Coventry City Council has set out plans to tackle a rise in young people committing violent offences in the city. The Youth Justice Service has a two-year plan that aims to keep children away from crime.
Over the past year, the service has helped to reduce the number of children with formal criminal records and reduce re-offending figures. It has also helped to reduce the use of custodial sentences for children.
But the council admits that alongside their successes, there has been an increase in violent offences and weapon possession for children. The new plan outlines how the partnership will work to help those most at risk of offending, including children who have been excluded from school, who have had a disrupted education and those who have been victims of exploitation.
Inspectors from HMI Probation recently judged the two-year plan to be ‘outstanding’. According to the Coventry Youth Justice Service website, the council has a number of approaches to try and tackle the rise in violent offending. These include:
- Out of court dispersals
- Community orders
- Custodial sentences
- Working with the courts
- Victims services
- Parenting/carer support
Councillor Patricia Seaman, cabinet member for children and young people at Coventry City Council, said: “We are very proud of our outstanding Youth Justice Service, but we need to keep building on the work we have done and bringing in more improvements. We have to ensure that children, young people and victims are at the heart of all we do.
"To do that, we have to work with partners and residents across the city to tackle issues like exploitation and serious youth violence. We have to listen to children and young people to find out what they need, and this plan will help us to do that.
“The work outlined in the plan will not only help children in danger of taking the wrong path, it will help the whole city and support our work to create a child-friendly Coventry that is a safe, happy and healthy place for all children to grow up in, and one that gives them the best possible start in life.”
The service’s work to involve children and parents and give them a voice was one area praised in the recent inspection. It also praised the way children’s diversity needs are met through access to partnership support and matching of mentors to the children by shared, lived experience or through heritage.
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