The Youth Rehabilitation Order

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As defined by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act was passed in May 2008. The Act introduces important changes to the youth justice system. The main youth justice provisions in the Act are:

• purposes of sentencing for the youth justice system
• the Youth Rehabilitation Order
• extension to Referral Orders, early discharge for good behaviour
• Youth Conditional Caution
• reprimands and warnings ‘spent’ under Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
• anti-social behaviour measures
• Youth Default Orders
• 'spent' warnings, reprimands and cautions
• Sexual Offences Prevention Orders
• custody-related changes including custody threshold, pre-sentence reports (PSRs), public protection sentences, fixed-term recalls and curfewed bail changes.

The Scaled Approach is a programme of work that, in developing a tiered approach to interventions based on risk of reoffending and risk of serious harm, supports the introduction of this new sentencing framework.

The first provisions of the Act have been implemented including custody-related and Rehabilitation of Offenders Act changes. The changes affecting referral orders will be implemented in early April 2009. The Youth Rehabilitation Order and purposes of sentencing provisions, together with the Youth Justice: The Scaled Approach programme came into effect on 30 November 2009.

Purposes of sentencing

When sentencing a young offender under the age of 18 the Court must have regard to the following:

• the principal aim of the youth justice system (to prevent offending and reoffending)
• the welfare of the offender
• the purposes of sentencing, which are

1. punishment
2. reform and rehabilitation
3. protection of the public
4. reparation to persons affected by offences.

Youth Rehabilitation Order

The Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) is the new generic community sentence for young offenders and will combine a number of existing sentences into one generic sentence. It will be the standard community sentence used for the majority of children and young people who offend. It aims to simplify sentencing for young people, while improving the flexibility of interventions.

The YRO represents a more individualised risk and needs-based approach to community sentencing, enabling greater choice from a ‘menu’ of requirements.

The following community sentences will be replaced by the YRO:

Action Plan Order	Attendance Centre Order
Curfew Order	Drug Treatment and Testing Order
Supervision Order	Exclusion Order
Community Punishment Order	Community Rehabilitation Order
Supervision Order and conditions	Community Rehabilitation Order and conditions
Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Order

The following requirements can be attached to a YRO:

Activity Requirement	Supervision Requirement
Curfew Requirement	Electronic Monitoring Requirement
Exclusion Requirement	Prohibited Activity Requirement
Local Authority Residence Requirement	Drug Treatment Requirement
Education Requirement	Residence Requirement
Mental Health Treatment Requirement	Programme Requirement
Unpaid Work Requirement (16/17 years)	Attendance Centre Requirement
Drug Testing Requirement	Intensive Supervision and Surveillance (based on the current ISSP)
Intoxicating Substance Treatment Requirement	Intensive Fostering

The YRO will replace nine existing community sentences and will simplify the juvenile sentencing structure, enabling sentencers to tailor sentences to individual risk and needs. The YRO is a robust community sentence providing a ‘menu’ of interventions for tackling offending behaviour and the sentence can be used again on multiple occasions, minimising the use of custody. There are no restrictions on the number of times an offender can be sentenced to a YRO. Courts are expected to use the YRO on multiple occasions, adapting the menu as appropriate to deal with the offending behaviour.

For the court to sentence a young person to a YRO, the court must consider the offence serious enough to warrant a YRO, and the restriction of liberty involved must be proportionate to seriousness of offence (ss 147-148 CJA Act 2003). The court will specify the date or dates by which particular requirements must be completed; the maximum period of a YRO is three years. If the young person is already subject to a YRO or reparation order, the court cannot sentence to a YRO, unless the existing orders have been revoked. The court will also have the power to order a sentence review in particular YRO cases.

The Act sets the threshold for a YRO with Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) or Intensive Fostering provisions that the offence/s must be imprisonable and so serious that if a YRO with ISSP and or Intensive Fostering was not available then a sentence of custody would be appropriate; and in addition for under 15-year-olds the young person must be a persistent offender. A YRO with ISS or Intensive Fostering requirement must be for a minimum six months; the ISSP requirement must be a minimum of 90 days and a maximum of 180 days.

Custody is an option for breach of a YRO only if the original offence is imprisonable or in the case of a non-imprisonable offence if, following ‘wilful and persistent’ non-compliance, a YRO with an ISSP or Intensive Fostering provision is made and that further YRO is then also subject to non-compliance. The court, if passing a custodial sentence, must state that a YRO with an ISSP or Intensive Fostering provision is not appropriate and the reasons why. This is in addition to meeting the existing criteria, i.e. the court forming the opinion that the offence/s is so serious that a community sentence cannot be justified.

In a YRO case a warning is required if the supervising officer finds there is a failure to comply without reasonable excuse. If following a further second warning, within the 12 month ‘warned period,’ there is then a third failure to comply without reasonable excuse, the officer must refer the case to court for breach proceedings, although YOTs will have additional discretion in exceptional circumstances following a third failure to comply. The officer also has the discretion to refer the case to court at an earlier warning stage.

When dealing with the breach of a YRO, the court has the following options:

• no action
• fine
• amend the YRO, but not with ISSP or Intensive Fostering unless that already applies
• revoke the YRO and re-sentence.

Extension of Referral Orders

Summary of changes

The Act extends the circumstances in which a court can make a Referral Order. These changes were introduced on 27 April 2009.

