§ Mr. CrausbyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many girls aged 15 to 18 years, held in adult prisons, share(a) facilities and (b) accommodation with adults. [102235]
§ Mr. BoatengAt the end of October there was a total of 102 young women under the age of 18 in Prison Service custody, of whom 81 were sentenced. The remaining 21 were 17-year-olds remanded awaiting trial or sentence. All remanded young women aged 15 and 16 are held in local authority care.
In the past, female young offenders and adult women were co-located, however, following the Flood judgment of August 1997, all female offenders under 21 years of age are held in designated young offender accommodation.
On 8 March 1999, Official Report, columns 28–29W, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, announced that from the introduction of the Detention and Training order in April 2000, sentenced 15 and 16-year-old girls will be placed in local authority care, not in prison. In the longer term, as places become available, sentenced young women aged 17 will also be placed outside Prison Service custody.
The Prison Service is working closely with governors to ensure that female young offenders are kept in appropriate physically discrete accommodation and to develop specific regime provision for young women.