HC Deb 25 March 2003 vol 402 c153W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he proposes to assist prison officers in juvenile establishments in preventing anti-social behaviour by juveniles within those establishments. [104348]

Hilary Benn

Juvenile regimes are designed to promote and maintain good behaviour, and to discourage antisocial activity. They are intended to provide a full, purposeful and active day, with 30 hours a week purposeful activity, focusing on education, training and personal development.

More specifically, each juvenile establishment has a rewards and sanctions scheme; a system of adjudications for breaches of discipline; an anti-bullying strategy; and a personal officer scheme which assigns a member of staff to each young person on induction to act as contact point with outside agencies and family and, through example, to act as a positive influence on the young person's attitude and behaviour.

Prison officers have a key role to play in the delivery of the regimes and in preventing anti-social behaviour, and the they will be assisted in that role by effective training and management. Governors of juvenile establishments are required to ensure that every member of staff taking up post receives, at an early stage, suitable training for working with juveniles. A team is currently being set up within Prison Service headquarters to support Governors in fulfilling that responsibility and to help improve the quality and delivery of training across the juvenile estate, both for prison officers and managers.

Vera Baird

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many juveniles were sentenced to a detention and training order in each month since April 2000; [104062]