Appendix C: Local Criminal Justice Boards
The 42 Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) in England and Wales were established non-statutorily in 2003 and are based on police force/criminal justice areas. Membership comprises chief officers of the police, crown prosecution, court, prison, probation and youth offending services.
LCJBs are responsible for joining up the Criminal Justice System (CJS) at the local CJS area level and are increasingly involved in managing the change across the CJS. They focus on improving the effectiveness of the CJS by bringing more offences to justice, reducing ineffective trials, improving the experience of victims and witnesses, driving delivery of the timeliness target in the Persistent Young Offenders (PYO) pledge, delivering the Prolific and other Priority Offender (PPO) CJS Premium Service, improving enforcement and increasing public confidence in the CJS.
There are many overlaps between the agendas of community safety partnerships and LCJBs. They can work together to reinforce each other’s area of work. Key areas of common interest are:
- Public confidence.
- Support and services for victims.
- Management of offenders, including re-offending.
Other areas will be determined by local priorities.
The creation of the county strategy group (see Lead and Guide: The Right People Around the Table for further details) can support and facilitate closer joint working between community safety partnerships and LCJBs. It can enable the LCJB to make meaningful links with community safety partnerships that will influence district level partnerships at operational level, but to retain their strategic oversight to ensure efficient local delivery of the CJS.