The Act makes changes to the discretionary conditions applying to referral orders. In addition to the existing provisions, where the Referral Order criteria are otherwise satisfied, the court will be able to make a referral order where:

• the offender has had one previous conviction but has not previously received a referral order or
• the offender has previously been bound over to keep the peace or
• the offender has previously received a conditional discharge.

In addition the court has the power:

• to make a second Referral Order, in exceptional circumstances, on the recommendation of the YOT
• to revoke a Referral Order early for good behaviour
• to extend the term of a Referral Order for up to three months on the recommendation of the youth offender panel (for example where non-compliance occurs through circumstances beyond the control of the offender, i.e. illness).

Increase in Youth Offender Panel hearings

These legislative changes will result in an increase in Youth Offender Panel hearings and increased demand for trained panel volunteers. The YJB has estimated that on average YOTs will need to increase their current volunteer capacity by 17% on average to cover the expected additional panel hearings, bearing in mind the statutory requirement for at least two volunteers to be on every panel.

If you wish to become a volunteer, please contact Wiltshire Youth Offending Service using the email address youthoffending@wiltshire.gov.uk

Youth Offender Panel member length of service

Following a review of Youth Offender Panel volunteer service, Ministers have decided that:

• the tenure of current panel volunteers can be extended for a maximum of two years
• any new panel volunteer recruited in the next 12 months will be recruited for a maximum of six years.

This situation will be reviewed in April 2010.

Youth Conditional Caution

The Youth Conditional Caution (YCC) is not yet available to Wiltshire Youth Offending service. It is currently being piloted in our neighbouring Wessex Youth Offending Team. The YCC will be an additional, higher-tariff pre-court disposal which aims to reduce the number of young people being taken to court for a low-level offence.-

The YCC is available for use by the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) if the offender has not previously been convicted of an offence, admits guilt and consents to the caution. The conditions may include provisions to support rehabilitation, effect reparation or punishment and can include a fine and/or an attendance requirement (which might include completion of a specified activity, but cannot exceed 20 hours). If the offender does not satisfy the conditions, the prosecution has the right to prosecute the offender for the original offence.

YOTs will have the key role in assessing cases, recommending, supervising and delivering YCC conditions, subject to approval and oversight by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Act makes the Youth Conditional Caution available for 10 to 17-year-olds, although the Government will initially pilot for 16 and 17-year-olds only. Details of the pilot are being finalised by central Government.

Anti-social behaviour measures

The Act features several measures on anti-social behaviour. These provisions became effective on 1 February 2009.

One-year reviews for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are now mandatory for those issued to persons under 17-year-olds, and are applicable to any ASBO (stand alone or on conviction) that has been granted or varied nine months prior to 1 February and applied for from this date.

Individual Support Orders (ISOs) must be issued with every ASBO (stand alone or on conviction) where a magistrates’ court considers it would help to prevent further anti-social behaviour. Magistrates must justify their decision making if an ISO is not granted. An ISO can be applied for at any time during the ASBO (even if it was not applied for at the initial hearing) as long as:

• an ASBO has been applied for in the first instance
• the application is from the original applicant
• the subject is still considered a young person
• the ASBO is still in force.

An ISO can be applied for more than once and subsequent to the initial hearing with no limit as to the number of applications made. There is a six month maximum limit for each application as long as the ISO does not exceed the length of the ASBO.

District councils have been added to the list of local authorities in England that may enter into a parenting contract or apply for a parenting order.

Youth Default Orders

Youth Default Orders will enable a court to impose an unpaid work requirement (if 16 or 17), curfew requirement or attendance centre requirement on a young offender in lieu of an unpaid fine. The length of the order will be dependent on the amount which the offender has failed to pay.

This provision was implemented on 30 November 2009.

‘Spent’ warnings, reprimands and cautions

The Act amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 to bring warnings, reprimands, simple cautions and conditional cautions within the scope of that Act. Reprimands and warnings are spent at the time they are given; conditional cautions are spent after three months. Once such warnings and cautions become ‘spent’, an ex-offender is generally not obliged to declare them when applying for a job, but the disposals are recorded on the Police National Computer and will continue to be disclosed where required for Criminal Records Bureau enhanced and standard checks. Note that these provisions apply retrospectively to all reprimands and warnings given prior to December 2008.

This provision was implemented on 19 December 2008.

Sexual Offences Prevention Orders

Amendments to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will mean that some young people convicted of offences listed in schedule 3 of the Act will become eligible for a sexual offences prevention order; this is expected to affect only a small number of young people, for example those convicted of a Section 3 sexual assault.

These amendments were implemented on 14 July 2008.

Timetable for the implementation of youth justice provisions

Youth just provisions from act	Date of implentation
Purpose of Sentencing	30 November 2009
Youth Rehabilitation Order	30 November 2009 (target date)
Referral Order Changes	27 April 2009
Youth Conditional Caution	Target July 2009 (16-17 year old pilot)
Anti-Social behaviour measures	February 2009
Youth Default Orders	30 November 2009
‘Spent’ warnings, reprimands and cautions	19 December 2008
Sexual Offences Prevention Orders	14 July 2008
Pre-sentence reports (PSRs)	14 July 2008
Public protection sentence changes	14 July 2008
Custody credit for electronically curfewed bail	3 November 2008
Automatic 28 day release on recall	14 July 2008

Last updated: 2 June 2010