Kids Inside campaign
We are calling on the Government to consider raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 and are urging them to spend money more wisely on effective ways to stop youth crime.
The current system of dealing with 10 and 11 year olds is not working as we would all hope, to ensure young offenders take responsibility for their behaviour and to protect communities from further crime.
Evidence shows that about half of the children of that age sentenced in court in 2008 will have re-offended within a year and that their experience within the criminal justice system increases the likelihood that they will go on to commit further crimes.
We believe that we shouldn’t continue spending money on an approach that doesn’t work but instead should work intensively with children and their families to challenge their behaviour and reduce reoffending.
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Campaign update
On 7th December, the Government published its review of Sentencing and Rehabilitation.
It includes much that is very welcome, including measures to prevent the unnecessary criminalisation of children.
However, it does not include any change in policy on the age of criminal responsibility.
This is a missed opportunity, and contradicts the Government’s clear intention to make the youth justice system more effective.
The Government’s consultation on the review has now closed. Thank you to everyone who emailed the Government to respond – we will let you know as soon as we hear whether they will reconsider their plans.
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Find out more about the campaign
| Hear real stories of Barnardo's work to transform the lives of children and young people in trouble with the law | |
 | Find out about the background to our campaign or read stats and facts related to the age of criminal responsiblity across the world. |
 | Read our report From playground to prison, which examines the latest available data for 10 and 11 year olds in the criminal justice system. |
