asked Her Majesty's Government:

What were the outcomes of the consultation on improving restorative justice in referral order panels. [HL3206]

The Youth Justice Board issued a consultation document to practitioners on referral orders at the end of last year entitled Referral Orders Priorities for Action. It is now in the process of drawing up an action plan to address issues raised in the responses, which it is anticipated will include how to improve the use of restorative justice in referral order panels.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What restorative justice targets are included in the key performance indicators for youth offending teams; whether these have increased or decreased in the last year; and whether they are adequate. [HL3207]

Although youth offending teams do not have any specific targets or key performance indicators in 2008-09 for restorative justice, their performance management framework and inspection focuses on the outcomes for young offenders. Youth offending teams are best placed to decide on the right approach in individual cases, including the use of restorative justice, to meet these overall objectives. It allows options to be tailored to the needs of individuals and areas. This allows for local discretion on how to best use restorative justice approaches. In addition the Youth Justice Board works with youth offending teams to disseminate best practice. We believe that this approach is likely to be more effective than a simple target to use restorative justice processes in a specific number of instances as it will allow its use to be targeted more appropriately where it can be most effective for offender and victim.