Children and young people

A Supervision Order is a sentence of the court which requires an offender to be supervised by a member of the Youth Offending Team (YOT). Once the order has been made, the offender's co-operation and the support of their family are essential if it is to be of use to them.

The purpose of supervision is to help the offender to do what is necessary to stop offending and to protect the public from harm. They will also be expected to consider the effect the crime has on its victims and make amends for their behaviour.

The YOT will work with them to find new ways of dealing with situations so that they do not offend again.

What will they have to do?

The order can be made for up to three years. If the offender makes good progress, they or their Supervising Officer can ask the court to end the order early. The court is unlikely to agree to this unless they have completed at least half the sentence satisfactorily and they have not committed another offence.

The order will be organised by their Supervising Officer, according to standards required by the Home Office. The Supervising Officer has a duty to encourage them to work on those areas that are linked to their offending. If this is going to make any difference, they will need to talk openly with their officer about themselves.

They and their parents or carers will be asked to take part in drawing up a plan for their supervision. They will also be asked to review this plan with their Supervising Officer every three months. They and their parents or carers have a right to a copy of the plan, where appropriate.

What are the rules?

To comply with a Supervision Order, an offender must:

• notify any change of address,
• attend when required,
• arrive on time for appointments,
• comply with any reasonable directions of the Supervisor,
• comply with any additional requirements included in their Order.

For the duration of the Order, the following behaviour is prohibited on YOT premises or when YOT staff (or persons operating under their direction) accompany them:

• attending while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, thereby being unable to participate properly in supervision;
• fighting, violent or aggressive behaviour or threats of violence;
• other conduct or language that might reasonably give serious offence to YOT staff, other persons under supervision or members of the public;
• other wilful or persistent non-co-operation or behaviour designed to prevent progress of their or others' orders.

Additional requirements

At the time of sentence, the court may add further requirements to an order. Supervising Officers can explain these to an offender.

What happens if the offender does not co-operate?

If they do not keep to the conditions or the additional requirements, their Supervising Officer must take them back to court. If the court considers that they have breached the order, it may:

• revoke the order and pass another sentence, which could include custody;
• tell the offender to complete the order but punish them by imposing either a fine of up to £1,000, an Attendance Centre Order or a Curfew Order.

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