The North Lincolnshire Council's Children's Scrutiny Panel met on 15 September 2025, receiving a presentation on the North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Plan 2025-26 and discussing the work of the North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Partnership. The panel congratulated the relevant teams for their encouraging performance.

North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Plan 2025-26

The Children's Scrutiny Panel received a detailed presentation on the North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Plan 2025-26 from Rachel Smith, Director: Children & Families, Tom Hewis, Assistant Director – Children's Standards and Regulations, Sarah Gant, Head of Family Help, and Debbie Nikatsekpe, Lead Officer – Youth Justice Partnership.

The presentation covered:

• Local vision and values
• Progress and governance of the North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Partnership
• Key elements of the local plan, including priorities and enablers
• An overview of local performance, which illustrated local successes in preventing reoffending and custodial sentences.

Panel members asked questions about the demographics of offenders, ensuring a family approach to prevent reoffending, volunteering within the service, and linking the Partnership's work with NATs¹.

Councillor Peter Clark, Lead Member for Culture, noted recent communications from the Ministry of Justice that noted exceptional performance across the Turnaround Programme and excellent performance against targets to support children and young people across North Lincolnshire.

The Panel agreed to:

• Thank Rachel Smith, Tom Hewis, Sarah Gant and Debbie Nikatsekpe for the presentation and for responding to the panel's questions
• Congratulate the relevant teams for their very encouraging performance
• Note and welcome the situation

Previous meeting minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2025 were approved as a correct record and authorised for signing by Councillor Trevor Foster, Chair of Childrens Scrutiny Panel; Vice-Chair of Audit Committee.