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

Mi
nistry of Justice logo
 
 
 
 
 
 
Youth Justice Statistics  
2012/13 
 
England and Wales 
 
Youth Justice Board / Ministry of Justice 
Statistics bulletin 
 
 
 
Published 30th January 2014
 

 
 

 
Ministry of Justice logo
 
 
 
Youth Justice Statistics  
2012/13 
 
England and Wales 
 
Youth Justice Board / Ministry of Justice  
Statistics bulletin 
 
 
Also available on the Gov.uk website at 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-justice-statistics 

 
 
4
Contents 
Contents 
4 
Introduction 
5 
Statement of use 
6 
Executive Summary 
8 
Flows through the Youth Justice System, 2012/13 
13 
Understanding the flows through the Youth Justice System 
14 
Chapter 1: Gateway to the Youth Justice System 
16 
Chapter 2: First Time Entrants to the Youth Justice System 
23 
Chapter 3: Characteristics of people in the Youth Justice System 
25 
Chapter 4: Proven offences by young people on the YOT caseload 
29 
Chapter 5: Young people sentenced 
32 
Chapter 6: Use of remand for young people 
36 
Chapter 7: Young people in custody 
39 
Chapter 8: Behaviour management in the secure estate 
43 
Chapter 9: Proven re-offending by young people, 2011/12 cohort 
50 
Chapter 10: Criminal Histories of Young People 
54 
Chapter 11: Comparisons to the adult system 
57 
Customer Service Commitment 
61 
Links to other resources 
63 
Explanatory notes 
65 
Annex A: Performance Outcomes in the YJS, 2012/13 
70 
Annex B: Resources in Youth Offending Teams 
73 
Annex C: Levels of crime experienced by children and their risk of 
victimisation 
77 
Annex D: International comparisons with other youth justice systems 78 
Annex E: Sources used for each chapter 
79 
 

 
 
5
Introduction 
These statistics concentrate on the flow of young people through the Youth 
Justice System (YJS) from the 1st April 2012 to 31st March 2013 (hereafter 
2012/13). Following on from the recommendations in the Overcoming Barriers 
to Trust in Crime Statistics report1 this publication guides the user through the 
flows of the justice system in England & Wales for young people aged 10-17 
years.  
The data described in this document come from various sources including the 
Home Office (HO), Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) 
and youth secure estate providers. The report is produced by the Analysis 
team and the Information team in the Youth Justice Board (YJB) under the 
direction of the Chief Statistician in the MoJ.  
Details of all of the administrative databases, bespoke collections and 
research findings used for this report can be found in the Explanatory notes. 
Where data are taken from other publications, links can be found within the 
chapters. A separate glossary has been published alongside this report to 
provide users with further information on the terminology, especially the types 
of disposals given to young people.   
As this is an annual report, the focus is on 2012/13, however, much of the 
data used in this report are drawn from quarterly publications, and in some 
cases more up to date information may be available. We hope this document 
provides an overall summary of the Youth Justice System which allows users 
to find everything in one place. All data referred to are available in the 
supplementary tables that accompany this report.  
This publication starts by looking at the number of young people arrested, 
given cautions, Penalty Notices for Disorder or Anti-Social Behaviour Orders 
(ASBOs). It then goes on to look at those who are entering the system for the 
first time. The publication continues to describe the characteristics of young 
people in the Youth Justice System in terms of their demographics.   
The publication also covers the proven offences committed by young people 
and the sentences they received. There are separate chapters on the use of 
remand (both in custody and in the community) for young people; details of 
the profile of young people in custody and behaviour management in the 
youth secure estate. 
Towards the end of the publication we look at trends in proven youth re-
offending, the criminal histories of young people in the system and the 
differences between the trends in the youth and adult system.  
In addition, there are annexes to the publication that cover key outcome 
measures relating to youth justice in 2012/13, as well as information on 
budget and staffing levels in youth offending teams. There is a brief 
                                            
1 www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/reports/index.html 

 
 
6
discussion of International Youth Justice Systems, a reference to the Crime 
Survey for England and Wales and details of the data sources used in this 
publication.  
This 2012/13 report includes the period of the August 2011 disturbances for 
some of the information presented (e.g. arrests in 2011/12). For further 
information please see; 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-bulletin-on-the-public-
disorder-of-6th-9th-august-2011--2 
Statement of use 
The focus for this publication is to draw together a range of statistical data 
about young people (aged 10-17 years) in the Youth Justice System in 
2012/13. The publication is intended to help users understand the various 
stages of the Youth Justice System in England & Wales, and the volume of 
young people at each stage.  
The contents of the report will be of interest to government policy makers and 
those monitoring policy, the local agencies engaged with the Youth Justice 
System at both national and local levels, as well as academics, the voluntary 
and community sector and others who want to understand more about the 
Youth Justice System.  
The data are compared with the previous year (2011/12 in most cases) as a 
short term comparator, 2009/10 as a medium term comparator and where 
data are available, a longer time series is provided back to 2002/03.  
‘National Statistics’ designation 
The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National 
Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 
and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.  
Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:  
• meet identified user needs;  
• are well explained and readily accessible;  
• are produced according to sound methods; and  
• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.  
Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory 
requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed. 
 
 
Implementation of changes to offence classifications  
 
In July 2013, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) re-designed the 
classifications used to present police recorded crime statistics, following 
recommendations from the National Statistician’s review of Crime Statistics in 
England and Wales in June 2011. The changes to classifications were 

 
 
7
                                           
implemented in the ONS statistical bulletin ‘Crime in England and Wales, year 
ending March 2013’, published in July 2013, alongside a methodological note2 
providing more detail on the changes and their impact on time-series for key 
measures. No change has been made to the coverage of offences in the 
police recorded crime series, and most changes are presentational, with some 
offences moving between classifications or being separated out of existing 
groupings.  
 
In this publication information is presented mainly on the old offence group 
breakdowns, except for re-offending which is presented on both the old and 
new classification bases. 
For further information on the terms used in this report please see the 
Glossary provided.  
If you have any feedback, questions or requests for further information 
about this statistical bulletin, please direct them to the appropriate 
contact given at the end of this report.  
 
2 www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/crime-statistics-
methodology/presentational-changes-on-police-recorded-crime-in-england-and-wales.pdf 

 
 
8
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 disposals3 
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 age4. 
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 20125 there were 273 Anti Social Behaviour 
                                            
3 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. 
4 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.  
5 In the calendar year 

 
 
9
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. 
 
 
 

 
 10
Young people receiving a substantive outcome6  
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)
 
 
 
                                            
6 A substantive outcome is a pre-court or court disposal.  

 
 11
 
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 2009/107 
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 
previous number of offences for each young person (which was 1.74 in 
2007/08 and 2.51 in 2011/12.  
                                            
7 This is the earliest year for which information is available. 

 
 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. 
 

 
 13
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 

 
 14
 
posals.  
                                           
Understanding the flows through the Youth Justice 
System  
In 2012/13 there were 3.5 million crimes reported to the police in England and 
Wales. At the time of reporting these crimes, the age of the person 
responsible is not often known.  
The police in England and Wales made nearly 1.24 million arrests in 2011/12 
(data for 2012/13 is not yet available8), and of these 167,995, 13.6 per cent, 
were of young people aged 10-17 and for notifiable offences. Not all young 
people who come into contact with the police formally enter the Youth Justice 
System; some will be diverted through schemes such as Triage or a 
restorative justice programme9. The number of young people who are 
diverted from the system at this stage is unknown. In some cases no further 
action will be taken against a young person, the case will be dropped or they 
are found to be not-guilty at court, which is why arrest figures are higher than
those of dis
In the last few years there have been a number of systems put in place to try 
and divert young people from formally entering the Youth Justice System, for 
example by using Triage or restorative justice programmes that look to 
resolve a young person’s behaviour without a formal disposal being given.  
The true number of offences committed by young people that come to the 
attention of the police or other criminal justice agencies will be higher than is 
shown by these statistics, due to the reasons set out above. 
In 2012/13 there were 98,837 proven offences formally attributed to young 
people. A proven offence is one where a formal outcome is given, either in or 
out of court is given. The number of young people in the Youth Justice 
System and the number of proven offences associated with them differs for 
two main reasons; 
1. A young person may receive a formal outcome for more than one 
offence at a time (e.g. a young person sentenced for burglary may 
have a number of burglaries taken into consideration at the time of 
sentencing).  
2. The same young person may be responsible for more than one offence 
in a given period (e.g. a young person may be cautioned for an offence 
in April and then receive a referral order for a different offence in 
September).  
 
8 Due to be published in Spring 2014. Information for 2011/12 is available at 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-powers-and-procedures-in-england-and-wales-
201112 
9 For more information please see: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-
statistics/research-statistics/crime-research/ 

 
 15
 
There are a number of ways proven offences can be formally resolved either 
outside or inside the courts; 
Out of court disposals 
1. A penalty notice for disorder (PND) – a financial penalty for low level 
offences for 16-17 year olds. In 2011/12 there were 2,883 PNDs given 
to young people. 
2. Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) – these are a civil disposal given 
to young people for low level anti social behaviour. The ASBO is not a 
formal criminal disposal, but to breach the conditions of an ASBO can 
result in a criminal outcome, including a custodial sentence. There 
were 273 ASBOs issued to young people in 201210. 
3. Reprimands, warnings or conditional cautions – these are issued by 
the police and are the lowest level disposals given to young people 
who are formally part of the criminal justice system11. There were 
30,778 young people given these disposals in 2012/13.  
Court proceedings and young people sentenced 
There are also more formal disposals that involve a conviction at court, in 
2012/13 there were 57,881 defendants (aged 10-17) who were proceeded 
against in the courts. Of these 43,601 young people were sentenced for their 
offences. Those who were not sentenced may have been found not guilty or 
had the case against them dropped. Of those that were sentenced; 
4. 11,478 young people were sentenced to first tier12 sentences, including 
fines and discharges; 
5. A further 29,143 young people were sentenced to community 
sentences, including youth rehabilitation orders. See Glossary for more 
information;  
6. A small number of young people were sentenced to immediate custody 
(2,780) accounting for 6.4 per cent of all young people with sentences. 
The average custodial sentence given for indictable offences was 13.5 
months. The most common type of custodial sentence given was a 
Detention and Training Order (DTO), where half the time is typically 
served in custody and the remainder in the community on licence and 
under YOT supervision.  
                                            
10 Figures relate to the calendar year of 2012 
11 PNDs and ASBOs are not counted in the official measure of young people in the criminal 
justice system, or those who join as first time entrants.  
12 This is an umbrella term used for the following orders made at court: bind overs, 
discharges, fines and deferred sentences. For more information please see the Glossary.  

 
 16
 
Chapter 1: Gateway to the Youth Justice System 
This chapter provides details of young people who were arrested13 and given 
out of court disposals. These disposals included: Warnings, Reprimands14 
(youth equivalent of cautions) and Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs). There 
is also information on Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) which are a civil 
sanction given at court and can also be given on conviction for a criminal 
offence.  
The data on out of court disposals has mostly been taken from the MoJ’s 
Court Proceedings Database (CPD). For further information see the quarterly 
Criminal Justice Statistics publication; 
www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly 
Further information on young people sentenced can be found in Chapter 5 
and definitions can be found in the glossary.  
Key findings 
 In 2011/12, there were 167,995 arrests of young people (aged 10-17) 
for notifiable offences, accounting for 13.6 per cent of the total people 
arrested. Young people accounted for only 10.8 per cent of the 
offending age population15 (i.e. those aged 10 and over), suggesting 
that young people are over-represented in the criminal justice system.  
 In 2012/13, there were 30,778 reprimands16, warnings17 or conditional 
cautions given to young people in England and Wales. 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.  
                                            
13 The arrest data comes from the Home Office and is only available up to and including 
2011/12. Information for 2012/13 will be released in April 2014. 
14 Reprimands and Warnings were abolished on 8 April 2013 by the Legal Aid, Sentencing 
and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and replaced by youth cautions and youth conditional 
cautions. However, as this report predominantly refers to 2012/13 and historic data, 
information for them is presented. 
15 Taken from the ONS mid-year (census) estimates for 2011.  
16 A Reprimand is an out-of-court disposal for young people. This is the equivalent to an adult 
simple caution. 
17 A final warning is an out-of-court disposal for young people. It can be used following a 
reprimand or for a first offence if it is deemed serious enough. Following a warning the young 
person will be referred to the YOT for assessment and possibly an intervention. Further 
offending following a warning will normally result in prosecution. 

 
 17
                                           
 There were 2,883 Penalty Notices for Disorder given to 16-17 year olds 
in 2012/13 and in 2012 there were 273 Anti Social Behaviour Orders 
(ASBOs) given to young people. Both were down on the previous year 
(by 46 per cent and 27 per cent respectively). 
Diversion from the Youth Justice System 
Triage 
A number of schemes have been set up to divert young people from formally 
entering the Youth Justice System. Over the last five years, a number of 
Triage schemes have been operating. Triage schemes are based in police 
stations and a key aim is to divert young people who have committed less 
serious crimes away from formal sanctions and towards restorative justice 
interventions and other services. A key worker, usually from the local Youth 
Offending Team, works in partnership with police officers from the custody 
suite to identify and engage young people who have been arrested. The 
broad aims of the Triage schemes are as follows: 
 To ensure that young people are assessed quickly and their needs 
identified so that appropriate interventions are put in place to address 
their offending behaviour. 
 To extend and improve collaborative decision-making between the 
Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Youth Offending Team. 
To divert cases of low-level offending away from the formal Youth 
Justice System, in order to: 
o avoid the unnecessary criminalisation of young people on the 
fringes of criminal activity; 
o ensure that formal justice processes are focussed on relatively 
serious offences, and can resolve these cases more quickly and 
effectively; and 
o increase the use of restorative processes to make young people 
take responsibility for their actions and to promote confidence in 
justice among victims, witnesses and the wider community. 
While the exact number of young people going through Triage schemes in 
England and Wales is unknown, an evaluation of the scheme by the Home 
Office18 found that:   
“The majority of young people in contact with Triage schemes were male, white 
and around 15 years of age. They were most commonly arrested for theft, 
violence, criminal damage and public disorder; most often these young people 
had no previous convictions.” 
 
