Buckinghamshire Youth Justice Plan 2025 to 2026
Section 2: National Indicators First-Time Entrants
Below are national indicators for reducing first-time entrants, and risks to delivery.
Reducing first-time entrants
There has been a reduction in the rate of children becoming first-time entrants to the youth justice system between 2023 and 2024. In actual numbers, this is a decrease from 100 children to 85.
Performance in Buckinghamshire is stronger than that seen nationally.
Partnership working is key to reducing first-time entrants. The Joint Decision-Making Panel has been strengthened to include additional partners, including Liaison and Diversion, Education and the Substance Misuse service, diverting children wherever appropriate.
The data reflects the increased collaboration with children to identify the best support to help them achieve positive outcomes.
First-time entrants are measured as a rate per 100,000 of the local 10- to 17-year-old population in Buckinghamshire
| January to December 2023 | January to December 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Buckinghamshire | 168 | 140 |
| Thames Valley | 179 | 126 |
| South-east | 170 | 140 |
| National | 169 | 157 |
| Youth Justice Service (YJS) Family | 148 | 123 |
Risks to delivery
The multi-agency schools project, which ran from 2018 to 2024, has now ended, due to the YJST being unable to secure additional funding.
In 2024/25, the project supported 173 children who were at risk of school exclusion and entry into the youth justice system. Latest figures show that of those supported, only 9.9% went on to become first-time entrants in a 12-month tracking period.
Now that the project has concluded, there is a risk that there will be a rise in children entering the youth justice system. Learning from this project will be considered within the wider local authority transformation activity.