Youth Justice Strategic Plan Executive summary
Section 4 - Performance and priorities
First Time Entrants (FTE) data source - Police National Computer (PNC) and Gateshead YJS (where stated)
Regional comparison of first time entrants
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Ministry of Justice prioritised their reporting accordingly which meant the FTE data for 2019/20 and 2020/21 has not yet been published. The data for these periods has been updated using Gateshead YJS data which is also reported to the YJB.
The latest published data for period 2018/19 shows that Gateshead saw a 34% decrease in the number of FTE (26 young people) entering the YJS. When we compare the latest period 2020/21 (data taken from Gateshead YJS) to the earliest reported period (2015/16) this calculates as a 70% reduction (43 young people).
| Gateshead FTEs | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2021/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 62 | 75 | 77 | 51 | 40 | 18 |
| Rate / 1000 | 366 | 442 | 452 | 298 | 235 | 103 |
PCC Northumbria area only | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2021/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 588 | 500 | 544 | 407 | - | - |
| Rate / 1000 | 491 | 416 | 450 | 332 | - | - |
North East | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2021/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 1977 | 903 | 830 | 687 | - | - |
| Rate / 1000 | 437 | 403 | 368 | 300 | - | - |
National | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2021/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 17,717 | 15,974 | 13,746 | 11,917 | ||
| Rate / 1000 | 363 | 324 | 276 | 222 | - | - |
Reoffending Data Source - Police National Computer (PNC) and Gateshead YJS (where stated)
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Ministry of Justice prioritised their reporting accordingly which meant the reoffending data for 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 has not yet been published. The data for these periods has been updated using Gateshead YJS data which is also reported to the YJB.
The most recently published 12-month reoffending data from the Police National Computer (PNC) is for Apr 2017 - Mar 2018 and reports Gateshead's binary performance (percentage of young people who go on to reoffend) at 35.2%. When we compare this data to the previous year of 33.3% (Apr 2016 - Mar 2017) the binary performance has increased by 1.9%. However, the rate for Gateshead was still lower than the regional, PCC and national rates.
PNC data for reoffending in Gateshead is provided on a delay and with the impact of the national pandemic the Gateshead data for 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 is taken from Gateshead YJS.
Regional comparison of re-offending showing binary performance (% of offenders re-offending)
| Gateshead's proven rate of re-offending | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Re-offences / re-offender | 3.49 | 3.69 | 3.51 | 3.23 | 3.79 | 3.67 | 3.00 |
| % Re-offending | 32.9% | 47.8% | 33.3% | 35.2% | 38.2% | 16.4% | 9.8% |
PCC Northumbria area only | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/2020 | 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Re-offences / re-offender | 3.9 | 3.91 | 4.56 | 4.06 | - | - | - |
| % Re-offending | 48.2% | 49.8% | 41.3% | 37.9% | - | - | - |
North East | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 20118/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Re-offences / re-offender | 3.96 | 4.04 | 4.45 | 4.54 | - | - | - |
| % Re-offending | 44.9% | 44.4% | 41.8% | 41.8% | - | - | - |
National | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Re-offences / re-offender | 3.61 | 3.78 | 3.9 | 4.05 | - | - | - |
| % Re-offending | 42.6% | 41.9% | 40.6% | 38.4% | - | - | - |
Latest offending data of 2020/21 non-statutory cohort
Latest offending data relating to those young people receiving either a community resolution or triage intervention between April 2020 and March 2021 shows the reoffending rate at 3.5% which is a 1.9% decrease when compared to the previous year's rate of 5.4%.
Of the 114 young people within this cohort, four have reoffended committing 15 offences. Each young person will be tracked for an 18month period from the date they entered the cohort.
Through the use of a monthly tracking tool we are able to track the offending of this particular cohort, and this enables the YJS to review the current YJS intervention plan in place to prevent the likelihood of those young people within this cohort becoming FTE.