18 
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/116265/occ106
.pdf 

 
 18
A further evaluation was also under taken by the Department for Health.19 
Liaison and Diversion 
 
The Youth Justice Liaison and Diversion (YJLD) pilot scheme was developed 
in 2008 to enhance health provision within the youth justice system. The aim 
was to facilitate help for children and young people with mental health and 
developmental problems, speech and communication difficulties, learning 
disabilities and other similar vulnerabilities at the earliest opportunity after they 
enter the youth justice system. 
The final evaluation report20 relating to six pilot schemes was delivered to the 
Department of Health in January 2012.  It made a number of 
recommendations including integrating diversion within existing services and 
into police practice and developing an evidence-based ethos. 
Arrests for notifiable offences21 
Latest data on arrests are taken from the Home Office’s ‘Police Powers and 
Procedures England and Wales 2011/12’ statistical release: 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-powers-and-procedures-in-
england-and-wales-201112.  Data for 2012/13 are not yet available and are 
scheduled to be published in the spring of 2014.  
Figures on arrests reported to the Home Office rely on incidents being 
reported to and recorded by the police. They can also be affected by police 
priorities and practices, and therefore should not be used to infer total levels 
of crime committed by young people.  
 In 2011/12 there were 167,995 arrests of young people (aged 10-17) 
for notifiable offences. Arrests of young people accounted for 13.6 per 
cent of total arrests in 2011/12. However, young people accounted for 
only 10.8 per cent of the offending age population (i.e. those aged 10 
and over).  
 Young males accounted for 11.3 per cent of total arrests and young 
females 2.3 per cent. They accounted for 5.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent 
of the overall population respectively.  
 Arrests of young people fell by 20 per cent from 2010/11 to 2011/12, 
with the largest percentage fall being for criminal damage (down by 27 
per cent). Between 2001/02 and 2011/12 the number of young people 
arrested for notifiable offences has fallen by 47 per cent, from 314,200 
in 2001/02 to 167,995 in 2011/12.  
                                            
19 www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/03/youth-justice-liaison-and-diversion-pilot/ 
20 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-youth-justice-liaison-and-
diversion-pilot-scheme-final-report 
21 Notifiable offences are those offences which require the police to record an incident as a 
crime and report the occurrence to the Home Office. 

 
 19
Chart 1.1: Trends in arrests of young people for notifiable offences by 
gender, 2001/02 to 2011/12 
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
Young people arrested for notifiable offences
Males
Females
 
 
Warnings, reprimands and conditional cautions 
Excluding motoring offences, there were 30,778 warnings, reprimands or 
conditional cautions22 given to young people 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.  
 Between 2011/12 and 2012/13 the number of warnings, reprimands or 
conditional cautions given to young people fell by 30 per cent for 
females, and 24 per cent for males. This was a 26 per cent reduction 
overall.   
 Between 2011/12 and 2012/13 there were decreases across all offence 
types, including a 34 per cent decrease in the number of young people 
given a warning, reprimand or conditional caution for robbery; and a 33 
per cent fall in those for theft and handling stolen goods offences. 
There was also a six per cent decrease in young people given out of 
court disposals for sexual offences, from 431 to 407; however these 
numbers are small and tend to fluctuate year to year.  
 
 
                                            
22 Youth Conditional Cautions (YCC), for young people aged 16 or 17, were introduced from 
1st April 2009. 

 
 20
Chart 1.2: Trends in reprimands, warnings and conditional cautions by 
gender23, 2002/03 to 2012/13 
-
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Reprimands, final warnings and conditional 
cautions
Males
Females
 
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders 
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are civil orders, designed to prevent 
someone causing ‘harassment, alarm or distress’. They can be issued on 
application to a court by a relevant body (police, local authority, etc.) and 
following conviction for a relevant criminal offence. Breach of an ASBO is a 
criminal offence, punishable by up to two years in custody for young people 
(five years for adults). ASBOs became available from 1 April 1999; however 
data on the age of ASBO recipients are only available from 1 June 2000. The 
latest published data cover the period to the end of 201224. For further 
information please see: 
 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-order-statistics-
england-and-wales-2012 
 
In 2012, there were 273 ASBOs given to young people aged 10-17 years. 
This is a decrease of 27 per cent on 2011, when there were 375 ASBOs 
issued to young people. In 2002 there were 251 ASBOs issued to young 
people. Of the 273 ASBOs given to young people in 2012, 27 (18%) were 
granted an Individual Support Order25 upon application at the Magistrates 
court. 
 
                                            
23 Excluding reprimands, final warnings and conditional cautions where gender is unspecified. 
24 Data is published in calendar years 
25 Individual Support Orders (ISOs) are court orders only available for 10-17 year olds which 
can be attached to ASBOs made on application. ISOs impose positive conditions on the 
young person to address the underlying causes of the behaviour that led to their ASBO being 
issued. ISOs are available at magistrates' courts. 

 
 21
Chart 1.3: Trends in Anti-Social Behaviour Orders for young people, 
2002 to 2012 
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
No. ASBOs issued to young people
 
Penalty Notices for Disorder 
Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs), more commonly known as ‘on the spot 
fines’, were introduced under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. The 
scheme was initially piloted in four police force areas in England and Wales 
from August 2002. It was rolled out to all 43 police forces in England and 
Wales by April 2004. Please note PNDs could only be given to young people 
aged 16 and over. Data for 16 and 17 year olds are presented here.  
As of 8th April 2013, PNDs are no longer available for young people aged 
under 18, so will not be reported on in next year’s publication. 
There were 2,883 PNDs given to young people aged 16 to 17 in 2012/13. This 
is a decrease of 46 per cent on the 5,360 given in 2011/12 and an 86 per cent 
decrease on the 20,609 given in 2006/07. The falls were seen in both higher 
and lower tiers of offence.  Most (96%) of the PNDs given in 2012/13 were for 
higher tier offences26, the most common offences were; 
o 
Theft (retail under £200), resulted in 960 PNDs (33% of total);  
o 
Drunk and disorderly offences resulted in 633 PNDs (22% of total). 
o 
Causing harassment, alarm or distress resulted in 580 PNDs (20% 
of total); 
                                            
26 Higher tier offences are those that attract an £80 charge, lower tier offences attract a £50 
charge. For more information please see: 
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/260147/criminal-
justice-stats-guide-nov-2013.pdf 
 

 
 22
Chart 1.4: Trends in Penalty Notices for Disorder for young people, 
2006/07 to 2012/13 
-
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
No. PNDs issued to young people
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 23
Chapter 2: First Time Entrants to the Youth Justice 
System 
This chapter provides an overview of the number of first time entrants (FTEs) 
to the Youth Justice System. It is based on data recorded on the Police 
National Computer (PNC) and covers up to 2012/13.  
This data relates to proven offences only, where a young person is given a 
formal out of court or court disposal. As such this is not a measure of the 
amount of crime committed by young people, as only a proportion of crimes 
are detected and resolved, and the age of offender is not known until the point 
of arrest. Although the number of FTEs has fallen, the true level of youth 
crime may be rising or falling. For the latest MoJ publication please see: 
www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly 
An offence is defined as a first offence if it results in the person receiving their 
first reprimand, warning, caution or court conviction – i.e. they have no 
previous criminal history recorded on the PNC. Offences resulting in further 
reprimands, warnings, cautions or convictions are known as further offences 
since the person already has a recorded criminal history. For more 
information on criminal histories please see Chapter 10.  
Key findings 
 In 2012/13, there were 74,189 young people (aged 10-17 years) 
recorded on the PNC who had at least one offence that resulted in a 
reprimand, warning, caution or conviction. Of these 27,854 (38%) were 
first offences, and the rest were further offences. In 2002/03, there 
were 177,443 young people with proven offences, with 47 per cent 
being first offences.  
 In the last year, the number of FTEs has fallen by 25 per cent from 
36,920 in 2011/12 to 27,854 in 2012/13. The number of FTEs has 
fallen by 67 per cent since 2002/03 and 55 per cent since 2009/10.  
Trends in First Time Entrants to the Youth Justice System 
The number of FTEs has fallen by 67 per cent from 83,312 in 2002/03 to 
27,854 in 2012/13. The number of FTEs has fallen by 75 per cent, since the 
peak in 2006/07. In the last year, the number of FTEs has fallen by 25 per 
cent from 36,920 in 2011/12 to 27,854 in 2012/13. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 24
Chart 2.1: 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
Number of First Time Entrants
Reprimand or final warning
Conviction 
 
Trends in First Time Entrants by demographic characteristics 
In 2012/13, 33 per cent of FTEs to the Youth Justice System were children 
(aged 10-14). This group showed the biggest reduction (63 per cent) in FTEs 
between 2009/10 and 2012/13. Females accounted for 24 per cent of all FTEs 
in 2012/13, compared to 32 per cent in 2009/10. Since 2009/10 the number of 
young females entering the Youth Justice System has fallen by 67 per cent, 
compared with 50 per cent for young males.  
Why have First Time Entrants been falling?  
A number of factors have possibly contributed to the trend in FTEs; but it is 
not possible to attribute direct causality to any of these factors or to quantify 
the size of the effect from each.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 25
 
Chapter 3: Characteristics of people in the Youth 
Justice System  
This chapter reports on the demographic characteristics of young people with 
a proven offence and disposal (substantive outcome27). Youth Offending 
Teams (YOTs) will also be working with young people with outcomes carried 
over from previous years and with young people on prevention programmes. 
It is important to note that these figures relate to the number of individual 
young people YOTs are working with who received substantive outcomes and 
not the number of offences or disposals. These data are taken from the YJB’s 
Youth Justice Management Information System (YJMIS), based on data 
submitted by YOTs. YOTs typically do not work with young people who 
receive reprimands.  
To supplement this information, data on the number of young people who 
received a formal sanction (either out of court or a court conviction) is 
displayed. This is data taken from the Police National Computer (PNC). These 
PNC figures are consistently higher than the number of young people on the 
YOT caseload, but the trend runs in parallel. Some exploratory work 
conducted by the YJB found that the primary reason for this is that YOTs are 
not necessarily aware of all the reprimands and warnings issued by the police.  
Also presented in this chapter is the YOT caseload broken down by age, 
gender and ethnicity. 
Details on the YOT caseload broken down by each Youth Offending Team 
can be found in the local level data that accompanies this publication.  
www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-justice-statistics 
Key findings 
 According to data held on YJMIS, there were 49,22228 young people 
who received a substantive outcome in 2012/13. This is a reduction of 
26 per cent from 66,430 in 2011/12. Overall, 81 per cent were male, 
and 77 per cent aged 15 years or older29. Most (81%) came from a 
White ethnic background.  
                                            
27 See glossary for definition 
28 This figure and all the YJMIS data used in chapters 3 and 6 comes from an extract of the 
live YJMIS system taken in December 2013. It includes data from all but 2 YOTs. Data from 
the 2 YOTs are missing because of technical problems with their local case management 
systems. 
29 YOTs work with a small number of young people who are aged over 17 and are still 
finishing their disposal. 

