A small but significant setback for the ConDem government which has received surprisingly little public acknowledgement was the recent House of Lords decision to reject the abolition of the much valued and respected Youth Justice Board.
Peers voted by a majority of 63 to back an amendment to the Public Bodies Bill that would urge ministers to remove the body from a list of quangos facing a cull.
A succession of former cabinet members and chief justices spoke against proposals to close down the YJB and transfer its powers to the Ministry of Justice. Among these was former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf who observed that it would be “a real sacrilege if we took out of the criminal justice system something that works”
MPs will have an opportunity to debate the Public Bodies Bill and may well decide to overturn the views of their lordships. However, nearly 20 quangos have already been reprieved and ministers have been forced to drop proposals to abolish 150 more without parliamentary approval. In the meantime, and in advance of any vote, the government has decided that the YJB must close its website from 4 April.
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