Youth Justice Board Review
An independent public body review of the the Youth Justice Board
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
Sir Nic Dakin, then Minister for Youth Justice, commissioned an independent Public Bodies Review of the Youth Justice Board (YJB) on 18 December 2024. The review was led by Steve Crocker, a former Director of Children’s Services, and conducted as part of the Ministry of Justice’s final year of the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Review Programme. It concluded in June 2025.
During the course of the review, the Cabinet Office launched a government-wide review of Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) in April 2025. This review examined all ALBs for potential closure, merger or reintegration into government departments, unless their continued separate existence could be clearly justified.
Following the appointment of a new Lord Chancellor and a new Minister for Youth Justice in September 2025, the findings and recommendations of both reviews were carefully considered alongside the government’s developing vision for youth justice and the role of the YJB within that system. This led to a delay in the publication of the Public Bodies Review.
The government is now publishing the independent Public Bodies Review of the YJB and Minister Richards has set out the government’s plans for the YJB in his policy statement on reform of the youth justice system.