 
 26
 Data from the PNC shows that there were 53,070 young people who 
had first or further offences in 2012/13. This was a 26 per cent 
reduction from the 71,450 young people on the PNC in 2011/12.  
Trends in the number of young people in the YJS, 2009/10 to 2012/13 
According to data held on YJMIS, there were 49,222 young people who 
received a substantive outcome in 2012/13. This was a reduction of 26 per 
cent since 2011/12 and a reduction of 54 per cent since 2009/10. The trends 
for PNC and YJMIS data are very similar, the reductions shown in the PNC 
data were also 26 per cent and 54 per cent respectively. The YOT caseload is 
typically around 93 per cent of the figures from the PNC.  
The reduction in the YOT caseload was largely driven by the fall in First Time 
Entrants to the Youth Justice System, which fell by 55 per cent from 62,559 in 
2009/10 to 27,854 in 2012/13 (according to PNC data) 
While the YOT caseload has reduced year-on-year, the level of intensity (e.g. 
the number of previous offences a young person has) of the cohort may have 
increased.  
The number of young people in the re-offending cohort has gone down in 
every year since 2007/08, with particular reductions among those with no 
previous offences and those receiving pre-court disposals. Thus, those young 
people coming into the criminal justice system are, on balance, more 
challenging to work with. This is reflected in the higher predicted rate of re-
offending and the higher average previous number of offences for each young 
person.  
In 2000 there were 139,326 young people in the re-offending cohort, in 
2011/12 the size of the re-offending cohort had fallen by 49 per cent to 
70,504. The average number of previous offences per offender in the re-
offending cohort has risen every year since 2006/07, from 1.59 to 2.51 in 
2011/12, a 58 per cent increase. The predicted rate of re-offending has also 
risen every year since 2006/07 (from 31.3 to 35.5 per cent). This suggests 
that YOTs are working with a smaller, but generally more prolific cohort. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 27
Chart 3.1: Trends in the number of young people receiving a substantive 
outcome: comparing data from YOTs and the PNC. 
114,410
89,330
71,450
53,070
106,969
85,300
66,430
49,222
0
25,000
50,000
75,000
100,000
125,000
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Number of young people
PNC
YJMIS
 
Demographics of young people in the Youth Justice System, 2012/13  
There were 49,222 young people who received a substantive outcome (see 
glossary for definition) in 2012/13. Males accounted for 81 per cent of the 
young people in 2012/13.  
There were 11,442 children (aged 10-14)30 receiving a substantive outcome 
in 2012/13, a reduction of 23 per cent from the 14,889 in 2011/12. Children 
aged 10-14 accounted for 23 per cent of all young people sentenced in 
2012/13, compared with 22 per cent in 2011/12.  
                                           
The number of young girls (aged 10-14) receiving a substantive outcome was 
2,700 in 2012/13, a reduction of 28 per cent from 2011/12. The number of 
young boys (aged 10-14) was 8,740 in 2012/13, a reduction of 21 per cent 
from 2011/12. The corresponding reductions in the older age group (those 
aged 15-17+31) were higher, with a 30 per cent reduction for females and a 26 
per cent reduction for males. 
Young people from a White ethnic background accounted for 81 per cent of all 
young people in 2012/13. Those from a Black ethnic background accounted 
for eight per cent, those from an Asian ethnic background for four per cent, 
those from a Mixed ethnic background for three per cent, and the Unknown 
ethnic background for three per cent. The Other ethnic background group 
made up one per cent. These proportions have been fairly stable since 
2006/07.   
 
30 Age is taken at the point a young person receives a substantive outcome, not the age they 
were when the committed the offence.  
31 YOTs work with a small number of young people who are aged over 17 who are finishing 
their sentences under YOT supervision.  

 
 28
Chart 3.2: Age and gender of young people receiving a substantive 
outcome, 2012/13  
-
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17+
Age in years
Number of young people
Female
Male
 
Table 3.1: Age and ethnicity of young people receiving a substantive 
outcome, 2012/1332 
 
 
 
 
 
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17+
Total
Asian
*
6
27
92
233
437
587
789
2,174
Black
*
29
68
206
466
720
1,042
1,393
3,928
Mixed
*
10
49
127
217
323
371
483
1,583
Other
*
*
9
14
38
56
73
121
316
Unknown
6
16
39
94
179
247
331
438
1,350
White
170
427
1,301
2,678
4,926
7,839
9,713
12,817
39,871
Total
188
             
491
             
1,493
          
3,211
          
6,059
          
9,622
          
12,117
         
16,041
         
49,222
         
Share
0.4%
1.0%
3.0%
6.5%
12.3%
19.5%
24.6%
32.6%
* Less than five cases
Age in years
Ethnicity
                                            
32 Percentage totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. 

 
 29
                                           
Chapter 4: Proven offences by young people on the 
YOT caseload 
This chapter covers proven offences by young people in 2012/1333. It includes 
information on the types of offences committed by young people in 2012/13 
and over time. The data has been taken from the YJB’s Youth Justice 
Management Information System (YJMIS) database, which consists of data 
from YOTs and focuses on the principle offence by young people34. The 
offence breakdown differs from the main offence types35 used by the MoJ.  
Key findings 
 There were 98,837 proven offences committed by young people on the 
YOT caseload in 2012/13, down by 28 per cent from 2011/12.  
 The number of offences associated with young people on the YOT 
caseload has reduced by 63 per cent since 2002/03. 
 The main offence types for young people in 2012/13 were; violence 
against the person, including common assault, (21 per cent), theft and 
handling (19 per cent) and criminal damage (11 per cent).  
Types of proven offences by young people on the YOT caseload in 
2012/13 
In 2012/13, there were 98,837 proven offences by young people on the YOTs’ 
caseload which resulted in a formal disposal (either in or out of court).  
The main offence types for young people in 2012/13 were;  
 Violence against the person (including common assault) (21 per cent); 
 Theft and handling (19 per cent); 
 Criminal damage (11 per cent). 
There were 1,384 proven sexual offences associated with young people 
on the YOT caseload, which accounted for less than two per cent of all 
offences.   
 
33 Based on data extracted from YJMIS taken in December 2013. Data from two YOTs is 
missing due to technical problems with their case management systems.  
34 A principle offence is the most serious offence when a group of offences are dealt with by 
the same disposal (in or out of court). This data does not cover offences that are ‘taken into 
consideration’.  
35 These main offence groups differ from those used by the MoJ, for example the offence of 
common assault is classed as a summary offence by the MoJ, whilst the YJB class it as a 
violence offence. Burglary includes domestic and non-domestic burglary. Further details on 
‘other’ offences can be found in the supplementary volumes.  

 
 30
 
Chart 4.1: Proven offences by young people, 2012/1336 
 
Theft & Handling, 
19%
Violence Against 
Person, 21%
Criminal Damage, 
11%
Public Order, 7%
Motoring Offences, 
6%
Breach of 
Statutory Order, 
5%
Drug Offences, 8%
Burglary*, 5%
Robbery, 4%
Other, 12%
 
* Burglary includes domestic and non-domestic burglary 
 
Demographic characteristics of young people with proven offences, 
2012/13 
In 2012/13, the majority (77 per cent) of proven offences were committed by 
young people aged 15 years and over37, with only 23 per cent committed by 
young people aged 10-14 years.  
 There were 76,034 proven offences committed by young people aged 
15 and over, and a further 22,803 committed by those aged 10-14. 
 Males accounted for 82 per cent of proven offences by young people in 
2012/13. This proportion has risen slightly from 78 per cent in 2009/10. 
The proportion of proven offences committed by females was 18 per 
cent in 2012/13; this proportion has fluctuated between 16 and 22 per 
cent over the last decade. 
 Young people from a White ethnic background accounted for 82 per 
cent of the proven offences by young people. This proportion fluctuated 
between 80 and 85 per cent for the last decade. 
                                            
36 Percentage totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. 
37 YOTs work with a small number of young people who are aged over 17 who are finishing 
their sentences under YOT supervision. 

 
 31
Proven offences by young people over time, 2002/03 to 2012/13 
The number of proven offences by young people has fallen by 63 per cent 
between 2002/03 and 2012/13. The number of proven offences fell by 28 per 
cent in the last year, from 137,335 proven offences in 2011/12 to 98,837 in 
2012/13.  
The largest falls in proven offences between 2009/10 and 2012/13 have been 
in: breach of a statutory order (down by 61 per cent), motoring offences fell by 
60 per cent and public order offences by 58 per cent. The smallest reduction 
has been in robbery offences which fell by 32 per cent between 2009/10 and 
2012/13. 
Chart 4.2: Reduction in proven offences by young people from 2009/10 
to 2012/13 
-61%
-60%
-58%
-54%
-52%
-45%
-45%
-44%
-39%
-32%
-70%
-60%
-50%
-40%
-30%
-20%
-10%
0%
Breach of statutory order
Motoring offences
Public order
Theft and handling stolen
goods
Criminal damage
Other
Violence against the person
Burglary*
Drugs
Robbery
Change in proven offences, 2009/10 to 2012/13
 
* Burglary includes domestic and non domestic burglary 
 
 

 
 32
Chapter 5: Young People Sentenced 
This chapter covers young people sentenced for proven offences in 2012/13. 
The data has mostly been taken from the MoJ’s Court Proceedings Database 
(CPD). For more information please see: 
www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly 
 
This chapter also covers information on parenting orders from the CPD and 
information about the requirements associated with Youth Rehabilitation 
Orders (YROs) taken from the YJB’s Youth Justice Management Information 
System (YJMIS). See the glossary for more details.  
 
Key findings 
 In 2012/13 there were 43,601 young people (aged 10-17) sentenced at 
all criminal courts in England and Wales. The total number of young 
people sentenced fell by 28 per cent from 60,258 in 2011/12 to 43,601 
in 2012/13. 
 The number of young people sentenced to immediate custody fell by 
31 per cent, from 4,024 in 2011/12 to 2,780 in 2012/13. This type of 
sentence has fallen by 61 per cent since 2002/03, when 7,110 young 
people were sentenced to immediate custody.  
Sentences given to young people in 2012/13 
There were 25,577 young people sentenced for indictable offences38 and 
found guilty of an offence in court in 2012/13. In 2012/13, there was a total of 
43,601 young people sentenced for all types of offences. When examined by 
type of sentence:  
 2,780 young people were sentenced to immediate custodial sentences, 
with most (89 per cent) of these being Detention and Training Orders 
(DTOs); 
 29,343 young people were sentenced to community sentences, 
including 13,527 YROs; 
 11,478 young people were sentenced to first-tier sentences (these 
include discharges, fines and otherwise dealt with disposals. See the 
separately published glossary for more detail).   
Trends in the number of young people sentenced, 2002/03 to 2012/13 
 The total number of young people sentenced at all courts has fallen by 
28 per cent from 60,258 in 2011/12 to 43,601 in 2012/13. 
                                            
38 These are not unique young people; a young person may appear before a court more than 
once in a period 

 
 33
 Since 2002/03 the total number of young people sentenced at all courts 
has fallen by 53 per cent, from 93,436 in 2002/03 to 43,601 in 2012/13.  
 The number of young people sentenced to immediate custody fell by 
31 per cent from 4,024 in 2011/12 to 2,780 in 2012/13. The number of 
young people receiving these types of sentence has fallen by 61 per 
cent since 2002/03, when there were 7,110 young people sentenced to 
immediate custody.  
 The number of young people sentenced to community sentences fell 
by 26 per cent from 39,679 in 2011/12 to 29,343 in 2012/13. The 
number of young people receiving these types of sentences has fallen 
by 48 per cent since 2002/03, when 56,346 young people were 
sentenced to community sentences.  
 Within the offenders sentenced to community sentences, the number of 
young people given YROs fell by 24 per cent between 2011/12 and 
2012/13, from 17,696 to 13,527.  
Chart 5.1: Trends in the number of young people sentenced, 2002/03 to 
2012/13 
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Young people sentenced
Immediate custody
Community sentences
Other sentences
 
 
 
 
 

 
 34
                                           
Number of young people sentenced for indictable offences39 over time, 
2002/03 to 2012/13 
There were 43,601 young people sentenced for all offences in 2012/13, of 
these 25,577 (59%) were for indictable offences. The figure of 25,577 in 
2012/13 represented a reduction of 47 per cent since 2002/03 and a 28 per 
cent reduction since 2011/12. Males accounted for 8940 per cent of all young 
people sentenced for indictable offences. This proportion has fluctuated 
between 85 and 89 per cent in the last decade.  
Youth Rehabilitation Orders 
This section covers details of the requirements associated with Youth 
Rehabilitation Orders (YRO) recorded by YOTs for 2012/13, in the YOTs case 
management system. These data are a further breakdown of the types and 
number of requirements taken from the YJB’s YJMIS.   
The YRO is a generic community sentence for young people. It was designed 
to simplify sentencing, while improving the flexibility of interventions available 
to address individual needs and risks. There are 18 different types of 
requirements41 that can be attached to a YRO, so it is possible for one young 
person to have multiple requirements. For further details of the type of 
requirements available, please see the glossary.  
In 2012/13 there were 13,527 YROs given to young people by the courts 
according to data from the MoJ. This is a 24 per cent reduction on the number 
given in 2011/12. 
Please note that a large number of YROs (7,375) recorded in YJMIS did not 
have any requirement attached to them. This represents 46 per cent of all 
YROs. All YROs given should have requirements attached; therefore this can 
be attributed to data recording issues. 
In 2012/13, data was available for all but three YOTs. The three YOTs had 
technical problems with their case management systems. In 2012/13 
 
39 There are three types of offences; triable only and indictment, triable-either-way and 
summary offences  
Triable only on indictment (indictable offences): These offences are the most serious 
breaches of the criminal law and must be tried at the Crown Court before a judge and jury. 
These ‘indictable-only’ offences include murder, manslaughter, rape and robbery.  
Triable-either-way: These offences may be tried either at the Crown Court or at a 
magistrates’ court. These offences include criminal damage where the value is £5,000 or 
greater, theft, burglary and drink driving. Triable only on indictment and triable either way are 
frequently amalgamated to form indictable offences.  
Summary offences: These offences are usually heard only by a magistrates’ court. This 
group is dominated by motoring offences, for some of which fixed penalties can be issued, but 
also includes such offences as common assault and criminal damage up to £5,000. 
40 Based on where gender is known. 
41 To enhance data presentation, requirement types that have been used less than 100 times 
are grouped under the heading ‘All other’. Please see the Glossary for more details.  

 
 35
according to YJMIS, 20,395 requirements were recorded on 6,229 young 
people.   
 The most commonly used single requirement type was a supervision 
requirement. It was used in 36 per cent of the YRO requirements. 
 Other common requirements included; curfew orders (15 per cent of 
requirements), electronic monitoring (12 per cent), unpaid work (7 per 
cent) and attendance centre orders (4 per cent).  
 Around a third (29 per cent) of YROs given had only one requirement 
attached to them, similarly around a third (32 per cent) had two 
requirements attached. There was only six per cent with five or more 
requirements attached. 
 
