Councillors in Nottingham say they are surprised to hear that the number of children and young people entering the youth justice system for the first time has been falling.
According to Nottingham City Council figures, there has been a 50 per cent reduction in the past year alone, which the authority says is “significant progress”.
However, councillors remain concerned following a confrontation between two groups outside the Council House in Old Market Square on Sunday, November 16.
Further concern stemmed from the fact that custody rates involving children and young people remain the highest of all core cities – including Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.
Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday (December 2), Cllr Kevin Clarke (Ind) said: “As councillors we see the evidence of what is happening as a result of the services we have taken away. If we did get more money then this should be something we should prioritise.
“I am quite surprised at the reduction given that…do we not have the highest custody rate of all core cities? We’ve all seen what has been happening in the city centre and it is very concerning when children who are 14, youths, whatever you want to call them, are being arrested for machetes.
“Trams had to be stopped last night (December 1) because of another case. If we get more invested in these services we will see a more drastic reduction.”
Similarly, Cllr David Mellen (Lab) also said he was “surprised” at the figures following years of cuts to youth services in the city.
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Carolann James, interim director of the city’s children’s integrated services, said: “A number of our children are serving long custodial sentences, so over a longer period of time, so when comparing that year-on-year, you have got a few young people across a number of years because they have got lengthy custodial sentences for serious violence offences.”
Between April 2024 and March 2025, the city’s youth justice services engaged with 540 children, with documents noting that 105 of these children were under 14 at the time of their intervention.
The council says the service has “achieved significant progress” over the last year, with around a 50 per cent reduction in first-time entrants into the youth justice system.
Figures show the first-time entrant rate has reduced from 434 (per 100,000 among the ages 10 to 17 population) in 2023 to around 210 currently.
Nottingham is now the sixth lowest of the core cities for first-time entrant rates, behind Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham, and Liverpool, and the rate is a “significant decrease” on the previous year, having fallen by 22 per cent.
“A 50 per cent reduction in first-time entrants is something to be really celebrated,” Ms James added.
Explaining the reduction despite concerns from councillors, the meeting heard that Nottinghamshire Police and the Violence Reduction Partnership have led work to expand the use of diversionary, educational, or intervention activities to bring rates down.
This approach means that children can be given the opportunity not to receive a criminal disposal for an offence, but still receive diversionary, educational and intervention activity to address their behaviour.
This has now been extended to young people who give “no comment” police interviews, meaning an admission is not needed to access the support, so long as the child is willing to engage and complete some intervention with youth justice services.
“It is also about taking a whole strategy, trying to do diversion rather than more draconian outcomes for young people – and also expanding that for children who give ‘no comment’ interviews,” Ms James added.
“By using ‘no comment’ in the past you haven’t been able to put them into a diversionary panels. There have been some really, really good outcomes as a consequence of that.”
Furthermore, an adolescent service has been set up, and the number of prevention roles doubled through the recruitment of adolescent family help workers.
Under the recruitment drive the number of family help workers has doubled from 14 to 30.
Despite this, Nottingham’s custody rates “remain a concern”, with the area placed eighth out of 156 local authority areas and the highest of all core cities.
