Lammy vows 25% cut in children on remand in youth justice overhaul

David Lammy has promised to reduce by a quarter the number of children held in jail while awaiting trial as part of a broad youth justice overhaul that could also end lifelong criminal records for under-18s.

The justice secretary is publishing a white paper on Monday that he says will cut the number of children ending up in custody – a fate he described as his greatest fear while growing up in Tottenham in the 1980s.

Arguing that prison can cause lasting harm to children’s lives, Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, pledged to reduce the use of custodial remand and short sentences for offenders under 18.

The Ministry of Justice will also consult on fining parents – or even jailing them – if they fail to prevent their children from committing crimes.

“Growing up in Tottenham in the 1980s, my biggest fear was ending up in prison,” Lammy said. “That may sound irrational, but in truth it was the fate of so many young Black boys like me.”

“You saw it happen slowly at first. People missed school, got into petty trouble, started hanging around with the wrong crowd. No one stepped in to pull them back. For us, going to jail didn’t feel shocking or distant. It felt almost inevitable.”

“I could have been one of them, but was fortunate to get a scholarship to a state boarding school, which gave me the route out that others never had.”

“I often think: ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ Even today, that line between a child who thrives and a child whose life falls apart is often painfully thin.”

Lammy, 53, argued that jailing children makes them more likely to reoffend in the future.

“For the most serious offences, custody will always be necessary to protect the public – that will never change,” he said.

“But for many children, even a short spell inside can do lasting damage, disrupting the most formative years of their lives and sometimes exposing them to more violence and criminal influence.”

The measures announced Monday include an extra £15 million a year to fund teams that work with children deemed at risk of offending, such as those who have received an antisocial behaviour order.

Lammy promised to cut the use of custodial remand for under-18s by 25% by the end of the current parliament, with the goal of ending it entirely. He will allow judges to impose a wider range of community sentences to further reduce the number of children in jail.

Officials say these two measures should together reduce the number of young people in prison by 20%. Lammy also pledged to create a new offense of child criminal exploitation, penalizing adults who encourage children to commit crimes.

His department will pilot “youth intervention courts,” where judges and support workers develop individualized plans for young offenders.

These could include requiring a child to comply with health or education requirements while keeping them under close monitoring to prevent repeat offending.

In addition, Lammy launched a consultation on whether children should have to disclose criminal records for the rest of their lives – a practice he criticized in 2017 during his review of racial disparities in the justice system.

“We will review how offences committed in childhood appear on criminal records, because a mistake made at 13 should not become a life sentence of closed doors and lost chances,” he said.

Ministry of Justice figures show that 80% of prolific offenders committed their first crime as a child, and two-thirds of those released from custody reoffend within a year.

Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, said: “I have consistently been clear about the need to reform the youth justice system. We must build an approach that keeps children safe, diverts them from crime wherever possible and prioritises meaningful behaviour change.”