HC Deb 19 July 1995 vol 263 cc1441-2W
Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of(a) 16-year-olds, (b) 15-year-olds and (c) 14-year-olds held in adult prisons for more than 24 hours after being convicted of a section 53 offence under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 in each of the last five years. [36246]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Alun Michael, dated 19 July 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what was the number of (a) 16 year olds, (b) 15 year olds and (c) 14 year olds held in adult prisons for more than 24 hours after being convicted of a section 53 offence under the Children and Young Persons Act in each of the last five years. The information requested is not available.

Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional secure places he intends to provide(a) under the undertaking of February 1991, for 15 and 16-year-olds on remand; (b) for 15 and 16-year-olds on remand in addition to (a), (c) for 15 and 16-year-olds sent to secure accommodation by a court following conviction, (d) for 10 to 14-year-olds on remand, (e) for 10 to 14-year-olds following conviction other than those sentenced to a secure training order and (f) for 12 to 14-year-olds made subject to a secure training order; and what timetable he has set for the provision of the secure places listed above. [36235]

Mr. Maclean

Local authority secure places are not designated for specific purposes. Places are made available, as appropriate, from within overall provision for:

  • children and young people placed under section 25 of the Children Act 1989.
  • juveniles sentenced under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933; and
  • remanded juveniles other than those 15 and 16-year-old boys remanded to a Prison Service establishment.

A building programme of 170 new secure local authority places is in hand. We expect a majority of these places to be finished in 1996. We are committed to ending the remand of 15 and 16-year-old boys to Prison Service establishments as soon as there are sufficient secure local authority places to accommodate them.

Five planned secure training centres will provide 200 places for 12 to 14-year-olds subject to a secure training order. Opening dates of the centres will depend on the terms of the contracts. A tendering process is in progress for the first two centres.

Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the longest time spent in an adult prison on remand in England and Wales by(a) a 14-year-old, (b) a 15-year-old, and (c) a 16-year-old in the current year and in each of the last five years. [36255]

Miss Widdecombe

I will write to the hon. Member.