Comments on: Contactpoint: the clarification with commentary by Sir Bonar Neville-Kingdom http://idealgovernment.com/2008/09/contactpoint_the_clarification_with_commentary_by_sir_bonar_neville_kingdom/ What do we want from Internet-age government? Wouldn't it be better if... Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:03:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ideal Gov Administrator http://idealgovernment.com/2008/09/contactpoint_the_clarification_with_commentary_by_sir_bonar_neville_kingdom/comment-page-1/#comment-2531 Ideal Gov Administrator Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:00:22 +0000 http://contactpoint_the_clarification_with_commentary_by_sir_bonar_neville_kingdom#comment-2531 Sir B, I am confused. You state that "A recorded involvement with a youth offending team or police is not per se evidence of criminal activity". But if you check the Youth Justice Board website (www.yjb.gov.uk), they describe quite clearly the work of the YOTs thus: "The youth offending teams (YOTs) are key to the success of the youth justice system .... The YOT identifies the needs of each YOUNG OFFENDER (my emphasis) by assessing them with a national assessment. It identifies the specific problems that make the young person OFFEND as well as measuring the risk they pose to others. This enables the YOT to identify suitable programmes to address the needs of the young person with the intention of preventing FURTHER OFFENDING. Etc Etc." I think you have unwittingly unearthed an alarming level of poor coordination between different bits of govt which could seriously impact on child wellbeing. Perhaps to avoid future mix-ups like this, you should turn your data sharing enthusiasms inwards, and encourage departmental colleagues from HO and DCSF to share information about what their agencies actually do. Sir B, I am confused. You state that “A recorded involvement with a youth offending team or police is not per se evidence of criminal activity”. But if you check the Youth Justice Board website (www.yjb.gov.uk), they describe quite clearly the work of the YOTs thus:

“The youth offending teams (YOTs) are key to the success of the youth justice system …. The YOT identifies the needs of each YOUNG OFFENDER (my emphasis) by assessing them with a national assessment. It identifies the specific problems that make the young person OFFEND as well as measuring the risk they pose to others. This enables the YOT to identify suitable programmes to address the needs of the young person with the intention of preventing FURTHER OFFENDING. Etc Etc.”

I think you have unwittingly unearthed an alarming level of poor coordination between different bits of govt which could seriously impact on child wellbeing. Perhaps to avoid future mix-ups like this, you should turn your data sharing enthusiasms inwards, and encourage departmental colleagues from HO and DCSF to share information about what their agencies actually do.

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