Parents could lose benefits or face jail for their children's crimes under Labour's youth justice crackdown
From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.
Jake Richards, the Youth Justice Minister behind the reforms, said courts could dock parents' benefits or impose custodial sentences on those whose children offend.The sign at the Department for Work and Pensions, whose benefit payments could be docked as punishment for parents whose children offend under the proposed reforms.
Youth Justice Minister Jake Richards has warned that parents in England and Wales could lose benefits, face substantial fines, or be sent to prison if their children offend. The plans would significantly expand existing Parenting Orders, which currently require parents to attend counselling or face fines of up to £1,000. Richards said the justice system must hold parents to account "in a proportionate way" — with prison reserved for only "the most extreme cases" at a judge's discretion. The announcement follows the Southport inquiry's conclusion that Axel Rudakubana's parents had opportunities to intervene earlier and potentially prevent his killing of three girls.
Richards, the Rother Valley MP, said people on his doorstep ask not just for more police but 'what are the parents doing?'
Experts have condemned the reforms as ineffective, warning that fining poor families pushes them deeper into poverty.
The use of Parenting Orders has collapsed from over a thousand in 2009/10 to just 33 last year, prompting the government crackdown.
