Crime and Disorder Act 1998

41 The Youth Justice Board. E+W

(1) There shall be a body corporate to be known as the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (“the Board”).

(2) The Board shall not be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown; and the Board’s property shall not be regarded as property of, or held on behalf of, the Crown.

(3) The Board shall consist of 10, 11 or 12 members appointed by the Secretary of State.

(4) The members of the Board shall include persons who appear to the Secretary of State to have extensive recent experience of the youth justice system.

(5) The Board shall have the following functions, namely—

(a) to monitor the operation of the youth justice system and the provision of youth justice services;

(b) to advise the Secretary of State on the following matters, namely—

(i) the operation of that system and the provision of such services;

(ii) how the principal aim of that system might most effectively be pursued;

(iii) the content of any national standards he may see fit to set with respect to the provision of such services, or the accommodation in which children and young persons are kept in custody; and

(iv) the steps that might be taken to prevent offending by children and young persons;

(c) to monitor the extent to which that aim is being achieved and any such standards met;

(d) for the purposes of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) above, to obtain information from relevant authorities;

(e) to publish information so obtained;

(f) to identify, to make known and to promote good practice in the following matters, namely—

(i) the operation of the youth justice system and the provision of youth justice services;

(ii) the prevention of offending by children and young persons; and

(iii) working with children and young persons who are or are at risk of becoming offenders;

(g) to make grants, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to local authorities or other bodies for them to develop such practice, or to commission research in connection with such practice; F1 . . .

(h) themselves to commission research in connection with such practice.

[F2 (i) to enter into agreements for the provision of—

(i) secure accommodation within the meaning of section 75(7) below for the purpose of detaining persons in respect of whom a detention and training order is made under section 73 below or an order is made under section 77(3)(a) or 78(2) below;

(ii) accommodation which is or may be used for the purpose of detaining persons sentenced under section 53(1) or (3) of the 1933 Act;

(iii) accommodation which is or may be used for the purpose of detaining persons dealt with under subsection (4)(c) of section 23 of the 1969 Act, as that section has effect in relation to persons described in section 98(1) below;

(iv) accommodation which is or may be used for the purpose of detaining persons who are under the age of 18 when remanded in custody under section 128 of the 1980 Act;

(v) accommodation which is or may be used for the purpose of detaining persons sentenced when under the age of 18 and before 1st April 2000 to detention in a young offender institution under section 1A of the 1982 Act; and

(vi) accommodation which is or may be used for the purpose of detaining persons subject to secure training orders made before 1st April 2000 under section 1 of the 1994 Act;

but no agreement shall be made under this paragraph in relation to accommodation for persons who have attained the age of 18 unless it appears to the Board that it is expedient to enter into such an agreement for the operation of the youth justice system;

(j) to facilitate arrangements between the Secretary of State and any person providing—

(i) secure accommodation within the meaning of section 75(7) below to be used for detaining a person in accordance with a determination under section 75(1), 77(3)(a) or 78(2) below, or

(ii) accommodation to be used for detaining a person in accordance with a direction by the Secretary of State under section 53(1)(a) or (3)(a) of the 1933 Act;

(k) to offer assistance to local authorities in discharging their duty under section 61 of the 1991 Act, whether by acting as the agent of a local authority or facilitating arrangements under section 61(2), or otherwise; and

(l) annually—

(i) to assess future demand for secure accommodation for remanded and sentenced children and young persons,

(ii) to prepare a plan setting out how they intend to exercise, in the following three years, the functions described in paragraphs (i) and (k) above, and any function for the time being exercisable by the Board concurrently with the Secretary of State by virtue of subsection (6)(b) below which relates to securing the provision of such accommodation, and

(iii) to submit the plan to the Secretary of State for approval.]

(6) The Secretary of State may by order—

(a) amend subsection (5) above so as to add to, subtract from or alter any of the functions of the Board for the time being specified in that subsection; or

(b) provide that any function of his which is exercisable in relation to the youth justice system shall be exercisable concurrently with the Board.

(7) In carrying out their functions, the Board shall comply with any directions given by the Secretary of State and act in accordance with any guidance given by him.

(8) A relevant authority—

(a) shall furnish to the Board any information required for the purposes of subsection (5)(a), (b) or (c) above; and

(b) whenever so required by the Board, shall submit to the Board a report on such matters connected with the discharge of their duties under the foregoing provisions of this Part as may be specified in the requirement.

A requirement under paragraph (b) above may specify the form in which a report is to be given.

(9) The Board may arrange, or require the relevant authority to arrange, for a report under subsection (8)(b) above to be published in such manner as appears to the Board to be appropriate.

(10) In this section “relevant authority” means a local authority, a chief officer of police, a police authority, a probation committee [F3 , a health authority and a Primary Care Trust].

(11) Schedule 2 to this Act (which makes further provision with respect to the Board) shall have effect.

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in s. 41(5)(g) omitted (20.4.2000) by virtue of S.I. 2000/1160, art. 3(a)

F2 S. 41(5)(i)-(l) inserted (20.4.2000) by S.I. 2000/1160, art. 3(b)

F3 Words in s. 41(10) substituted (8.2.2000) by The Health Act 1999 (Supplementary, Consequential etc. Provisions) Order 2000 (S.I. 2000/90), arts. 1, 3(1), Sch. 1 para. 35(5)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 41 wholly in force; s. 41 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 121. in force at 1.8.1998 for the purposes of making appointments under this section and under paragraph 1 of Sch. 2 by S.I. 1998/1883, art. 2(a). s. 41 in force at 30.9.1998 by S.I. 1998/2327, art. 2(1) (subject to savings in arts. 5-8)