Issue 245  21st May 2022

'£300 million to cut youth crime and make streets safer'

Thousands of troubled children and teenagers teetering on the edge of crime will be put back on the right track thanks to the largest youth justice funding boost in a generation – cutting crime and making streets safer. Around 80 percent of prolific adult offenders begin committing crimes as children, and the estimated cost of late intervention to the economy is nearly £17 billion per year. That’s why the government is making the biggest investment in a generation – worth £300 million over the next 3 years – to support every single council across England and Wales in catching and preventing youth offending earlier than ever, helping to stop these children and teenagers from moving on to further, more serious offending.

And for the first time ever, local authorities will be given specific cash to intervene early with teenagers displaying signs such as poor school attendance, troubles at home, and a history of substance abuse which are known to be factors which often drive young people into crime – so they can steer them away from law-breaking before an offence is even committed. Through ‘Turnaround’, a new early intervention scheme backed by £60 million, local Youth Offending Teams will be given extra funding to connect children and teenagers to targeted, wraparound support to stop them going down a path of criminality. This could include mentoring, extra school tuition, sports clubs, help to address any issues at school or at home, with their mental health or with substance misuse, tackling the root causes of their behaviour and helping them to get their lives back on track.

'Burglary offences: new sentencing guidelines published'

Revised sentencing guidelines for domestic, non-domestic and aggravated burglary offences in England and Wales, which come into effect on 1 July 2022, were published today by the Sentencing Council following consultation. The revised guidelines follow the newer stepped format of more recent guidelines issued by the Council and introduce new middle categories for both culpability and harm factors. This gives sentencers greater flexibility and reflects the full range and seriousness of offences that come to court. The Council has made a number of changes to culpability and harm factors across all guidelines, in response to feedback from the consultation and testing with judges and magistrates. The changes ensure that the harm factors fully reflect the distress suffered by burglary victims.

'Child sexual offences sentencing guidelines published'

Revised sentencing guidelines that clarify how courts in England and Wales should sentence offenders convicted of arranging or facilitating sexual offences against a child were published today by the Sentencing Council following consultation. Under the revised guidelines, which will come into effect on 31 May 2022, judges and magistrates will consider the intended sexual harm to a child even in cases where no actual child exists or no sexual activity takes place, for example in police ‘sting’ operations.

The revisions follow requests from the Court of Appeal and arise from two cases (‘Privett and Others’ and ‘Reed and Others’) that provided the courts with guidance on how to approach the assessment of harm in cases where there is no actual child victim. The case of ‘Privett’ involved arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence where there was no child, and ‘Reed’ involved sexual activity that was incited but ultimately did not take place.

'Solicitors vote to escalate legal aid action'

The government faces the threat of further disruption in the courts as dozens of solicitors prepare to join the criminal bar in protest action over the government’s controversial criminal legal aid reforms. After surveying members on possible options for action, the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association announced today that 95% of 140 respondents have signalled support for refusing to take on low-paid work in the magistrates’ court, such as burglary and assault on emergency workers...

The action will commence on 25 May, starting with burglary cases. The LCCSA, which has 870 members, says cases in the magistrates’ court could collapse with defendants unable to access a lawyer. Crown courts would experience further disruption as cases tried ‘either way’ – such as harassment and stalking - would be unable to proceed...

'Deal with this problem: lord chief wades into legal aid dispute'

The lord chief justice has refused to publicly take sides in the dispute between the government and criminal bar over legal aid fees – but called for the situation to be resolved quickly before more solicitors and barristers quit publicly funded work. Since 11 April, hundreds of criminal barristers have adopted a policy of ‘no returns’ in response to the government's proposed criminal legal aid reforms, which they believe are insufficient to resolve a long-running sustainability crisis. The action will escalate next week with London criminal defence solicitors refusing to take on low-paid work, starting with burglary cases.

Lord Burnett of Maldon told the House of Lords constitution committee yesterday that he encouraged the government to accept the recommendations of an independent review led by retired judge Sir Christopher Bellamy ‘and really get on with it’. He said: ‘As you know, there is a dispute between the government and the bar in particular. It is vitally important I say nothing, I do nothing which indicates taking any sides in what is, put crudely, an industrial dispute. But I would echo again the need to deal with this problem. If it is not dealt with, the numbers of criminal barristers and solicitors will continue to decline at a time when police numbers are going up and there is enormous pressure on the police and the prosecuting authority to bring more cases into the criminal courts.’ The ’reservoir’ of lawyers is limited, he added. ‘If in five years’ time the political ambition is to have many, many, many more cases in the Crown courts, my question is who’s going to try them, who’s going to prosecute them and who’s going to defend them, if there aren’t some pretty profound steps taken to enhance the capacity at every stage?’

CJJI Progress Report - Impact of Covid-19

The government will struggle to cut the court backlog unless it increases both prosecution and defence resources, chief inspectors for the criminal justice system have warned. They also note that the state of the courts was already 'parlous' before the pandemic hit and has deteriorated since. In a ‘state of the nation’ report last year, the four criminal justice inspectorates said urgent and significant action was needed to eliminate a ‘chronic’ court backlog. Publishing a progress report today, they said recovery remained ‘elusive’...

The inspectors welcomed work to support recovery, including removing the financial cap on judicial sitting days, extending Nightingale courtrooms and opening two ‘super’ courtrooms. However, the impact so far was ‘minimal’. The ministry’s ambition to reduce the Crown court backlog to 53,000 by March 2025 ‘will do very little to improve matters’.

The report can be found here.

'HMCTS should face probe, chief inspector tells MPs'

Listings should be looked at as part of an inspection of HM Courts & Tribunals Service, the chief inspector for the Crown Prosecution Service has told MPs. Discussing the findings of a progress report on the impact of Covid-19 on the criminal justice system, Andrew Cayley CMG QC told the House of Commons justice select committee that existing measures to support court recovery, such as lifting the financial cap on judicial sitting days, were sufficient to address the issue. One of the real problems, he said, is 'things are not really very joined up'...

‘There’s no inspectorate for the courts and tribunals service,’ he added. ‘We do have a residual discretion to inspect if it is linked to an inspection of the CPS. I can’t recall the last time we have inspected HMCTS. I do think an inspection of HMCTS does need to be done, particularly around listing of cases.’ Listing is a judicial function and Cayley acknowledged it was a sensitive area. ‘It’s a really tough job, listing of cases,' he said. 'It’s spinning 20 plates in the air at the same time. I really do respect the work court staff do and resident judges but I do think it needs to be looked at, the way it’s done. I think, to be fair, it’s a bit old-fashioned frankly when we live in a digital age and the way that it is done.’

'Met’s investigation into alleged breaches of Covid regulations, Op Hillman, concludes'

The Met has today announced the investigation into alleged breaches of Covid regulations at Downing Street and Whitehall, under Operation Hillman, is complete. In total, detectives have made 126 referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for breaches of Covid-19 regulations...