Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour

The Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour, chaired by Anthony Salz, published its report Time for a fresh start / Amser am gychwyn newydd in the summer of 2010. This provides a strategic blueprint for reform of the way society responds to offending and other antisocial behaviour by children and young people.

With continued funding from the Nuffield Foundation the Commission continued to campaign for its proposals and to organise associated conferences and events until the end of 2011. This formal phase of its work has now concluded. An assessment  by Anthony Salz of the progress that has been made towards reform can be found on the News and Blog section of this website.

Time for a fresh start calls for a new and principled framework for youth justice in England and Wales that would better protect the public, while restoring confidence in a system that is little trusted. It proposes:

• An end to the wasteful and ineffective use of custody for children and young people who pose no danger to the public or themselves
• The use of demanding restorative justice  methods  to reduce reoffending while delivering better justice for the victims of crime
• Investment in early help for children with chronic behaviour problems to cut the later costs of offending

By visiting these pages, you can:

• Download Time for a fresh start, as a full report (in English or Welsh), as an executive summary, or as a summary for children and young people. Time for a new hearing, the report from an international study conducted for the Commission of alternative forms of youth justice hearing, is also available as a download.
• Download the reports from policy seminars hosted by the Commission on the reform of antisocial behaviour legislation and on payment by results (PbR).
• Download the Commission's responses to Government consultation reports on sentencing and on antisocial behaviour; and to the review by Graham Allen MP on early intervention.
• Read reports on the Commission's conferences in London and in Cardiff.
• Find out more about the evidence on which the Commission based its conclusions
• Discover how children and young people were involved in an innovative youth engagement project that contributed to the report.