Anne Tolley MP
National Party Associate Welfare spokeswoman
(CYF)

18 March 2007

Labour fails again on youth justice

Youth Justice continues to be the forgotten cousin at Child, Youth and Family, says National’s Associate Welfare spokeswoman, Anne Tolley.

Mrs Tolley is commenting following media reports about Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft’s damning indictment of CYF in a recent judgement.

The Sunday Star Times has reported that judge Becroft condemned CYF for its ‘grossly unacceptable’ treatment of a 16 year old boy, ‘who committed serious crimes while supposedly being monitored by a social worker he’d never met’.

“Judge Becroft was simply expressing the frustration so many of us feel with the current system,” says Mrs Tolley.

“Young offenders are being ignored, without serious intervention, to grow up into more experienced, more violent criminals.

“Youth Justice is not taken seriously enough by Labour.”

The Youth Justice Capability Review, commissioned by Government, and released a year behind schedule in 2006; found that there was a lack of focus on youth justice within CYF.

“Clearly, a year on from the review, nothing has changed,” says Mrs Tolley.

“This is typical Labour – endless talk, a late report which said nothing, and one year on, no real action has been taken.”

Ends

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