Parenting Orders 
A court may impose an order on a parent when a young person aged 10–17 
years is convicted of an offence; is subject to an Anti-Social Behaviour Order; 
where a Child Safety Order is made; or where a parent has been convicted of 
failing to make sure that the child attends school. These data come from the 
Court Proceedings Database held by MoJ.  
In 2012/13 there were 486 people sentenced to parenting orders given by the 
courts. The number fell 34 per cent, from 732 in 2011/12 to 486 in 2012/13. 
Since 2009/10 the number of people sentenced to parenting orders has fallen 
53 per cent (from 1,026 to 486). 

 
 36
                                           
Chapter 6: Use of remand for young people 
This chapter covers information on the use of remand for young people in the 
Youth Justice System. Data for this chapter is gathered from a number of 
sources and covers: 
1. Types of remand42 given to young people as reported by YOTs from 
the YJB’s Youth Justice Management Information System (YJMIS);43 
2. Characteristics of the population in custody on remand from YJB’s 
eAsset system (see data sources for information);   
3. Outcomes for young people following custodial remand from the Court 
Proceedings Database. 
Key findings 
 There were 22,752 remand episodes given by the courts for young 
people in 2012/13, down by 28 per cent on 2011/12. Remand decisions 
that involved young people being bailed (conditional or unconditional 
bail) accounted for 86 per cent of all remand decisions. 
 There were a further six per cent of remand episodes where a young 
person was remanded in the community, including remand to local 
authority accommodation.  
 Eight per cent involved young people being remanded to custody 
(1,900 remand episodes).  
 The average population in custody on remand in 2012/13 was 338 
young people, accounting for 22 per cent of the average custodial 
population, compared to 24 per cent in 2009/10.  
 While the overall number of young people in custody has fallen by 21 
per cent between 2011/12 and 2012/13, the number on remand has 
fallen by 29 per cent.  
 For those young people remanded to custody in 2012/13, 61 per cent 
were not given a custodial outcome following their remand. Of these, 
26 per cent were acquitted and 35 per cent were given other court 
convictions.  
 
 
42 Including conditional and unconditional bail, community remand and remand to custody.  
 
43 Based on data extracted from YJMIS taken in December 2013. Data from three YOTs is 
missing due to technical problems with their case management systems. 

 
 37
 
Types of remand given to young people, 2012/13 
When the court makes the decision to remand a young person they have a 
number of options, including custodial remands, community remands 
including remand to local authority accommodation or a range of bail options. 
See the glossary for more details on remand types.  
In 2012/13 there were 22,752 court sentencing occasions where young 
people were given a type of remand as part of the court process. This could 
be bail, remand in the community or in custody. This is a reduction of 28 per 
cent from 31,716 sentencing occasions in 2011/12. Of the 22,752 occasions 
in 2012/13 where young people were given a type of remand;  
 1,900 were custodial remand episodes, down by 48 per cent from 
2011/12. 
 1,301 were community remand episodes (with an intervention), down 
by 26 per cent from 2011/12. 
 19,551 were bail remand episodes (conditional and unconditional), 
down by 26 per cent since 2011/12. 
Chart 6.1: Type of remand decisions for young people, 2012/13 
86%
6%
8%
Bail Remands
Community remands with
intervention
Custodial remands
 
Characteristics of the population in custody on remand, 2012/13 
This data comes from the eAsset database which consists of data from the 
youth secure estate. For more information on the general youth population in 
custody see Chapter 7.  
There was an average of 338 young people in custody on remand at any one 
time in 2012/13. The majority (79%) were remanded to custody in a Young 
Offender Institution (YOI).  

 
 38
Young people held on remand accounted for 22 per cent of the average 
custody population in 2012/13, compared to 24 per cent in 2011/12. While the 
overall number of young people in custody has fallen by 21 per cent between 
2011/12 and 2012/13, the number on remand has fallen by 29 per cent.  
Most young people in custody on remand were there for serious offences, 
including; 33 per cent for robbery, 23 per cent for violence against the person 
offences and 17 per cent for burglary offences. The average time spent on 
remand was 45 days in 2012/13; this figure has been stable over the last few 
years (Chapter 7).  
Outcomes for young people following custodial remand, 2012/13 
Not all young people placed in custodial remand were subsequently given a 
custodial sentence. Data from the MoJ’s Court Proceedings Database shows 
the outcomes for young people remanded into custody.  
For those young people given custodial remand in 2012/13, 61 per cent were 
not given a custodial outcome following their remand. Of these, 26 per cent 
were acquitted and 35 per cent were given other court convictions (26% 
community sentences and 9% other sentences). The percentage of young 
people not given a custodial sentence following a custodial remand has 
increased from 54 per cent in 2009/10 to 61 per cent in 2012/13 and from 57 
per cent in 2011/12 to 61 per cent in 2012/13.  
Chart 6.2: Outcomes following custodial remand, 2012/1344 
26%
9%
40%
26%
Acquitted
Immediate custody
Community Sentence
Other Sentence
 
 
                                            
44 Percentage totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. 

 
 39
Chapter 7: Young people in custody 
This chapter provides data on the population of young people in the youth 
secure estate during 2012/13. The custody data are from the YJB's e-Asset 
database, which consists of data from the youth secure estate (Young 
Offender Institutions [YOIs], Secure Children’s Homes [SCHs] and Secure 
Training Centres [STCs]). The YJB changed from the Secure Accommodation 
Clearing House System (SACHS) data to the e-Asset database from March 
2012. Data prior to April 2012 are from the SACHS database. For provisional 
data after March 2013 please see the Youth Custody Statistics: 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-custody-data 
Please note that although the YJB is only responsible for placing 10-17 year 
olds, young people aged over 17 remain in the youth secure estate if they 
only have a short period of their sentence left to serve, to avoid disrupting 
their regimes. Unless stated otherwise, the data presented here are for the 
under 18 population only.  
Key findings 
 The average population in custody (under 18) in 2012/13 was 1,544, 
down by 21 per cent from an average of 1,963 in 2011/12.  
 The average population in custody (under 18) has fallen by 49 per cent 
from 3,029 in 2002/03.  
 The average population in 2012/13 (including 18 year olds held in the 
youth secure estate) was 1,708. This is a 20 per cent reduction on the 
2011/12 figure of 2,141. This is the first time the average population 
including 18 year olds has fallen below 2,000 in the last decade. 
Chart 7.1: Average custody population from 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)
 
 

 
 40
Legal basis for detention for young people in custody, 2012/13 
Over half (58 per cent) of the average population of young people (under 18) 
in custody in 2012/13 were serving a Detention and Training Order (DTO). A 
further 22 per cent were held on remand. The remaining 21 per cent were 
serving long-term sentences (see glossary for more details)45.  
Offences resulting in young people going into custody, 2012/13 
Most young people held in custody in 2012/13 were there for serious 
offences, including; 
 31 per cent for robbery offences; 
 23 per cent for violence against the person offences; 
 17 per cent for burglary (domestic and non-domestic) offences; 
A further seven per cent were in custody for breach offences.   
The proportion of young people in custody for robbery has risen from 24 per 
cent of the population to 31 per cent of the population between 2009/10 and 
2012/13. Over the same time period, the proportion of young people in 
custody for offences of violence against the person has reduced from 25 per 
cent of the average population to 23 per cent. Beach of Statutory Order has 
reduced from 13 per cent in 2009/10 to seven per cent in 2012/13. 
Chart 7.2: Custody population (under 18) by primary offence group, 
2009/10 to 2012/13 average proportions 
13%
16%
14%
7%
13%
14%
14%
16%
5%
5%
4%
4%
24%
23%
27%
31%
5%
5%
4%
5%
25%
24%
21%
23%
15%
13%
16%
14%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Breach of statutory order
Domestic burglary
Drugs
Robbery
Sexual offences
Violence against the person
Other
 
 
                                            
45 Percentage totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. 

 
 41
 
Demographics of young people in custody, 2012/13 
  
 In 2012/13, 95 per cent of the young people (under 18) held in the 
secure estate were male. Most (96 per cent) of the young people 
(under 18) held in the secure estate were aged 15-17 years.  
 In 2012/13, 59 per cent of the young people held in custody were from 
a White ethnic background. Young people from a Black ethnic 
background accounted for 21 per cent of young people in custody. This 
compares to 81 per cent and eight per cent respectively on the overall 
YOT caseload (Chapter 3).  
 In 2012/13, 18 per cent of young people from a White ethnic 
background in custody were held on remand, compared to 28 per cent 
of young people from a Black ethnic background and 19 per cent from 
an Asian background. 
Location for young people (under 18) held in custody, 2012/13  
 In 2012/13, most (74 per cent) young people (under 18) held in custody 
were in YOIs, 16 per cent were in STCs and the remaining nine per 
cent in SCHs. See glossary for more information.  
 It is not always possible to place young people in establishments close 
to their homes as placement decisions are determined by a number of 
factors, including the risks and needs of individual young people and 
available capacity at establishments. In 2012/13, 30 per cent of young 
people in custody were from London. The one London establishment 
accommodated 11 per cent of the total custodial population46.  
Chart 7.3: Custody population (under 18) by region of origin and 
region of establishment, 2012/13 
0
100
200
300
400
500
East
Midlands
Eastern
London
North East
North West
South East
South
West
Wales
West
Midlands
Yorkshire
Average custody population (u18)
Region of Origin
Region of Establishment
 
                                            
46 Feltham is the only London establishment, and holds young people aged 15-17 sentenced 
or remanded to custody. 

 
 42
Time in days spent in custody for young people (under 18) 
Overall the average length of time spent in custody increased by eight days, 
from 77 days in 2011/12 to 85 days in 2012/13. For DTOs, it increased by 
eight days (from 107 to 115), for remand it increased by three days (from 42 
to 45) and for longer sentences it decreased by 51 days (from 353 to 302). 
Chart 7.4: Average time in days spent in the secure estate for children 
and young people by legal basis of detention, 2009/10 to 2012/13 
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
DTO
Remand
Section xx-xxxx-xxxx
Overall average
days
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
 
Operating the secure estate effectively  
In order for the system to operate effectively, efficiently and at an acceptable 
level of risk, the YJB commissions places on the basis that the estate should 
operate at a 93 per cent occupancy rate. In 2012/13, there was an average 
occupancy rate of 70 per cent (i.e. there were an average of 1,708 of the 
2,431 available beds occupied at any one time). It is important to obtain a 
significant degree of assurance that any planned reductions in commissioned 
beds are sustainable over the medium to long term. Consequently there will 
always be a time-lag in decommissioning activity following decreases in 
demand. This approach has ensured that decommissioning activity has never 
been followed by the need for any subsequent re-commissioning and 
disruption to the overall estate has been minimised. The secure estate for 
young people is particularly complex and the overall population figures 
comprise a number of sub populations that need further in depth analysis and 
impact assessment before decommissioning takes place. 
 
 
 

 
 43
Chapter 8: Behaviour management in the secure 
estate  
This chapter covers information on behaviour management in the youth 
secure estate. The data covers the financial years 2008/09 to 2012/13. From 
2008/09 to 2012/13 the overall population in custody fell (Chapter 7), which 
means it is important to look at the change in the rate i.e. the number of 
incidents per 100 young people in the population, as well as the raw numbers. 
Please note that slight changes in small figures can result in large percentage 
changes. 
Key findings 
 There were 6,455 incidents of restrictive physical intervention (RPIs) 
used in the youth secure estate in 2012/13, down by seven per cent 
from 2009/10 and by 23 per cent from 2011/12. 
 The number of RPIs per 100 young people increased by 45 per cent 
from 2009/10 and 2012/13 (17.6 RPIs per 100 young people to 25.6 in 
2012/13) and there was an increase of two per cent compared to 
2011/12 (from 25.1 RPIs per 100 young people to 25.6 in 2012/13). 
 There were 1,388 incidents of self harm, down by 33 per cent from 
2009/10 and down by 20 per cent on 2011/12. 
 The number of self harm incidents per 100 young people increased by 
five per cent in 2012/13 compared to 2009/10 (5.3 incidents per 100 
young people to 5.5 incidents per 100 young people in 2012/13), 
though there was an increase of seven per cent between 2011/12 and 
2012/13 (from 5.1 to 5.5 incidents of self harm per 100 young people).  
 There were 2,807 assaults by young people in custody, down by 22 per 
cent since 2009/10 and down by 17 per cent since 2011/12. 
 The number of assaults per 100 young people in custody increased by 
22 per cent from 2009/10 and 2012/13 (9.1 assaults per 100 young 
people compared to 11.1 in 2012/13) and there was an increase of 11 
per cent compared to 2011/12 (10.0 assaults per 100 young people in 
2011/12 compared to 11.1 in 2012/13). 
 There were 2,712 occasions where single separation was used in 
Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs) or Secure Training Centres (STCs), 
down by 58 per cent since 2009/10 and by 30 per cent since 2011/12. 
 The number of single separation incidents per 100 young people in 
custody decreased by 55% from 2009/10 to 2012/13 (from 94.7 single 
separation incidents per 100 young people in 2009/10 compared to 
42.7 in 2012/13 and there was a decrease of 22 per cent compared to 
2011/12 (from 54.7 single separation per 100 young people compared 
to 42.7 in 2012/13). 

