Communities and Youth Crime:
A New Start?
Tuesday 9th December 2008
New Connaught Rooms, London WC2
Keynote
Speaker
Nick Herbert MP
Shadow Secretary of State
for Justice
The
Government's Youth Crime Action Plan details a tough yet prevention-based
approach to youth crime, striving where possible to divert young people
from such behaviour. It comes hot on the heels of Louise Casey's Crime
and Communities Review which calls for visible ‘community payback',
standardised neighbourhood policing across the UK , and for the community
to play their part in fighting crime.
Gordon Brown
backs many of the proposals in the Review and it seems that approaches
to youth crime are advancing on two diverging paths. Welfare policy
is working to provide positive activities and early intervention to
identify those at risk of offending, giving every child every chance
to avoid slipping into the criminal justice system. On the other hand,
if a young person does transgress, the punishments are set to become
tougher to help boost the public's confidence in the criminal justice
system. Casey explains it thus: “ It's
two sides of the same coin - we both want to prevent people becoming
criminals in the first place, we want to give them a chance to turn
their back on crime if they do become criminals, but we also want law
breakers to face a tough consequence.”
This forward-thinking
conference looks at the next five years of tackling youth crime and
anti-social behaviour at a local level. Key speakers from Government,
the criminal justice system, social care and wider community stakeholders
will discuss the measures outlined in both documents. The programme
will map out how to successfully remove the drivers that lead to crime
and how to implement the necessary deterrents.
For further information contact
Sarah Spencer on 020 7324 4359,
e-mail sarah.spencer@neilstewartassociates.co.uk
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