIs per 100 
young people increased by 45 per cent compared to 2009/10 and increased 
two per cent compared to 2011/12. 
Alongside this, there were 1,388 incidents of self harm, down by 33 per cent 
on 2009/10 and a decrease of 20 per cent on 2011/12, though the number of 
self harm incidents per 100 young people increased by five per cent 
compared to 2009/10 but increased by seven per cent compared to 2011/12. 
There were 2,807 assaults by young people in custody, down by 22 per cent 
on 2009/10 and down by 17 per cent on 2011/12, though the number of 
assaults per 100 young people increased by 22 per cent compared to 2009/10 
and increased by 11 per cent compared to 2011/12. 
There were 2,712 occasions where single separation was used in Secure 
Children’s Homes or Secure Training Centres, down by 58 per cent since 
2009/10 and down 30 per cent on 2011/12. The number of single separation 
incidents per 100 young people decreased by 55 per cent compared to 
2009/10 and decreased by 22 per cent compared to 2011/12. 
Deaths in custody and number of serious incidents 
There have been 16 deaths of children in custody since 2000 but no deaths in 
youth custody during 2012/13. 
Complete data on the number of serious incidents in the community is not 
available for 2012/13, because of a change in the way that information is 
recorded. 
Re-offending by young people 
The overall (binary) re-offending rate for young people was 35.5 per cent in 
2011/12, with an average of 1.02 re-offences per offender in the cohort 
(frequency rate) and 2.88 re-offences per re-offender. Re-offending rates 
have fallen for the first time since 2007/8. 
The number of young people in the re-offending cohort has gone down every 
year since 2007/08, with particular reductions among those with no previous 
offences and those receiving pre-court disposals. As such, the cohort is 
comprised of young people whose characteristics mean that they are more 
likely to re-offend. This is reflected in the higher predicted rate of re-offending 
(which was 32.1% in 2007/08 and 35.5% in 2011/12) and the higher average 
                                            
5 This is the earliest year for which information is available. 

 
 
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previous number of offences for each young person (which was 1.74 in 
2007/08 and 2.51 in 2011/12.  
 
Criminal history of young people 
The proportion of young people who committed offences that resulted in a 
reprimand, warning or conviction that were previously known to the Youth 
Justice System has decreased over time.  In 2002/03, 77 per cent of the 
young people receiving a disposal were not previously known to the Youth 
Justice System. By 2012/13 this proportion had fallen to 73 per cent.  
In 2012/13 five per cent of young people sentenced for an indictable offence 
had 15 or more previous offences. This figure has risen from two per cent in 
2002/03 and has steadily increased year on year.  
There has also been a reduction in first time entrants to the Youth Justice 
System over this period so young people in the Youth Justice System are 
more likely to have previous offences. 
 

 
 
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Flows through the Youth Justice System, 2012/13 
Recorded Crime: 
3,502,3201 
Young people 
diverted from 
formally entering YJS
Proven offences by 
young people: 
98,837 
Young people 
arrested (2011/12): 
167,995 
Anti-Social 
Behaviour Orders 
(2012):  273 
Young people with 
substantive 
outcomes: 49,222 
Defendants  
proceeded against:
57,881   
Out of court 
sanctions: 33,661 
All remand 
episodes started: 
22,752 
Reprimands, Warnings 
or Conditional Cautions 
30,778 
Young people 
sentenced by the 
courts:  43,601 
Penalty Notices for 
Disorder given to 
young people: 2,883 
 
 
Young people given 
other court 
sentences:  11,478 
Notes on flow chart: 
1. Age of offenders are not known when 
crimes are reported to the police. 
2. The number of young people diverted 
from formally entering the Youth Justice 
System through schemes such as 
Triage is not currently known.   
3. Average custodial sentence is for 
indictable offences only. 
4. The remand episodes include young 
people remanded in the community and 
on bail. 
5. The figures given (with the exception of 
the YOT caseload) are not unique 
young people. A young person may 
commit or be given multiple disposals in 
a year. This is why the YOT caseload is 
smaller than the number of offences or 
disposals attributed to young people. 
6. Penalty notices for disorder are given 
for 16-17 year olds only. 
Young people given 
community 
sentences: 29,343 
Young people given 
custodial 
sentences: 2,780 
Average population 
in custody: 1,544 
Average custodial 
sentence length:  
13.5 months