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Budget: Young people to deliver community justice in UK's first youth peer panels
The Chancellor has announced £487,000 funding for the country’s first restorative peer panel project for young people, which will be based in a new Restorative Justice Centre in Preston and run by the Lancashire Restorative Partnership Group, led by Nacro, the crime reduction charity and Preston City Council.
The restorative peer panels use the American idea of peer courts, which are based on the theory that young people are affected by peer pressure and this pressure can be changed from a negative effect to a positive one.
The peer panel pilot in Preston will involve young people being trained in facilitating restorative justice conferences and in drawing up Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs). The first young people to be trained will be drawn from local high schools.
The restorative conferences will bring together the young offender and the victim or members of the affected local community (known as a community impact panel) to allow both sides to be involved in deciding what the reparation should be and how the young person can be diverted from future crime and antisocial behaviour.
The ABCs will also include the ‘street law peer education programme’ – an 8-week course dealing with issues such as the consequences of crime, empathy with victims, school attendance, bullying, and binge drinking – to be delivered by the Restorative Justice Centre.
The funding announced today will be used by the Partnership to establish the first of three Restorative Justice Centres in Preston, which will bring together various agencies including the police, the council, the youth offending teams and Nacro and other voluntary organisations to deliver the restorative peer panels.
Today’s announcement comes after high profile figures, including Cherie Booth QC and the Archbishop of Canterbury, have publicly supported the wider use of restorative practices and a recent report into restorative justice by the Smith Institute revealed that it reduces the likelihood of reoffending.
Commenting on the new peer panels, Paul Cavadino, Chief Executive of Nacro said:
“This is a very exciting project that has real potential to cut the rate of reoffending by young offenders.
“The peer panels will help young people to understand the real impact of their actions on other people and to take responsibility for changing their behaviour. Being judged by other young people can have a far more positive and long-lasting effect than feeling targeted by the authorities.
“We hope this project will be the starting point for young people really to turn their lives around, with continuing support from Nacro and the Restorative Justice Centre to help them stay on the right track.”
Simon Evans, Nacro’s Restorative Justice Programme Manager, added:
“This is an innovative project that enables young people and the local community to become directly involved in tackling antisocial behaviour and low level offending before it becomes serious.”
Chief Superintendent Michael Barton of Lancashire Constabulary said:
“Lancashire Police have embraced the use of restorative justice and many of our officers are trained in RJ practices. It is important that the Centre shows the public that restorative justice is not a soft option. By involving young people we can develop strong local communities.”
Catherine Witt, Head of Lancashire Youth Offending Team, said:
“The Restorative Justice Centre is a very positive step forward. Bringing all of the relevant agencies together under one roof will provide young people with whole packages of positive support and diversion.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. The Lancashire Restorative Partnership Group includes Nacro, the crime reduction charity, Lancashire Police, Preston City Council, Lancashire County Council, Government Office North West, Lancashire Youth Offending Team (Yot), Lancashire Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Lancashire PCT, Preston Community Safety team, and International Institute for Restorative Practice.
2. The £487,000 funding announced today is to be combined with match funding from the Youth Offending Team, the (Crime) Floor Target Action Plan Fund (part of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund), and the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership.
peer panels, restorative justice, Preston, RJ, partnership, young offenders, antisocial behaviour, ABCs, acceptable behaviour contracts, Paul Cavadino, Simon Evans, Lancashire Restorative Partnership Group, peer courts, street law education programme, Budget, Chancellor, funding
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