Cheshire youth justice plan approved by Warrington cabinet

At its meeting on Monday, a report briefed Warrington Borough Council’s (WBC) cabinet on the annual refresh of the youth justice plan for the sub-regional youth justice service, of which WBC is a core statutory partner/member.

It sought formal approval and sign-off of the 2026-27 plan.

According to the report, Warrington has a shared service arrangement for youth justice services with the other three local authorities in the sub-region and, as such, the governance arrangements for youth justice are overseen by a pan-Cheshire partnership management board.

The director of children services represents WBC on the partnership board and chairing rotates across the partnership bi-annually.

The report said: “The Cheshire sub-region is a large complex area and the youth justice partnership between and across the four local authorities provides a powerful base to meet the various complexities and challenges faced by the county’s children, families, and victims.”

In 2025-26, the report said, there were 39 Warrington first-time child entrants to the justice system, and for the first time no Warrington children at all were either remanded or sentenced to custody in the whole of the year. And rates of serious youth violence in Cheshire in 2025- 26 were below the national average at 3.6 offences per 10,000 children, compared to a regional average of 6.3 and national average of 5.1.

Cllr Matt Smith – who is the cabinet member for children’s, families and education – said: “Across the entire 2025-26 year, not a single Warrington child was remanded or sentenced to custody.

“This is a significant milestone which reflects our deliberate trauma-informed strategy.”

But he also said the plan is clear that being ‘child first’ does not mean ‘overlooking’ the impact of crime, with the service equally ‘victim focused’.

As recommended, the cabinet approved the youth justice strategic plan for Cheshire, as well as delegating authority to the director of children services to approve and submit the annual refresh of the youth justice plan to the Ministry of Justice in 2027 prior to formal approval and sign-off by the cabinet again next year.