§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of detention and training orders in preventing recidivism among young offenders. [172297]
§ Paul GogginsThe Detention and Training Order (DTO) has been the main custodial sentence for young people aged 12 to 17 since April 2000.
The first two years' operation of the DTO was the subject of research commissioned by the Youth Justice 436W Board. This found some signs that supervisors were playing a very significant role in getting young offenders to address their offending behaviour. It is too early to assess the overall effectiveness of the sentence in preventing recidivism but we do expect shortly to be able to publish the first national reconviction figures.