 
 44
Behaviour management in the youth secure estate, 2008/09 to 2012/13 
“Behaviour management” refers to the processes and policies by which youth 
secure establishments promote positive behaviour and manage challenging 
and difficult behaviour amongst young people. This section covers the use of 
restrictive physical interventions (RPI) on young people, incidents of self 
harm, assaults and the use of single separation involving young people in 
custody. The data covers 2008/09 to 2012/13. The data here includes some 
18 year olds who are kept in the youth secure estate. The data provided gives 
totals and some demographic breakdowns.  
RPIs should only be used on young people as a last resort, for example to 
prevent them causing harm to themselves or others. For each type of incident, 
the total number of actual incidents in the year, the monthly average and the 
total number of young people involved are presented. We cannot provide a 
distribution of incidents per young people (i.e. how many people were only 
involved in any one incident) due to the way the data are collected.  
 
Chart 8.1: Trend in the number of behaviour management incidents, 
2008/09 to 2012/13 
 
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
RPIs
Self harm incidents
Assaults
Single separation
(STC/SCH only)
Number of incidents
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
 
Use of Restrictive Physical Intervention (RPI), 2012/13 
There were 6,455 incidents of RPI used in the youth secure estate in 2012/13, 
down by seven per cent from 2009/10 and down by 23 per cent since 
2011/12.  
The number of RPIs per 100 young people increased by 45 per cent from 
2009/10 and 2012/13 (17.6 RPIs per 100 young people to 25.6 in 2012/13) 
and there was an increase of two per cent compared to 2011/12 (from 25.1 
RPIs per 100 young people to 25.6 in 2012/13). 
There was an average of 538 RPIs per month in 2012/13, involving an 
average of 366 young people. The number of RPIs per 100 young people in 
custody in the year was higher for the younger age group (10-14) and females 
than their counterparts.   

 
 45
 
In 2012/13 there were 170 RPIs involving injury to young people, nearly all 
(95 per cent) of these were minor injuries. There were 33 per cent fewer 
injuries to young people following an RPI than in 2011/12. 
 
 
Chart 8.2a: Monthly average number of RPIs for young people in 
custody, 2008/09 to 2012/13  
 
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Aged 10 - 14 Aged 15 - 18
Male
Female
Other ethnic
background
White ethnic
background
Number of incidents
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
 
Chart 8.2b: Rate of RPIs per 100 young people in custody, 2008/09 to 
2012/13  
 
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Aged 10 - 14
Aged 15 - 18
Male
Female
Other ethnic
background
White ethnic
background
Rate of RPIs per 100 young people
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
    
 
 
 

 
 46
Self harm by young people in custody, 2012/13 
Self harm in custody is defined as any act by which a young person 
deliberately harms themselves irrespective of the method, intent or severity of 
the injury. There were 1,388 incidents of self harm in 2012/13, down by 33 per 
cent since 2009/10 and down by 20 per cent since 2011/12.  
The number of self harm incidents per 100 young people increased by five per 
cent in 2012/13 compared to 2009/10 (5.3 incidents per 100 young people to 
5.5 incidents per 100 young people in 2012/13), though there was an increase 
of seven per cent between 2011/12 and 2012/13 (from 5.1 to 5.5 incidents of 
self harm per 100 young people).  
There was an average of 116 incidents of self harm per month in 2012/13, 
involving an average of 70 young people. The rate of self harm incidents per 
100 young people in custody was higher for females than their male 
counterparts.   
 
Chart 8.3a: Monthly average number of self harm incidents for young 
people in custody, 2008/09 to 2012/13  
  
0
50
100
150
200
250
Aged 10 - 14
Aged 15 - 18
Male
Female
Other ethnic
background
White ethnic
background
Number of incidents
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
 

 
 47
Chart 8.3b: Rate of self harm per 100 young people in custody, 2008/09 
to 2012/13     
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Aged 10 - 14 Aged 15 - 18
Male
Female
Other ethnic
background
White ethnic
background
Rate of self harm incidents per 100 young 
people
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
 
Assaults involving young people in custody, 2012/13 
Assaults are defined as “the intentional use of unnecessary force that results 
in physical contact with the victim”. Physical contact can be by any part of the 
assailant’s body or bodily fluid or the use or display of any weapon or missile. 
It is not necessary for the victim to suffer injury of any kind. Assaults of a 
sexual nature are included. 
There were 2,807 assaults involving young people in custody in 2012/13, 
down by 22 per cent since 2009/10 and by 17 per cent since 2011/12. There 
was an average of 234 assaults per month in 2012/13 involving an average of 
190 young people as perpetrators.  
The number of assaults per 100 young people in custody increased by 22% 
between 2009/10 and 2012/13 (9.1 assaults per 100 young people compared 
to 11.1 in 2012/13) and there was an increase of 11% compared to 2011/12 
(10.0 assaults per 100 young people in 2011/12 compared to 11.1 in 
2012/13). 
The number of assaults per 100 young people in custody was higher for the 
younger group (10-14 year olds) and for females. 
Chart 8.4a: Monthly average number of assaults involving young people 
in custody, 2008/09 to 2012/13  
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Aged 10 - 14
Aged 15 - 18
Male
Female
Other ethnic
background
White ethnic
background
Number of incidents
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
 

 
 48
 
Chart 8.4b: Rate of assault per 100 young people in custody, 2008/09 to 
2012/13  
 
 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Aged 10 - 14
Aged 15 - 18
Male
Female
Other ethnic
background
White ethnic
background
Rate of assaults per 100 young people
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
 
Single separation in STCs and SCHs, 2012/13 
Single separation refers to the confining of a young person in their bedroom, 
to another room or area as a means of control and without the young person’s 
permission or agreement, without a member of staff being present and with 
the door locked in order to prevent exit. The data are only collected for Secure 
Training Centres and Secure Children’s Homes and private YOIs.  
There were 2,712 occasions where single separation was used in 2012/13, 
down by 58 per cent from 2009/10 and by 30 per cent since 2011/12. In 
2012/13 there was an average of 226 incidents of single separation per month 
used in Secure Children’s Homes and Secure Training Centres. This 
compares to an average of 539 incidents of single separation used per month 
in 2009/10.  
The number of single separation incidents per 100 young people in custody 
decreased by 55% from 2009/10 to 2012/13 (from 94.7 incidents per 100 
young people in 2009/10 to 42.7 in 2012/13) and there was a decrease of 22 
per cent compared to 2011/12 (from 54.7 incidents per 100 young people 
compared to 42.7 in 2012/13). 
The proportion of young people who are placed in single separation while in 
custody differs by age, with higher rates for the younger group (10-14) and 
females. There is little difference in single separation by ethnicity. 
Data collection under Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint 
(MMPR) 
MMPR is a behaviour management and restraint system that has been 
developed specifically for staff working with young people in secure training 
centres (STCs) and under-18 young offender institutions (under-18 YOIs).  
All secure establishments currently report restraint incidents against the 
definition of RPI and this will continue. However, under MMPR, 
establishments are also required to report more detailed data on all uses of 

 
 49
force, irrespective of whether they meet the RPI definition or not. This 
includes the use of MMPR techniques and any use of force that is not an 
MMPR technique.  
Rainsbrook STC is the very first secure establishment to operationally use 
MMPR, and began doing so from 4 March 2013; data collection under the 
MMPR system started from this date. MMPR will subsequently be 
implemented at all STCs and under-18 YOIs by 2014 and 2015 respectively. 
During the reporting period covered in this document, only Rainsbrook STC 
was operationally using MMPR, however, a partial month’s data has not been 
included in this document, as the data is limited in helping to identify, with any 
degree of certainty, any patterns or trends. As further data is collected over a 
longer period of time, and from a number of establishments using MMPR, it is 
reasonable to expect that any patterns and trends will be recognised with 
greater confidence and supported by firmer evidence, which will be included 
in future publications. 
 
For further information on MMPR and the release of the first six months use of 
MMPR at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre (March – August 2013) please 
see:  
www.justice.gov.uk/youth-justice/custody/behaviour-management/behaviour-
management-and-restraint-update#mmpr 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 50
Chapter 9: Proven re-offending by young people, 
2011/12 cohort 
This section provides key statistics on proven re-offending in England and 
Wales. It gives proven re-offending figures for young people who were 
released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, or 
received a caution, reprimand or warning between 1st April 2011 and 31st 
March 2012. Proven re-offending is defined as any offence committed in a 
one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand 
or warning in the one year follow up. Following this one year period, a further 
six months is allowed for cases to progress through the courts. 
This chapter focuses on re-offending by young people in 2011/12, compared 
with 2010/11 and 2000 as a long term comparator47. A more detailed 
publication covering adult and youth re-offending is available here:  
www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics 
 
Key findings 
 In the 12 months ending March 2012 there were 70,504 young people 
who were given a reprimand or warning, convicted at court (excluding 
immediate custodial sentences) or released from custody.  
 Of the 70,504 young people in the cohort, 25,009 committed a proven 
re-offence within a year. This gives a one-year re-offending rate (binary 
rate) of 35.5 per cent. 
 The young people who re-offended committed an average of 2.88 
offences each – 72,147 offences in total. The average number of re-
offences per offender (frequency rate) was 1.02. 
 Both, the binary and frequency rates of re-offending have fallen for the 
first time since 2007/08.  
 The rate of re-offending by young people rose by 1.8 percentage points 
from 33.7 per cent in 2000.  
 The average number of re-offences per offender (frequency rate) fell by 
eight per cent between 2000 and 2011/12.  
 Just under a quarter (24 per cent) of these re-offences were committed 
by young people with no previous offences, and 20 per cent were by 
young people with eleven or more previous offences. 
                                            
47 Data not available for 2001 due to a problem with archived data on Court Orders 

 
 51
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 a reprimand or warning. Due to this, those 
young people in the criminal justice system are, on balance, more challenging 
to work with. This is reflected in the higher predicted rate of re-offending and 
the higher average previous number of offences for each young person.  
 
Chart 9.1: Binary rate (proportion who re-offend) for young people; 2000, 
2005/06 to 2011/12 
33.7
33.6
33.6
32.4
32.8
33.3
35.8
35.5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2000
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
Proportion of young people who re-offend (%)
 
Chart 9.2: Average number of re-offences per young person (in cohort); 
2000, 2005/06 to 2011/12 
1.12
0.97
0.96
0.89
0.90
0.93
1.03
1.02
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
2000
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
Average number of re-offences per offender
 

 
 52
Chart 9.3: Number of young people in the cohort; 2000, 2005/06 to 
2011/12 
139,326
166,471
173,588
165,179
139,732
113,584
88,357
70,504
0
30,000
60,000
90,000
120,000
150,000
180,000
210,000
2000
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
Number of young people in the cohort
 
Changes to the re-offending cohort over time 
In 2000 there were 139,326 young people that formed the re-offending cohort, 
in 2011/12 the size of the re-offending cohort had fallen by 49 per cent to 
70,504.  
Alongside this, the average number of previous offences per offender in the 
cohort has risen every year since 2006/07, from 1.59 to 2.51 in 2011/12, an 
increase of 58 per cent. This suggests that youth offending teams are working 
with a smaller, but generally more prolific cohort.  
Re-offending by demography, 2011/12 
 
The re-offending rates for young people show some differences by 
demography in 2011/12: 
 The re-offending rate for young people aged 15-17 decreased to 35.8 
per cent compared to the previous year’s rate of 36.7 per cent. The 10-
14 year olds re-offending rate increased to 34.5 per cent compared to 
the previous year’s rate of 33.5 per cent. 
 The average number of re-offences per young person was lower for 
15-17 year olds, with an average of 2.86 re-offences, compared to 2.95 
for those aged 10-14 years.  
 The re-offending rate for young males was 38.4 per cent, higher than 
the re-offending rate for females which was 25.0 per cent. The rate for 
females has continued to rise, whilst that for young males has 
decreased by 0.8 percentage points in the last year. 
 
 

 
 53
Re-offending by offence, disposal and criminal history, 2011/12 
There are differences when looking at re-offending by young people in terms 
of their index offence (the offence for which they entered the cohort) and their 
criminal history.  
 As expected, the rate of re-offending increases with the number of 
previous offences. Those with no previous offences had a re-offending 
rate of 22.0 per cent, compared to those with 11 or more previous 
offences who had a re-offending rate of 76.1 per cent. 
 Those young people who received a reprimand or warning for their 
index disposal had a proven re-offending rate of 25.7 per cent, those 
that received a first-tier disposal had a re-offending rate of 42.1 per 
cent, and those given a Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) had a re-
offending rate of 63.6 per cent. Those released from custody had a re-
offending rate of 69.3 per cent.  
 Re-offending rates differ based on the index offence of the young 
person, with those entering the cohort for sexual offences having a re-
offending rate of 12.7 per cent, compared to those with robbery 
offences which have a 40.4 per cent re-offending rate.  
 438 young people (0.62 per cent) committed serious violent/ sexual re-
offences (492). For these offences, re-offending rates fell for the first 
time since 2007/08, and the number of re-offences fell by 26.2 per cent 
compared with 2010/11 and by 47.4 per cent compared to 2000.  
 
