§ 53. Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are taken to ensure that young persons sentenced to long-term imprisonment are detained in prisons within reasonable travelling distance of their parents' homes.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsYoung prisoners serving long or indeterminate sentences are after allocation detained in three young prisoners' centres, at Aylesbury, Northallerton or Liverpool. So far as other considerations permit, each young prisoner is allocated to the centre which is nearest to his home.
§ 54. Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young persons under the age of 18 years are detained in adult prisons; what are their ages and sex; and how many there are in each age group.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsOn 9th December 4 boys and 8 girls aged 17 were detained on remand in England and Wales in prison accommodation not exclusively assigned for the custody of young persons. The available figures for sentenced young offenders relate only to those under 21 as a group. Most of these are detained in separate establishments or in other accommodation exclusively assigned to them; but on 29th November 543 sentenced males under 21 were detained in local prisons and 19 girls in Holloway and Styal women's prisons.
136W
§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will direct that juveniles sentence to long-term imprisonment should serve their sentences as near as practicable to their homes, to afford parents maximum access and minimum hardship.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI would refer my hon. Friend to my Answer to the Question which he put down for Oral answer today.
§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the duration and frequency of permitted visits by parents to young persons detained in prisons; and if he is satisfied with the present arrangements.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsUnder the Prison Rules for England and Wales, a convicted prisoner under the age of 21 is entitled to receive a visit once in four weeks; in practice wherever possible such prisoners are allowed a visit every two weeks. Visits in local prisons last at least 20 minutes; those in young prisoners' centres at least 30 minutes. Governors have discretion to allow longer visits when sufficient staff and space are available. They may also allow extra visits where special circumstances justify this.
§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why it took more than six weeks to inform the hon. Member for Doncaster why a 17-year-old Doncaster boy, serving an indefinite sentence, was detained in Walton Prison, Liverpool, rather than one nearer his home.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI regret the delay. In order to give my hon. Friend a full answer to his letter, detailed inquiries were necessary, but these inquiries took longer than I would have wished.