Youth justice is entering a period of reform across England and Wales. Although justice is not fully devolved, many services that shape whether children enter or avoid the justice system — education, health, housing, social care, substance misuse and safeguarding — are devolved in Wales. Youth justice therefore sits at the intersection of reserved criminal justice powers and devolved Welsh public services.
From April 2027, the Welsh Government is expected to take on a larger role in youth justice, including responsibility for some funding that is currently managed at England and Wales level, subject to the finalisation of arrangements with the UK Government. This could include funding intended to reduce the use of remand — where a child is held in custody while waiting for a court decision — and remaining early intervention funding linked to the Turnaround programme, which supports children before problems escalate into serious offending.
The UK and Welsh governments’ published agreement refers to funding worth “millions of pounds”, but does not specify the exact figure or confirm the final terms of transfer. A February 2026 statement by then Minister, Lord Timpson, provides some further context on the likely scale of the relevant funding streams, but does not confirm the amount that will transfer to Wales.
Why the funding transfer matters
The significance is not simply the amount of money. The UK and Welsh governments say the change should give Wales more flexibility to align investment with Welsh priorities. That matters because many of the services that can prevent offending or provide alternatives to custody are devolved. However, the scope of that flexibility is still unclear. The agreement does not yet explain how the funding will be allocated, what conditions will be attached, or how success will be measured.
In practice, this could support closer alignment with devolved policy areas such as prevention, children’s rights, mental health, education and social care. However, the practical impact will depend on the scale of funding transferred and the conditions attached to it. The key question is whether Wales will have enough funding and discretion to change what happens on the ground, rather than simply a different route for administering existing programmes.
The UK and Welsh governments have also agreed to consider whether Wales should have a greater role in the Youth Justice Core Grant. The current grant formula is based on historic population and deprivation data, with a temporary arrangement from 2011/12 still in place.
What else is the UK Government proposing?
The UK Government published a White Paper in May 2026, Cutting youth crime, changing young lives. It presents its proposals as a modernisation of a system that has seen fewer children enter youth justice and custody over the last two decades, but is now working with a smaller and more complex group of children. It says many children who reach the system have overlapping needs, including exploitation, trauma, mental health difficulties, substance misuse, special educational needs and broader social disadvantage. The UK Government’s central argument is that the system should intervene earlier, respond more consistently, protect the public and use custody only where necessary.
The accompanying Equalities Statement says the reforms are intended to improve outcomes for all children, with particular benefits expected for groups disproportionately represented in the youth justice system.
The White Paper also proposes changes to the national youth justice model. Policy, national standards, performance oversight and administration of the Youth Justice Grant are expected to move into the Ministry of Justice. The Youth Justice Board would remain as an independent body with a more focused role in evidence, practice improvement, system learning and innovation.
For Wales, the White Paper points to a strengthened role for the Welsh Government. This appears to be an administrative reform of oversight and funding arrangements, rather than a constitutional devolution of youth justice powers. The closest comparison is Greater Manchester, where Turnaround and community remand funding have been pooled to support more flexible local decision-making since 2026. The Welsh transfer appears similar in principle. It is currently unclear whether Wales will simply receive greater control over specified funding streams, or whether future arrangements could go further through wider oversight arrangements.
What has the Wales Youth Justice Blueprint achieved?
Funding for youth justice is already shared across several public services. The White Paper says Ministry of Justice funding accounts for around one-third of youth justice service funding on average. The rest comes from local authorities, police, probation, health and other partners.
The UK and Welsh governments’ agreement says the context has changed since youth justice services were established in their current form in 1998. Most staff now work for devolved services, most activity is preventative, and most funding comes through devolved budgets. In other words, the Welsh Government and Welsh partners are already central to how youth justice works in practice.
That makes the Wales Youth Justice Blueprint important. Published in 2019, it reflected the Welsh Government and UK Government’s shared approach to youth justice in Wales, with the Youth Justice Board playing a key role in delivery. It promoted a child-first, rights-based and trauma-informed model, aiming to prevent offending where possible and keep children in communities rather than custody.
Welsh Government evidence suggests the Blueprint helped build shared practice, although its system-wide impact has not yet been fully evaluated. It points to practical achievements, including trauma-informed training for more than 300 Welsh justice practitioners and the expansion of Enhanced Case Management across Welsh Youth Justice Services. However, the evaluability assessment found that clearer outcome measures, better data linkage and stronger prevention indicators would be needed before the Blueprint’s impact could be assessed robustly.
The Blueprint therefore matters to the April 2027 reforms because it highlights the question of whether a stronger Welsh role can turn shared principles into measurable outcomes.
Why remand matters
Remand is a useful test of that question. Reducing children’s remand has been a longstanding priority in Wales, reflecting the Child First, rights-based and trauma-informed approach in the Wales Youth Justice Blueprint. (see also Protected, not punished? Youth Justice in Wales).
The latest Youth Justice Statistics 2024 to 2025 show around 420 children in custody at any one time during 2024–25, the lowest figure on record. Yet remand remains a significant challenge. Nearly half of children in the secure estate are unconvicted.
The same statistics also show that almost 62% of children remanded to custody did not subsequently receive a custodial sentence. This raises questions about whether some children experience the disruption and harm of custody unnecessarily.
Youth Justice Board evidence suggests that Wales is currently reducing the use of custodial remand more quickly than England, although remand continues to account for a substantial proportion of the youth custody population. Children from minority ethnic groups also remain overrepresented among those remanded to custody.
This makes remand one of the clearest practical tests of the April 2027 changes. If Wales has more control over relevant funding, the issue will be whether that funding can support credible community alternatives that magistrates have confidence to use.
The wider question is therefore not only whether more youth justice funding is managed in Wales, but how the new arrangements work in practice. For now, the April 2027 changes appear to be about funding, oversight and administration rather than the full devolution of youth justice powers. Remand will be one practical test of whether that more limited shift is still enough to give the Welsh Government and local partners the flexibility to act earlier, support credible community alternatives, and keep more children safely in their communities.
Article by Sarah Hatherley, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament