PENY power: management of youth justice information

Police Electronic Notifications to YOTs (PENY) allows police and youth offending teams to work closer together to deliver better support for young people, as Peter Carl explains.

Information is power is an old adage, but one that becomes more relevant every day. Information capture, or as it is often termed, ‘knowledge management’, is fast becoming the true competitive advantage of any organisation. The criminal justice system is no different. People are certainly valuable resources, and the information they hold is useful, but far more so if shared with others.

PENY (Police Electronic Notifications to youth offending teams [YOTs]) is a prime example of organisations working together for the greater good. Here we have police forces across the UK providing crucial information to YOTs in order to make the wheels of justice turn more effectively and smoothly. This is a national solution to improve the use and sharing of information between the 43 police forces in England and Wales, British Transport Police and the 157 YOTs using criminal justice secure email (CJSM) or other secure routes.

This process means all parties now have the opportunity to communicate with each other faster, more securely and more consistently than ever before. 

What is PENY?

PENY is the process that ensures police communicate with YOTs by sending agreed information on under-18s within 24 hours of police disposal or decision. The speed of this process means that the young person has immediate understanding of the consequences of their behaviour. 

In partnership with the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and the Youth Justice Board’s Wiring Up Youth Justice (WUYJ) programme – the IT-enabled initiative established in 2007 to improve the sharing of information across the criminal justice system – officers are now advising their local YOTs when they reprimand a young person, give them a final warning, charge them with an offence or give them a penalty notice for disorder. 

This timely access to accurate and detailed police information is central to the work that YOTs carry out with young people who offend, providing supervision and support where it is most needed. 

Marcus Beale, deputy chief constable at Staffordshire Police, said: “In PENY, the Wiring up Youth Justice programme has delivered a tightly-focused tool, which has allowed the consistent exchange of relevant information between the police and local YOTs, helping to deliver appropriate and timely justice.”

Securing sensitive data

Of course, all the information is sensitive and, therefore, must be safeguarded at all times. Using fax to send documents is no longer permitted as offender and victim information falls within the category of restricted information.  However, the new systems allow for police notifications to be sent between police and YOTs as secure email attachments. This means that the sensitive data is transferred quickly and securely. 

Charles Clark, former deputy chief constable at Essex Police and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for ‘youth issues’, and now board member of the Youth Justice Board, explained: “I am sure PENY will bring a vast improvement in working with those young people who offend and their victims.

“Prior to PENY, often details of offenders were not sent to YOTs or were delayed which meant, at times, opportunities for interventions were missed and work with victims delayed. As it is increasingly important that relevant information is shared to ensure we tackle those children and young people at greatest risk, PENY may be the forerunner of greater cooperation in the future.”

Promoting partnership

Early intervention by YOTs working together with the police can help tackle the problem of youth crime at source, highlighting the underlying causes and giving young people the best possible chance of rectifying their ways.

PENY co