Aysu Bicer
18 May 2026•Update: 18 May 2026
The British government is considering powers to jail parents whose children commit crimes, as part of a sweeping overhaul of the youth justice system in England and Wales.
Under proposals published on Monday in a Youth Justice White Paper, ministers plan to strengthen and expand the use of parenting orders, court mandates that can require parents or guardians to attend counseling, guidance, or support sessions aimed at addressing a child’s behavior.
The proposals follow the publication of the Southport Inquiry Report, which concluded that the 2024 attack carried out by Axel Rudakubana might have been prevented had his parents intervened in the years before the incident.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy said the reforms were designed to “tackle the drivers of offending so fewer young people become trapped in cycles of crime.”
The government pointed to official figures showing that eight in 10 prolific offenders in England and Wales committed their first offense as children, while almost two-thirds of young people released from custody reoffend within a year.
Courts are already required to consider parenting orders when a child under 16 is convicted of an offense. Judges may also impose them on parents of 16- and 17-year-olds if they believe the intervention could help prevent further offending.
Lammy said the reforms would provide judges with a “greater range of powers” to use parenting orders to support struggling families.
“If a parent has an addiction issue, if a parent is struggling with depression, if a parent is unable to parent, the judge can intervene to make sure that that young person is getting the support that they need and the parent is doing the best that they can,” he told BBC Breakfast.
He added that he expected the power to imprison parents would be used “very, very rarely.”
Critics of the plans argue that voluntary engagement with families was generally more effective than punitive measures.