 
 
 
 

 
 54
Chapter 10: Criminal Histories of Young People  
This chapter presents information on the criminal histories of young people in 
the Youth Justice System. A young person is counted as having a criminal 
history if their Police National Computer (PNC) record shows that, at the time 
of receiving a reprimand, warning, caution or conviction, they had previously 
committed one or more offences that had resulted in one of these sanctions. 
This PNC data excludes a range of summary offences so the figures 
presented here focus on the criminal histories of young people cautioned 
(reprimands or warnings for young people) or sentenced for indictable 
offences only. This chapter covers information up to 2012/13. For the latest 
MoJ publication please see: 
www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly 
Key findings 
 In 2012/13 most (73 per cent) young people who received a reprimand 
or warning for an indictable offence had no previous offences.  
 In 2012/13, 15 per cent of those young people sentenced at court for 
indictable offences were first time entrants to the Youth Justice 
System.  
 The proportion of young people sentenced to custody who were first 
time offenders was eight per cent in 2012/13. This proportion has 
fluctuated between five and eight per cent since 2002/03.  
Criminal history of young people in the Youth Justice System 
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 reduced 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.  
This suggests the young people being sentenced before the courts are more 
prolific in their criminal history. This may be impacted by the reduction in first 
time entrants to the Youth Justice System over this period; meaning young 
people in the Youth Justice System are more likely to have previous offences.  
The proportion of young people sentenced to custody who were first time 
entrants to the Youth Justice System was eight per cent in 2012/13. This 
proportion has fluctuated between five and eight per cent in the last decade.  
 
 

 
 55
These trends may be partly due to fewer young people entering the Youth 
Justice System, shown by the drop in FTEs (Chapter 2). This means that 
YOTs are dealing with fewer young people (Chapter 3), but they are more 
serious in terms of their previous offending (Chapter 9).  
Chart 10.1: First and further offences committed by young people, 
2002/03 to 2012/13 
83,312
88,399
96,145
107,626
110,748
100,353
80,340
62,559
45,950
36,920
27,854
94,131
97,068
100,308
110,421
116,783
117,508
105,030
90,314
78,501
64,191
46,335
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
First offences
Further offences
 
Criminal histories of young people cautioned for indictable offences 
In 2012/13 most (73 per cent) young people who received a reprimand or 
warning for an indictable offence had no previous offences. One per cent of 
young people given a reprimand or warning in 2012/13 had three or more 
previous cautions or convictions. 
Criminal histories of young people sentenced for indictable offences 
The criminal history profile of sentenced young people is changing over time. 
In 2002/03 two per cent of the young people sentenced for indictable offences 
had 15 or more previous convictions or cautions; this has steadily risen to five 
per cent in 2012/13. So a greater proportion of young people being sentenced 
for indictable offences had committed 15 or more proven offences previously.  
 
 
 
 
 

 
 56
Chart 10.2: All sentenced disposals of young people by criminal history, 
2002/03, 2009/10 and 2012/13  
 
12.3
11.3
14.9
36.7
34.2
32.4
34.0
34.4
32.3
11.1
11.2
11.0
4.1
5.0
4.8
1.8
4.0
4.6
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2002/03
2009/10
2012/13
First time offenders
1-2 previous convictions/cautions
3-6 previous convictions/cautions
7-10 previous convictions/cautions
11-14 previous convictions/cautions
15 or more previous convictions/cautions
 
 

 
 57
Chapter 11: Comparisons with the adult system 
This chapter provides a comparison with young people (10-17 years), young 
adults (18-20 years) and adults (21 years and over) in the Criminal Justice 
System (CJS) in England and Wales. This chapter includes comparisons of; 
first time entrants, offences and disposals, criminal history, population in 
custody and re-offending.  
Key findings 
 Young people (aged 10-17) accounted for 16 per cent of first time 
entrants to the criminal justice system in 2012/13. Adults (18 and over) 
accounted for 84 per cent.  
 Young people sentenced for indictable offences accounted for nine per 
cent of the total court sentences in 2012/13. Young adults (18-20) 
accounted for 11 per cent and the remaining 80 per cent were adults 
(aged 21 and over). 
 15-17 year olds in custody accounted for 1.5 per cent of the total 
custody population in June 2013. 
 In 2011/12 the proportion of people who re-offended was highest for 
young people aged 10-17, with a re-offending rate of 35.5 per cent. 
Young adults (18-20) had a re-offending rate of 30.6 per cent, while 
adults (21 and over) had a rate of 24.4 per cent. 
First Time Entrants to the Criminal Justice System in England and 
Wales, 2012/13 
 Young people (10-17 year olds) accounted for 16 per cent of first time 
entrants to the criminal justice system in 2012/13. Adults (18 years and 
over) accounted for 84 per cent.  
 In 2002/03, young people accounted for 32 per cent of first time 
entrants to the criminal justice system. This proportion was broadly 
stable until 2009/10 when it started to fall year on year to its present 
level of 16 per cent.  
Offences and disposals in the Criminal Justice System in England and 
Wales, 2012/13 
 Young people (10-17 year olds) sentenced for all offences accounted 
for 3.7 per cent of the total people sentenced in 2012/13.  
 Young people (10-17) sentenced for indictable offences accounted for 
nine per cent of the total people sentenced in 2012/13 with 25,577 
court sentences, compared to 11 per cent for young adults (18-20) and 
80 per cent for adults (21+).  
 

 
 58
Chart 11.1: People sentenced for indictable offences by age, 2002/03 to 
2012/13  
 
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Number of People
Young people (under 18)
Young Adults (18-20)
Adults (21 and over)
 
Population in custody, 2002/03 to 2012/13 
 Young people (10-17) in custody accounted for 1.5 per cent of the total 
prison population in June 2013. This proportion has fallen from 3.7 per 
cent in June 2003. 
 The population in custody in the youth estate (under 18) was 1,249 at 
the end of June 2013, compared to 6,272 young adults (18-20) and 
76,704 adults (21 and over) in prison. 
 In the last year, the total population in custody decreased by four per 
cent. There was a two per cent decrease in the adult (21 and over) 
custody population, a 20 per cent decrease in the young adult (18 – 20) 
custody population and a 31 per cent decrease in the under 18 custody 
population.    

 
 59
Chart 11.2: Population in custody by age on 30th June 2003 to 2013 
-
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Population in custody as of 30th June
Total population in custody
Adults (21 and over)
Young adults (18-20) 
Young people (10-17)
 
Re-offending in England and Wales, 2011/12  
 In 2011/12 the proportion of people who re-offended was highest for 
young people aged 10-17, with a re-offending (binary) rate of 35.5 per 
cent. Young adults (18-20) had a re-offending rate of 30.6 per cent, 
while adults (21+) had a rate of 24.4 per cent. Rates for young people 
and young adults have gone down compared with 2010/11. 
 In 2011/12, the average number of re-offences per offender (frequency 
rate) was highest for young people aged 10-17 with an average of 1.02 
offences per offender. The figures were 0.82 for young adults and 0.72 
for adults. The frequency rates for young people and young adults 
have gone down compared with 2010/11. 
 The average number of re-offences per re-offender was highest for 
adults with an average of 2.95 re-offences per re-offender. The figures 
were 2.88 for young people and 2.69 for young adults. Rates for young 
people and adults have gone up compared with 2010/11.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 60
Chart 11.3: Proportion of people who re-offend, 2000 and 2005/06 to 
2011/12  
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
2000
Apr 2005
to Mar
2006
Apr 2006
to Mar
2007
Apr 2007
to Mar
2008
Apr 2008
to Mar
2009
Apr 2009
to Mar
2010
Apr 2010
to Mar
2011
Apr 2011
to Mar
2012
Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%)
Young people (10-17)
Young adults (18-20) 
Adults (21 and over)
1
                                            
 

 
 61
Customer Service Commitment  
The Youth Justice Board and the Ministry of Justice will publish timely, 
relevant, high quality statistics in line with the Code of Practice for Official and 
National Statistics. Our commitment to the customers of our statistics is:  
 
 
 To publish our statistics on the time and date pre-announced;  
 
 To publish all statistics in line with the Code of Practice for Official 
Statistics and the Ministry of Justice’s Statistical Policies and 
Procedures;  
 
 To be transparent when we are unable to meet any of these 
commitments;  
 
 To give open and easy-to-use routes to allow customers to supply us 
with their views and opinions;  
 
 To respond quickly and accurately to questions and enquiries from our 
customers;  
 
 To consult with customers on developments and changes to our 
statistics methodologies; publications or publication processes;  
 
 To consult annually with both internal and external customers on our 
statistical work plan;  
 
 To ensure independent scrutiny of the work plan;  
 
 To respond in a timely manner to any complaints from customers.  
 
Customer Engagement Policy  
 
Customers for this publication can be categorised as being from the following 
groups:  
 
 
 Ministers and policy makers within YJB and Ministry of Justice;  
 
 Policy makers within Government;  
 
 Youth Court District Judges and sentencers; 
 
 Youth Offending Teams; 
 
 Providers of services to Young People; 

 
 62
 
 Secures establishments; 
 
 Academics;  
 
 Expert external special interest and pressure groups ;  
 
 Media and commentators;  
 
 the public. 
 
We recognise that these customers will have different needs. Examples of the 
use of the information include forecasting of future numbers of places in 
secure establishments and occupancy levels; identifying specific groups of 
young people for whom to provide services; support for the development of 
specific policies (for example, Transforming Youth Custody) and comparison 
of local progress on e.g. re-offending against the national data. 
User Consultation 
The UK Statistics Authority has assessed assessing our Youth Justice 
Statistics Annual Report and it has been designated official national statistics. 
 
To this end, we are consulting a wide range of stakeholders through a future 
YJB Stakeholder’s Survey and here on how well the Youth Justice Statistics 
Annual Report fulfils their needs. We would also like to hear your views, if you 
have any, on how you use the report, and whether you think there's anything 
we could improve. 
 
Please answer the following, emailing your responses to the YJB at 
xxx@xxx.xx by 30 September 2014. 
1. Do you use the Youth Justice Statistics Annual Report (text and Excel 
tables)?  
2. Which of these statistics do you use, and for what purposes? Please 
be as specific as possible. For example, if you use the statistics to 
provide briefing and further analysis to others, it would be helpful to 
know what the end use is.  
3. Have you any comments on the quality of the information or methods 
of analysis?  
4. What further information would you like?  
5. Do you have any comments on the presentation in the report? 
You may also want to respond to the wider Ministry of Justice consultation on 
statistical reports. 
 

 
 63
Links to other resources  
Arrest statistics 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-powers-and-procedures-in-
england-and-wales-201112 
Data on arrests for notificable offences are included within this annual Home 
Office statistical release.  
Anti-Social Behaviour statistics 
www.gov.uk/government/collections/antisocial-behaviour 
The latest annual bulletin (published in October 2013) presents the number of 
anti-social behaviour orders issued and breached in the period 1 April 1999 to 
31 December 2012.  
Crime in England and Wales statistics 
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Crime+in+England+and+Wal
es 
 
This quarterly bulletin presents key statistics on crime in England and Wales 
taken from statistics from two different sources: the Crime Survey for England 
and Wales (CSEW, previously known as the British Crime Survey), and police 
recorded crime. The publication also includes experimental statistics on the 
victimisation and experiences of crime from children aged 10 to 15. 
 
Criminal Justice Statistics 
www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly 
This quarterly bulletin presents key statistics on activity in the Criminal Justice 
System (CJS) for England and Wales. The data provides users with 
information about proven offending and its outcomes in England and Wales. It 
contains statistics for adults and young people on; offences, out of court 
disposals, court disposals and offending histories (including first time entrants 
and previous disposals).  
Re-offending of juveniles  
www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics 
This report provides key statistics on proven re-offending in England and 
Wales. It gives proven re-offending figures for offenders who were released 
from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, received a caution, 
reprimand, warning or tested positive for opiates or cocaine between April 
2011 and March 2012. 
Young people in custody 

 
 64
www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-custody-data 
This monthly report covers information on the population in custody within the 
youth secure estate. The data provides users with the breakdown of the 
population in custody each month as well as trend data from 2005/06 
onwards.  

 
 65
Explanatory notes 
Data sources and quality 
Most of the figures in this report have been drawn from administrative IT 
systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to 
possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change 
over time. Steps are taken to improve the completeness and accuracy of this 
information. 
Other figures have been taken from official published statistics, which may be 
National Statistics. Further details on the sources of information are given in 
Annex E.  
'National Statistics' is the national standard for official statistics. The 'National 
Statistics' Quality Mark indicates that the statistics have been produced in 
accordance with a Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The Code of 
Practice requires the statistics to be produced, managed and disseminated to 
high professional standards. The statistics must be well-explained and meet 
users' needs. The 'National Statistics' standard has statutory backing 
1. Data from the Ministry of Justice.  
Some of the data in this report has been taken from previously published 
statistical bulletins published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and other 
government departments. In these cases links to original publication are 
provided. Please see these publications for comments on the quality of this 
data.  
For more information about the databases used and definitions used in the 
Criminal Justice System please see: 
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/26014
7/criminal-justice-stats-guide-nov-2013.pdf 
2. Data from the Youth Justice Board 
Some of the data in this publication come from youth offending teams (YOTs) 
and do not come from the police or courts. As such, the data given in this 
publication may differ from that presented in other Ministry of Justice 
publications. The 2012/13 data have been taken from the Youth Justice 
Board’s Youth Justice Management Information System (YJMIS). This system 
contains summary and case level data on young people on the YOT 
caseloads. Prior to 2009/10, only summary level data was submitted to the 
YJB.  
In 2012/13 there were 158 YOTs in England and Wales. The Youth Justice 
Board received complete data returns from all but 3 YOTs in that year. These 
YOTs were unable to send data due to technical problems with a case 
management system. Two of the YOTs were unable to send data relating to 
proven offences and characteristics of young people and all three were 
unable to send data relating to the use of remands and YRO requirements.  

