BME children in custody numbers rise

The proportion of BME children in custody has increased despite a fall in overall custody levels according to the charity Children and Young People Now:

“Latest figures show that between August 2007 and December 2010, the total number of under-18s in custody decreased from 2,991 to 1,918, a drop of 35.87 per cent. However a breakdown of the statistics shows that the rate of decrease is far greater among white young people than black or ethnic minority children.

Between August 2007 and December 2010 the number of white children in custody dropped from 2,175 to 1,215, a decrease of 44.1 per cent.

John Drew, chief executive of the Youth Justice Board, said the disproportional presence of black and ethnic minority children in the youth justice system is recognised and efforts are being made to address the situation:

‘Despite the average number of young people in custody being at the lowest it has been in over a decade, there remains an issue around the disproportionality of some ethic groups," he said. "This is a system-wide problem that requires the attention of many different agencies, but great strides are being made towards addressing this.’”

Read the full report here.