Latest offending data of 2020/21 non-statutory cohort
Latest offending data relating to those young people receiving either a Youth Caution or court disposal between April 2020 and March 2021 shows the reoffending rate at 9.8% which is a 6.6% decrease when compared to the previous year's rate of 16.4%.
Of the 51 young people within this cohort, five have reoffended committing 15 offences. Each young person will be tracked for an 18 month period from the date they entered the cohort.
Similar to the Community Resolution and Triage cohort we are able to track those young people who received either a Youth Caution or court conviction for a period of 18 months. Upon refreshing the cohort offending data, the YJS management team reviews those cases each month to ensure the plan in place is robust and includes the necessary objectives to prevent further offending.
Active cohort analysis
Both cohorts are updated on a monthly basis with any further offences committed in the 12 month period which provides live tracking data. The YJS is also able to identify which cohort members are open to a YJS intervention on a weekly basis via the Risk Register Report. This report is a breakdown of cases open to the YJS and includes the latest case level data relating to many factors such as: Likelihood of re-offending (LOR), Risk of Serious Harm (ROSH), Looked After Child (LAC) status, Child Protection (CP) involvement and Families Gateshead involvement.
The below charts represent some of the data taken from the Risk Register as of May 2021 and shows some of the key data sets for cohort members open to the YJS. There were 165 young people in the cohort with 41, or 25%, open to the YJS at the time.
Families Gateshead Involvement
Looked After Child (LAC), Children in Need (CIN) and Child Protection (CP) cases
- 80% of active cohort cases are involved with the Families Gateshead Programme
- 20% are identified as LAC
- 17% are identified as CIN
- 2% are subject to a CP plan
The risk levels for cohort members are as follows:
Likelihood of Reoffending
Safety and Wellbeing
Risk of Serious Harm
Custodial sentences - data source case level data
The latest YJS published data for January to December 2020 shows the rate of custody for Gateshead at 0.23, this represents four custodial sentences in the 12month period compared to one custodial sentence in the same period of the previous year. This is above the Northumbria PCC regional average for this period (0.11) but below the National average (0.14).
Gateshead has seen a gradual increase in the use of custody for young offenders and it is worth noting that although the number of custodial sentences has increased, there are young people receiving more than one custodial sentence due to the number and severity of offences.
Looked after children
The LAC status of the combined 2020/21 cohort is shown in the table below which also shows a comparison with the previous year. The LAC status is the status from the start of each young person's intervention (i.e. when they entered the cohort)
| LAC Status at Start of Intervention | 2019/20 (No.) | 2020/21 (%) | 2020/21 (No.) | 2020/21 (%) | No. +/- | % +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Currently | 28 | 15% | 23 | 14% | -5 | 1% |
| Previously | 20 | 10% | 21 | 13% | 1 | 2% |
| Never | 143 | 75% | 121 | 73% | -22 | -2% |
| Total | 191 | - | 165 | - | -26 | - |
Of those entering into the 2020/21 cohort with a LAC status 18 (78%) were subject to a Care Order and five (2%) were subject to an Interim Care Order. There were no young people subject to a Section 20 order (single period of accommodation).
Ethnic proportion of young people receiving youth cautions or convictions during April 2020 and March 2021
Young people from white ethnic background accounted for 98% of all young people receiving a youth caution or court conviction in the year ending March 2021. There was one young person with a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background (BAME) accounting for 2% of the total cohort (51). Neither of the young people with a BAME background received a custodial sentence.
Performance subgroup
In October 2019, the Gateshead YJS board agreed to establish a Performance Subgroup to meet bimonthly, to review performance data, shape the analysis in advance of board meetings and expand on the three YJS reporting areas to inform future priorities. In addition, this group has ensured the findings of HMIP thematic inspections, the annual HMIP report and impact of COVID-19 have been considered and addressed. A benchmarking exercise was completed in relation to thematic and annual HMIP and YJS reports.
A report was presented to the Gateshead YJS board and a plan was developed and taken to the performance sub-group to ensure that within Gateshead we understood exactly what our picture was compared to the findings of these reports.