 
 66
Considerable effort has gone into improving the quality of the data in the 
YJMIS over the last few years. Revised data recording guidance and updates 
to the technology has led to more complete and accurate datasets. This work 
continued in 2013/14.  
The 2012/13 data on young people in the secure estate comes from the YJB’s 
eAsset database and data on young people in the secure estate prior to 
2012/13 comes from the YJB’s Secure Accommodation Clearing House 
System (SACHS) database. The quality of the information recorded on these 
databases is generally assumed to be relatively high as they are the 
operational systems that place young people in custody. A number of key 
fields are used for which completion is mandatory when booking a young 
person into custody. However, both sources are subject to possible errors 
when entering data as well as changes over time being operational databases 
that are regularly updated. Different checks on the data help improve and 
maintain the quality.  
 Ongoing improvements to data entry validation reduce the risk of 
incorrect recording. 
 Identification of duplicate records improve the reliability of the stored 
information.  
 Visual checks on single variables as well as different variable 
groupings are carried out to ensure only permitted combinations result.  
 Data trends are also examined to assist with quality assuring the data.  
 Different data sources are used to ensure the figures are sensible and 
sound.  
 
Unexpected differences are investigated which can result in unit data being 
interrogated to pinpoint the anomaly.  Missing and inconsistent information 
are checked with individual establishments. YJB have started a project to 
improve the quality of historic and current information held on the eAsset 
system, through making amendments to the IT system itself and increased 
levels of checks of information on the system with data providers.   
 
The Behaviour Management data are taken from monthly data returns from 
establishments to the YJB. In some cases the total figures for age, gender 
and ethnicity may not add up to the same figures due to recording issues. 
These small variations will not make any difference to the overall rates. To 
improve the quality, the data was subject to a validation exercise with 
establishments prior to publication.  
3. Data from the Office of National Statistics 
The Crime Survey for England and Wales is a nationally-representative 
survey of individuals aged 16 years and over living in private households in 
England and Wales. The Crime Survey for England and Wales includes 
questions that allow us to look at the perceptions of older teenagers and 
adults with regard to the Youth Justice System (YJS). The main Crime Survey 
for England and Wales publication can be found at:  
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/surveys/list-of-
surveys/survey.html?survey=Crime+Survey+for+England+and+Wales 

 
 67
Un-weighted base: All Crime Survey for England and Wales percentages and 
rates presented in the tables are based on data weighted to compensate for 
differential non response. Tables show the un-weighted base which 
represents the number of people/households interviewed in the specified 
group. 
Percentages: Row or column percentages may not add to 100 per cent due to 
rounding. 
Most Crime Survey for England and Wales tables present cell percentages 
where the figures refer to the percentage of people/households who have the 
attribute being discussed and the complementary percentage, to add to 100 
per cent, is not shown.  
A percentage may be quoted in the text for a single category that is 
identifiable in the tables only by summing two or more component 
percentages. In order to avoid rounding errors, the percentage has been 
recalculated for the single category and therefore may differ by one 
percentage point from the sum of the percentages derived from the tables. 
‘No answers’ (missing values): All Crime Survey for England and Wales 
analysis excludes don’t know/refusals unless otherwise specified. 
4. Data from the Home Office 
Data on arrests are taken from the Home Office statistical release ‘Police 
Powers and Procedures England and Wales 2011/12’. Data for 2012/13 are 
not yet available and will be published in the spring of 2014.  
The figures presented in ‘Police Powers and Procedures for 2011/12’ were 
correct at the time of publication, and may include revisions submitted by 
forces for the years covered by, and received since the publication of, the 
previous year’s edition. 
Figures for the years 2000/01 to 2005/06 are estimated due to unavailable 
data from some police forces. As a result, figures are presented rounded to 
the nearest hundred. 
Press enquiries about the arrests data should be made to the Home Office’s 
press office on xx-xxxx-xxxx. 
All other enquiries about the arrests data should be made directly to Home 
Office Statistics via: xxx@xxx.xx. 
 

 
 68
 
 
 
Symbols and conventions 
The units of measurement in this publication are offenders, offences and 
disposals; these are given as full numbers where available. The percentages 
are rounded to the nearest number or one decimal place. The following 
symbols have been used throughout the tables in this bulletin:  
-    
= Nil / Zero 
..   
= Not available 
 
 
* 
= small values (less than five cases) 
Revisions policy 
Data are received from YOTs and the secure estate on a rolling basis which 
may lead to slight changes to published figures. Revisions are only made 
when there is a significant change or when an error was identified in the 
original data.  
For the revisions policy for data taken from other sources see their respective 
publications.  
 
Contacts  
 
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:  
Tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx  
 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx  
 
Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to: 
Mike Elkins 
Ministry of Justice  
Justice Statistics Analytical Services  
7th Floor  
102 Petty France  
London  
SW1H 9AJ  
 
Tracie Kilbey 
Ministry of Justice 
102 Petty France 
London SW1H 9AJ 
Tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 

 
 69
General enquiries about the statistical work of the Ministry of Justice can be e-
mailed to: xxx@xxx.xx  
 
General information about the official statistics system of the UK is available 
from: www.statistics.gov.uk 
For inquires direct to the YJB please email: xxx@xxx.xx  
 
Spreadsheet files of the tables contained in this document are also available 
for download with this publication.   
 
© Crown copyright 
Produced by the Ministry of Justice 
Alternative formats are available on request from xxx@xxx.xx 
 

 
 70
Annex A: Performance Outcomes in the YJS, 2012/13 
This annex covers information on the performance outcomes for the Youth 
Justice System (YJS). During 2012/13, England and Wales had three 
indicators; two Impact Indicators on first time entrants to the YJS and re-
offending for young people, and a Transparency Indicator on the use of 
custody. There were a further three Welsh Justice indicators around young 
people’s access to suitable accommodation, their engagement in education, 
training and employment (ETE) and their access to substance misuse 
services.  
The old National Indicators came to an end in March 2011 as the 
Government’s response to the Green Paper ‘Breaking the Cycle’48 signalled a 
move towards a national risk based monitoring programme.  
England and Wales Impact Indicators, 2012/13 
First Time Entrants: First time entrants (FTEs) to the criminal justice system 
are classified as young people aged 10-17 years, resident in England and 
Wales, who received their first reprimand, warning, caution or conviction, 
based on data recorded by the police on the PNC (Chapter 2). 
 There were 27,854 first time entrants to the Youth Justice System in 
England and Wales in 2012/13.  
 The number of FTEs has fallen by 75 per cent from the peak of 
110,748 in 2006/07. The number of FTEs fell by 25 per cent between 
2011/12 and 2012/13.  
Re-offending by young people: A proven re-offence is defined as a new 
offence committed within the one-year follow up period of being released from 
custody or given a caution/conviction, which is proved by another formal 
disposal (Chapter 9).  
 Results from the 2011/12 cohort show that the rate of re-offending for 
young people was 35.5 per cent. This is a decrease of 0.3 percentage 
points since 2010/11.  
 The average number of re-offences per offender (frequency rate) was 
1.02 in 2011/12, down from 1.03 re-offences per offender in 2010/11. 
 The average number of re-offences per re-offender was 2.88 in 
2011/12, slightly up from 2.87 re-offences per re-offender in 2010/11. 
 
 
                                            
48 www.gov.uk/government/consultations/breaking-the-cycle-effective-punishment-
rehabilitation-and-sentencing-of-offenders--2 

 
 71
England and Wales Transparency Indicator, 2012/13 
Use of custody:  
The Transparency Indicator on the use of custody is measured as the number 
of custodial sentences per 1,000 young people (aged 10-17) in the population. 
This data is taken from the YJB’s Youth Justice Management Information 
System (YJMIS).  
Previously the use of custody was measured by the custody rate, i.e. the 
number of young people sentenced to custody as a proportion of all young 
people sentenced. For information on young people in custody see Chapter 7.  
 Data from YJMIS shows that there were 0.61 custodial sentences per 
1,000 young people in 2012/13, compared with 0.82 in 2011/12.  
 The custody rate has been broadly stable for the last decade 
fluctuating between six and eight per cent. This is against a 
background of a reduction in the number of young people coming 
before the courts, and those receiving custody.  
Welsh Youth Justice Indicators 
Engagement in education, training and employment (ETE) for young people in 
the youth justice system: The measure looks at the change in the average 
number of hours of ETE per week young people complete at the start to the 
end of their disposal.  
 In Wales during 2012/13, young people had an average of 15 hours of 
ETE per week at the beginning of their disposals and an average of 16 
at the end of their disposals. This represented an eight per cent 
increase in the average number of hours they completed. 
Chart A.1: Average number of hours of suitable ETE per week, Wales 
2012/13
19
20
12
13
18
18
15
16
0
5
10
15
20
25
Average number of ETE hours at the start of
disposal
Average number of ETE hours at the end of
disposal
Average number of hours of suitable ETE per week
Of school age 
Above school age
Between age groups
Total
 

 
 72
  
Access to substance misuse services for young people in the youth justice 
system: Covers the timeliness of assessments for young people with potential 
substance misuse needs in Wales. Initial assessments should be conducted 
within five working days of a referral, and interventions should be started 
within ten working days of their assessment.  
 In 2012/13, 87 per cent of assessments were conducted within five 
working days of referral, which has remained the same compared with 
2011/12.  
 The proportion of young people with substance misuse needs that 
started interventions within 10 working days of their assessment was 
93 per cent in 2012/13, down slightly on the 94 per cent in 2011/12.  
Chart A.2: Substance misuse assessment for young people in Wales, 
2007/08 to 2012/13    
88%
88%
86%
86%
87%
87%
95%
91%
95%
96%
94%
93%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Substance misuse assessments
conducted within 5 days of referral
leading to an intervention within 10 days
 
Access to suitable accommodation for young people in the youth justice 
system: This indicator measures the change in the percentage of young 
people who were in suitable accommodation at the end of their order, 
compared to the number at the start. 
The percentage of young people who were in suitable accommodation at the 
start of their order (all disposals) in 2012/13 was 94 per cent. This decreased 
slightly to 93 per cent at the end of their disposal.  
For young people on a custodial disposal, 81 per cent were assessed as 
having suitable accommodation prior to their disposal. At the end of their 
disposals 88 per cent were assessed as having suitable accommodation.  
 

 
 73
Annex B: Resources in Youth Offending Teams 
Youth offending teams (YOTs) work with young people who are in the Youth 
Justice System, or who are on programmes that serve to prevent young 
people offending for the first time or behaving anti-socially. Most of the YOT 
caseload comprises young people aged 10 to 17 years. However some 18 
year olds who start their disposals before their 18th birthday may also still be 
engaged with the YOT. The information supplied for 2012/13 was up to date 
as of the 14th of January 2014. 
 
YOTs are multi-agency teams made up of representatives from police, 
probation, education, health and social services, and specialist workers, such 
as accommodation officers and substance misuse workers. 
 
YOTs are mostly coterminous with local authorities in England and Wales. 
However, there are some exceptions where a single YOT covers two or more 
local authorities. At the end of March 2013, there were 158 YOTs: 140 in 
England and 18 in Wales. The composition of YOTs is changing over time; 
these numbers have changed since 2011/12 and may change again in the 
future. 
 
From 2011/12 the YOT grant from the YJB was one single grant with no ring-
fenced amounts for designated strands of work. 
 
The funding figures are based on data submitted to the YJB from Youth 
Offending Teams, with the exception of the YJB grant which is taken from the 
YJB’s own figures. 
 
Overall YOT funding over time 
Between 2011/12 and 2012/13 there was a reduction in the overall level of 
funding available to YOTs from £333m to £322m, a reduction of 3.3 per cent. 
Funding from 2012/13 is the lowest YOTs have received since 2007/08. The 
changes in funding to YOTs since 2011/12 were made up as follows; 
 The YJB Grant reduced by 6.8 per cent 
 Police increased by 1.3 per cent 
 Probation reduced by 6.5 per cent 
 Health services reduced by 4.0 per cent 
 Local Authorities (including education and social services) reduced by 
1.2 per cent 
 Welsh Government increased by 4.0 per cent. 
 
 

 
 74
Chart B.1: Total YOT funding over time, 2007/08 to 2012/13 
£-
£50
£100
£150
£200
£250
£300
£350
£400
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Millions
Youth Justice Board core grant
Police
Probation
Health
Local Authority
Welsh Government
 
Partnership of funding of YOTs 
The Youth Justice Board provides funding to support the development of good 
practice: this is typically about a third (33%) of all funding to YOTs although 
this figures varies by YOT. The remaining funding comes from Partnership 
Agencies who work with the YOT to support young people in, or at risk of 
entering, the Youth Justice System. 
 
In terms of partnership funding Local Authority services contributed the most 
to YOT funding, providing more than three quarters (76%) of the total supplied 
by statutory agencies other than the YJB. The police provided ten per cent, 
probation seven per cent and health six per cent. The Welsh Government 
provided additional funding to YOTs in Wales, accounting for almost sixteen 
per cent to YOTs in Wales. 

