The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee was scheduled to discuss the Youth Justice Plan, the Statement of Licensing Policy, and the Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan, as well as the council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions. The meeting was also scheduled to include a period for public statements.

Youth Justice Plan 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to consider the statutory Youth Justice Plan 2025/26, which covers the work of the Youth Justice Service (YJS) in Doncaster. The plan is a requirement of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act and is submitted annually to the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.

The report pack stated that the Youth Justice Service offer in Doncaster continues to be effective in meeting the needs of children and families, and included quotes from parents and children who have received services.

The Youth Justice Service has launched a new anti-social behaviour (ASB) Virtual Reality programme via the Prevention Service, EPIC. The report pack stated that of the 131 children engaged by the Turnaround programme only 0.7% offended or re-offended.

The report pack noted an increase in the prevalence of harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), particularly amongst boys, and that the council provides an in-house HSB service to respond to this issue. The YJS is also trialling a Buddi Tag system to track young people, with their permission, as a response to dealing with Child Criminal Exploitation¹ and the prevention and detection of crime.

The Youth Justice Service is measured against a range of key performance indicators, including preventing and diverting children from entering the criminal justice system, preventing reoffending, and reducing the use of custody. The report pack stated that no child had received a custodial sentence over the past year.

The plan also sets out the resourcing and value for money, performance against last year's plan, structure, governance and partnership arrangements and risks to future delivery for the service.

The report pack recommended that the Overview Scrutiny and Management Committee consider and support the Youth Justice Plan 2025/26 before it is submitted to Cabinet and Full Council.

Statement of Licensing Policy 2026

The committee was scheduled to note and consider the adoption of the Statement of Licensing Policy 2026 – Licensing Act 2003, following its 5 yearly review.

City of Doncaster Council is required by the Licensing Act 2003 to produce a statement of licensing policy and to review it every 5 years. The report pack stated that this is the 6th statement of policy produced by the authority, which will set out the basis for all relevant licensing decisions over the next 5 year period.

The policy addresses the 4 licensing objectives set out in the Act:

• The prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• The prevention of public nuisance
• The protection of children from harm

The policy sets out the steps that need to be taken by applicants to address these issues, and how the licensing committee will conduct hearings for applications that cannot be resolved.

The revised policy has been drafted having regard to the latest Home Office Section 182 guidance and responses received during the period of consultation with prescribed persons. Three relevant responses were received during consultation, which are summarised in Appendix A - Consultation Responses Licensing OSMC 170725.

The revised policy, showing the changes made to the current version, is attached as Appendix B - Revised Policy With Tracked Changes OSMC 170725 to the report. A summary of the amendments is attached as Appendix C - Summary Of Changes Licensing OSMC 170725.

The report pack recommended that the revised policy progresses through the approval process and is adopted by full council.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions

The committee was scheduled to review its work plan for 2025/26. The work plan included items for discussion at future meetings, such as the Community Safety Strategy, the Corporate Plan, and the budget.

The committee was also scheduled to consider the council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions for the period 1 August to 30 November 2025. The forward plan sets out details of all key decisions expected to be taken during the next four months by either the Cabinet collectively, the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Portfolio Holders or Officers.