Pledge
“Every young person caught in possession of a knife will be referred to a Youth Offending Team and will receive a mandatory plan to prevent reoffending, with penalties including curfews, tagging, and custody for the most serious cases”
Our verdict
It remains unclear whether the government intends to introduce this change in guidance or legislation, and when this might happen.
The latest available data shows that in the 12 months ending March 2024, there were just over 3,200 knife or offensive weapon offences committed by children resulting in a caution or sentence, the vast majority of which (99.7%) were for possession.
Under current sentencing rules, courts must impose a mandatory referral order to a Youth Offending Team (YOT) on any youth with no previous convictions who pleads guilty to any imprisonable offence, unless the court is considering custody or discharge. Courts can also refer a youth who has been convicted of a knife crime offence to a youth offending panel, which includes a member of the YOT.
YOTs are run by councils and work with young people to steer them away from crime. They are sometimes also called Youth Justice Services (YJS). They can consist of a range of officials, including police, probation officers, and social workers. These teams run local crime prevention programmes in a bid to prevent offending.
In its manifesto, Labour pledged to make it mandatory for all children caught in possession of a knife to be referred to a YOT and receive some form of mandatory plan to prevent reoffending.
The pledge applies to England and Wales, as criminal justice is largely devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
While the manifesto pledge did not spell out what is meant by “young people”, we have taken it to mean those under the age of 18 at the time of a finding of guilt, as this is the definition used in the Sentencing Council guidelines on youth justice.
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We are rating this pledge as “unclear or disputed”, as we have not been able to obtain any information from the government on how it intends to meet this pledge.
When we asked the Ministry of Justice for further details we were referred to the Home Office, who did not respond to requests for comment on several occasions.
According to a letter shared with Full Fact by the Youth Justice Legal Centre, a charity which provides legal support for children in the criminal justice system, the Ministry of Justice asked for “expert views” on meeting “the letter and the spirit” of this pledge in August 2024.
However, the charity also told us it remained unsure “whether this pledge is going to be introduced in legislation” or what action the government is taking to “make changes to practice in support of this pledge”.
We will update this page if we receive a response from either the Home Office or Ministry of Justice.
As we develop this Government Tracker we’re keen to hear your feedback. We’ll be keeping the Tracker up to date and adding more pledges in the coming months.
Progress displayed publicly—so every single person in this country can judge our performance on actions, not words.
Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister – 24 September 2024