 
 75
 
Chart B.2: Partnership funding of YOTs, 2012/13 
Probation
6.8%
Health
6.2%
Welsh 
Government
1.3%
Local Authority
75.7%
Police
9.8%
 
 
YOT workforce 
As of 30th June 2012, a total of 15,499 people were recorded as working in 
YOTs in some capacity. This is a reduction of 2.8 per cent on the staffing 
levels in YOTs in 2011/12. These figures include volunteers, part-time and 
temporary staff and so are not measures of the full-time equivalent workforce. 
YOTs vary in size from less than 20 members of staff to over 500. This 
section presents information on the total number of staff across all YOTs, 
broken down by contract status, gender and ethnicity. 
From 30th June 2012 the data recording methodology was changed for 
staffing figures broken down by contract status. In previous years, headcount 
was used both for the numbers broken down by contract status and the 
numbers broken down by gender and ethnicity. From June 2012 the figures 
broken down by contract type were recorded as full-time equivalents and as a 
result, the totals recorded under contract type for 30th June 2012 are not 
comparable with previous years.  The totals broken down by contract status 
are also not comparable with those recorded under gender and ethnicity as 
these are still recorded as headcount.  From the data submitted, the full-time 
equivalent numbers at 30th June 2012 were 5,816 practitioners (18% working 
part-time), 864 operational managers and 226 strategic managers. The 
corresponding figures for sessional workers and volunteers were 727 and 820 
respectively. 
Over two-thirds (68%) of the staff were female and 78 per cent classed 
themselves as being from a White ethnic background. 

 
 76
Owing to the change in recording practice detailed above, it is not possible to 
specify for which type of staffing contract the greatest fall has occurred. 
 
Chart B.3: YOT workforce, as of 30th June 2012 
Strategic Managers
2%
Operational Managers
9%
Full Time Practitioners
50%
Part Time Practitioners
11%
Administrative
12%
Sessional
7%
Students / trainees
1%
Volunteer
8%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 77
Annex C: Levels of crime experienced by children and 
their risk of victimisation 
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (formerly British Crime Survey) 
asks people aged 16 and over living in households in England and Wales 
about their experiences of crime in the last 12 months. These experiences are 
used to estimate levels of crime in England and Wales. Until recently the 
survey did not cover crimes against those aged under 16, but since January 
2009 children aged 10 to 15 have also been interviewed.  
 
In 2009 the Crime Survey for England and Wales was extended to children 
aged 10 to 15. The primary objective of extending the survey to children aged 
10-15 was to provide estimates of the levels of crime experienced by children 
and their risk of victimisation. Key findings on levels of victimisation are 
available in the main publication:  
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/period-ending-june-
2013/stb-crime-in-england-and-wales--year-ending-june-2013.html 
 
In addition to questions about experience of crime, the survey extension also 
gathers information on a number of crime-related topics such as experience 
and attitudes towards the police, personal safety, being in public spaces and 
access to leisure facilities. As the questions asked of 10 to 15 year olds were 
quite different, there is no comparison made here with perceptions about the 
Youth Justice System.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 78
Annex D: International comparisons with other youth 
justice systems 
The youth justice system in England and Wales covers young people aged 10 
to 17. When young people become 18 they are treated as adults. The most 
basic defining characteristic that distinguishes youth justice systems around 
the world is the ages of young people that they work with. A report previously 
published by the YJB (Hazel, 2008) showed that there is an incredible amount 
of variation in these ages across jurisdictions and that there are many other 
factors including policies, methods of assessments and interventions that 
make it very complex to compare different youth justice systems.  
This annex focuses on the age ranges that defined youth justice systems in 
different countries, at the time that the Hazel (2008) study was undertaken.  
There may have been subsequent changes to youth justice systems in some 
jurisdictions, which are not reflected in this report. 
Age of criminal responsibility is the point at which the child can be legally 
prosecuted for a crime. It is the age at which the child is considered capable 
of understanding what they did wrong, and are dealt with accordingly through 
the criminal justice system.  
Most European countries set their ages of criminal responsibility at between 
14 and 16 years, although France comes in just under at 13 years. The three 
major exceptions are Switzerland and Cyprus at seven years, and the 
countries of the UK (Scotland at eight years, and Northern Ireland and 
England and Wales at 10 years). 
The age at which the criminal justice system processes offenders as adults is 
known as the age of criminal majority. This is the point when the offenders no 
longer have any protection from the juvenile system in terms of process, no 
longer receive different sentences from adults, and they serve any sentences 
with adults. 
While there is no standard age of criminal majority around the world, many 
criminal justice systems, including England and Wales, have their age of 
majority at 18 years old. This is also the age at which the UN Convention on 
the Rights of the Child (1989), and its protection of children, fails to apply any 
more.  
Further information on the findings of the report previously published by the 
YJB (Hazel, 2008) can be found at;  
www.yjb.gov.uk/publications/Resources/Downloads/Cross_national_final.pdf 
 
 
 

 
 79
Annex E: Sources used for each chapter 
The table below shows which data sources are used for each chapter of the 
report and the quality of the data.  
Name 
Owner 
Description 
Quality 
Status 
Source /  
Other 
publications 
Use in YJ 
Stats 
2012/13 
Police National 
Computer (PNC) 
NPIA / 
MoJ 
 
Information regarding the proven re-
offending behaviour of offenders and 
criminal histories of offenders has been 
compiled using the Ministry of Justice’s 
extract from the Police National 
Computer (PNC). The quality of the 
information recorded on the PNC is 
generally assumed to be relatively high 
as it is an operational system on which 
the police depend, but analysis can 
reveal errors that are typical when 
handling administrative datasets of this 
scale.  
NS 
 
1 
 
Chapters 2, 
3, 4, 9, 
10,11 and 
Annex A 
 
Penalty notices 
for disorder 
(PNDs) 
 
MoJ 
 
 
Since 2004, when PNDs were piloted, 
until 2012, data were received from the 
individual police forces on a monthly 
basis.  The two returns provided details 
of PNDs issued and their subsequent 
outcomes.  The returns were checked by 
the statistical teams for completeness 
and accuracy.  Any anomalies in the 
data were queried with the force and any 
duplication of data is removed from the 
database. 
On an annual basis, a full reconciliation 
process was undertaken when each 
police force was given the opportunity to 
verify the monthly figures they had 
supplied and make revisions to the 
annual returns prior to publication. 
A new IT system PentiP was rolled out 
to police forces during 2012, as a single 
replacement for their existing databases, 
one use of which being to capture data 
on PNDs. As forces moved on PentiP, 
details of PNDs issued and their 
subsequent outcomes began to be 
extracted from the live administrative 
system on a quarterly basis rather than 
via manual monthly returns. The returns 
are checked in the same way by the 
statistical teams for completeness and 
accuracy, and any anomalies in the data 
queried with the PentiP system 
administrators. All forces are now live on 
PentiP, and monthly returns ceased in 
mid 2013. 
NS 
 
 
1 
 
Chapter 1 
 
Cautions  
 
MoJ 
 
From April 2011 all cautions data are 
collected from the Police National 
Computer, the records are validated for 
accuracy and completeness and 
amended as necessary. Additionally any 
apparent cautions given for serious 
offences, such as rape, are investigated 
thoroughly with forces. All cautions data 
prior to April 2011 were collected directly 
from police forces and have been 
through the same validation process. 
From 2009/2010 the reporting of 
NS 
 
1 
 
Chapter 1 
and 11 
 

 
 80
conditional cautions was made 
mandatory, including those given to 
juveniles aged 16 and 17. This meant 
from 1st April 2009 all returns distinguish 
conditional cautions from other caution 
type interventions. In addition Youth 
Conditional Cautions (YCC), for 
juveniles aged 16 or 17, were introduced 
from 1 April 2009. 
Courts 
 
MoJ 
 
Statistics on prosecutions, convictions 
and sentencing are either derived from 
the LIBRA case management system, 
which holds the magistrates’ courts 
records, or the Crown Court’s CREST 
system which holds the trial and 
sentencing data. The data includes 
offences where there has been no police 
involvement, such as those prosecutions 
instigated by government departments, 
private organisations and individuals. 
From July 1995 all Crown Court data on 
trials and sentences has been received 
directly from the Court Service's CREST 
computer system and from November 
2008 all magistrates’ courts data has 
been provided by the LIBRA case 
management system. All data is subject 
to a variety of validation checks prior to 
publication 
NS 
 
1 
 
Chapters 5 
and 11 
 
YJMIS 
 
YJB 
This system contains summary and case 
level data on young people on the YOT 
caseload. Prior to 2009/10 only 
summary level data was submitted to the 
YJB via Youth Offending Teams. Data is 
submitted on a quarterly basis.  
Admin 
System 
2 
Chapters 3, 
4, 5, 6, 
Annex A 
and Annex 
B. Used for 
the local 
level data.  
eAsset / SACHS 
 
YJB 
 
Data for 2012/13 about secure training 
centres (STCs) and secure children’s 
homes (SCHs) comes from the YJB's 
eAsset database. The under 18 year 
olds in Young Offender Institutions is 
also from eAsset. Data is based on 
monthly snapshots of the custodial 
population in the secure estate for 
children and young people, taken on the 
last Friday of the month or first Friday of 
the following month, depending on which 
is nearer to the actual month end. Data 
prior to 2012/13 comes from the YJB’s 
Secure Accommodation Clearing House 
System (SACHS) database. 
Admin 
System 
3 
Chapters 6, 
7 and 11 
 
Behaviour 
management 
 
YJB 
 
The Behaviour Management data are 
taken from monthly data returns from 
establishments to the YJB. In some 
cases the total figures for age, gender 
and ethnicity may not add up to the 
same figures due to recording issues. 
These small variations will not make any 
difference to the overall rates. 
Admin 
System 
N/A 
Chapter 8 
 
Deaths in custody 
YJB 
Data on deaths in custody (YOIs, STCs 
and SCHs) based on information 
reported to the YJB.  
Admin 
System 
N/A 
Executive 
Summary 
 
Arrests 
 
Home 
Office 
The arrests figures relate to arrests for 
notifiable offences only, which form the 
basis of recorded crime statistics. The 
data presented are drawn from returns 
from the 43 local police forces in 
England and Wales, and cover trends in 
arrest rates in England and Wales from 
NS 
4 
Chapter 1 

 
 81
2001/02 to 2011/12, as well as 
breakdowns by offence group, sex and 
self-defined ethnicity. 
Figures on arrests reported to the Home 
Office reflect police activity and should 
not be used to infer levels of crime 
committed by offenders, or their specific 
characteristics. 
ASBOs 
Home 
Office / 
MoJ 
These statistics are based on ASBOs 
issued after application by a relevant 
body (Including local authorities, police, 
registered social landlords, housing 
action trusts, British Transport Police, 
Transport for London) to magistrates' 
courts (acting in their civil capacity) or to 
county courts and ASBOs issued 
following conviction for a criminal 
offence either by magistrates' courts 
(acting in their criminal capacity) or the 
Crown Court. 
OS 
5 
Chapter 1 
Crime Survey for 
England and 
Wales  
 
ONS 
The Crime Survey for England and 
Wales, previously the British Crime 
Survey (BCS), is one of the largest 
social research surveys conducted in 
England and Wales. It asks people 
resident in households about their 
experiences of crime in face-to-face 
interviews. In the 2010/11 BCS, around 
51,000 people were interviewed, that is, 
around 47,000 adults aged 16 or over in 
the main survey and a further 4,000 
interviews conducted with children aged 
10 to 15. Around 1,000 interviews were 
carried out in each police force area in 
2010/11. The overall response rate is 
currently 76 per cent – among the 
highest for the large continuous 
government surveys. 
NS 
6 
Chapter 12 
and Annex 
C 
 
Mid year 
estimates 
ONS 
Mid 2012 population estimates are 
available at national level by single year 
of age and sex and sub nationally (local 
authority/health area) by five year age 
group and sex. These include additional 
selected age groups and broad 
components of population change. The 
population estimates reflect the local 
authority administrative boundaries that 
were in place on 30 June of the 
reference year of the tables. 
NS 
7 
Chapter 1, 
Annex B 
Re-offending  
MoJ 
Key statistics on proven re-offending in 
England and Wales. It gives proven re-
offending figures for offenders who were 
released from custody, received a non-
custodial conviction at court, received a 
caution, reprimand, warning or tested 
positive for opiates or cocaine between 
April 2011 and March 2012. Proven re-
offending is defined as any offence 
committed in a one year follow-up period 
and receiving a court conviction, caution, 
reprimand or warning in the one year 
follow-up. Following this one year period, 
a further six month waiting period is 
allowed for cases to progress through 
the courts. 
NS 
8 
Chapter 9 
Adults in custody 
MoJ 
Key statistics relating to offenders who 
are in prison or under Probation Service 
supervision. It covers flows into these 
services (receptions into prison or 
probation starts) and flows out 
(discharges from prison or probation 
terminations) as well as the caseload of 
both services at specific points in time.  
NS 
9 
Chapter 11 
 

 
 82
Other publications; 
1. www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly 
2. www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-statistics 
3. www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-custody-data 
4. www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-
england-and-wales 
5. www.gov.uk/government/collections/antisocial-behaviour 
6. 
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Crime+in+England+and+Wal
es 
7. www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-england-
and-wales/mid-2012/mid-2012-population-estimates-for-england-and-
wales.html#tab-Mid-2012-population-estimates- 
8. www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics 
9. www.gov.uk/government/collections/prisons-and-probation-statistics 
10. 
www.yjb.gov.uk/publications/Resources/Downloads/Cross_national_final.pdf 
 
NS denotes National Statistics publications 
OS denotes Official Statistics publications 
Admin System denotes information is derived from an administrative system.