By Steve Bradford and Rod MorganOf the ten pledges offered by New Labour in their 1997 Election Manifesto, one concerned crime. It contained a specific youth justice commitment: ‘We will be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime, and halve the time it takes persistent juvenile offenders to come to court’. In the 2001 Manifesto, Labour reported that they had substantially achieved this pledge: crime was falling and ‘The time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders is down from 142 days to 89 days-on track to halve the time within the five years promised in 1997’. Youth justice had been reformed and the Government would move on: it would build on the youth justice reforms by tackling provision for 18- to 20-year-olds. This article addresses four issues: why did youth justice reform figure prominently in New Labour’s 1997 plans; in what respects has the system of youth justice been reformed; have the reforms been a success; and what does the immediate future for youth justice hold?
The search has begun to find someone to fill the post known as the biggest job in local government. Advertisements appeared at the weekend for a new Chief Executive of the Local Government Association, following the announcement by Sir Brian Briscoe that he is to stand down in the spring.Sir Brian was appointed in 1996 and led the merger of the Association of County Councils, the Association of Metropolitan Authorities and Association of District Councils to form the Local Government Association as the single representative body for English local authorities in April 1997.Sir Brian was previously Chief Executive of Hertfordshire County Council and the Planning Officer for Kent County Council. His earlier career as a planner included periods in Hertfordshire, West Yorkshire, Herefordshire and Derbyshire. Announcing his decision he said, “After a decade in an extremely exciting and stimulating job it is now time for me to move on to new challenges.” He said he had been proud of what had been achieved and the job had been great fun.
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New technology is helping more elderly people to live independently in their own homes, according to the latest figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre. They show a steady increase in the last three years in the proportion of older people who receive intensive help to support independent living with many local councils already having met central government targets in this area.The figures reveal that just under a third of elderly people still live in their own homes, due in part to the increase in the number who are receiving intensive home care. The figures also show that all inner London councils and nine out of ten outer London authorities are already meeting the target set by the Department of Health that states that by 2008, the proportion of older people being supported intensively to live at home should be at least 34 per cent of the total of those being supported at home or in residential care.
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