Wirral's Youth Justice Service has won a North West IMPACT Award for its Child First work. Fewer Wirral children enter the system than across Merseyside.
Wirral Youth Justice Service has won a North West IMPACT Award. Wirral Council announced the award on Tuesday 27 October. It recognises the service’s “Child First” approach, which treats children who offend as children rather than as offenders (Wirral View, 27 October 2026).
The council says the award also reflected the service’s “innovative practice” and its “contribution to wider system reform”.
The service is one of the multi-agency teams, co-ordinated by councils, that work to reduce offending by young people. It works with children and with the victims of their offences, and it is based at Solar Campus in Wallasey (youth offending service, Wirral Council).
What the award recognised
The council’s announcement lists three achievements behind the award:
- a Good rating from HM Inspectorate of Probation after an inspection in 2025
- national Youth Justice SEND Quality Lead status, for its work with children with special educational needs and disabilities
- a fall in youth reoffending in Wirral of “almost 17%” over the past two years, which the council takes from the service’s latest annual report
It also names the programmes it credits for the results:
- Peer mentoring: community volunteers who build “trusted, child-led” relationships with young people
- No Comment Pathway: an alternative route into Merseyside’s out of court disposal framework, for children who might otherwise be prosecuted
- Operation Inclusion: work with children already known to the service and their families
- In the Zone: sessions in schools with Merseyside Police, which more than 4,000 children have taken part in
- Turnaround: a government scheme that the council says has helped more than 300 young people in Wirral at risk of antisocial behaviour
Mark Evans, the service manager, said the award “reflects the dedication, passion and professionalism of our staff, volunteers and partners”. He added: “Most importantly, however, it reflects the voices of the children and families we work alongside.”
Councillor Stephen Bennett, who chairs the council’s Children, Young People and Education Committee, said: “The service puts children and young people at the heart of everything it does.”
What the inspectors said in 2025
HM Inspectorate of Probation visited in April 2025 and rated the service Good overall, with one area of its work rated outstanding. The Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, called it “a well-led and well-managed service”. He also said that “by strengthening the work with victims” it could improve further (Wirral View, 30 July 2025; inspection report, HM Inspectorate of Probation).
How Wirral compares
The service’s last published plan, which went to councillors in September 2025, gives the figures behind the council’s claim that fewer Wirral children enter the system (Youth Justice Service annual plan, Wirral Council).
In 2024, 39 Wirral children entered the youth justice system for the first time. That is a rate of 124 per 100,000 children. It was up from 31 children, a rate of 100, the year before. The plan links part of the rise to the violent disorder of summer 2024.
Even so, Wirral’s rate stayed well below its neighbours’:
The same plan gives:
- a reoffending rate of 35% for children in Wirral’s April 2022 to March 2023 group, measured over two years, a reduction of 12.83% on the year before
- a low custody rate held for three years, with one more child given a custodial sentence than the year before
- a place in Quadrant 1, the Youth Justice Board’s top performance group, for the previous 12 months
The council has not yet linked the newer annual report behind the “almost 17%” figure, so we cannot show how that number was worked out.
What it means for you
- If your child is in trouble with the police, Wirral Youth Justice Service is the council team that works with children who offend and their families, based at Solar Campus in Wallasey (youth offending service, Wirral Council).
- If you were the victim of an offence by a child, work with victims was the area the 2025 inspection said needed strengthening. Ask the service directly what support it offers you.
- If you want to volunteer, the peer mentoring scheme recruits from the community, according to the council.
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