Case study

Youth Justice Board

Developing an easy-to-use management information tool to help reduce delays in the youth justice system

PA Consulting Group has been working with the Youth Justice Board (YJB) since June 1999 to deliver the Government's key manifesto pledge to halve the time from arrest to sentence of Persistent Youth Offenders (PYOs) from 142 days (1997) to 71 days. PA has provided a complete range of support services both to policy leaders and criminal justice practitioners, to deliver improved performance on the ground.  

 In 2001, a new UK government initiative, Youth Court Timeliness Targets (YCTT), was devised to reduce the length of time between each stage of the judicial process. It was envisaged that this new initiative would replace the existing PYO pledge. However, the YCTT were not launched until April 2003 and, therefore, the main focus continues to be on the PYO pledge target. Both of these targets were designed to ensure a greater degree of consistency in the processing of youth cases and to increase overall standards within the Criminal Justice System in dealing with young defendants.  

PA implemented a comprehensive performance management information system called CaseTracker in Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCC) in England & Wales to manage and measure both targets.