§ Mr. Cyril Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many children in the No. 3 regional planning area, remanded to the care of 135W local authorities, have had to be placed in the Risley remand centre, due to there being no places available at remand homes;
(2) how many children there are in remand homes in the No. 3 regional planning area who, following assessment, are being held there pending permanent placement in other homes;
(3) how many remand homes there are in No. 3 regional planning area; how many places in these homes are being left empty due to shortage of skilled staff; and how many vacancies there are for skilled staff in these homes.
§ Sir K. JosephI have been asked to reply.
Since 1st January 1971 remand homes, like the other classes of establishment which are to form part of the community home system under the Children and Young Persons Act 1969, have been available for children in care generally; their use is not limited to those committed to care on remand, nor is a local authority to whose care a child or young person is so committed obliged to accommodate him in a remand home. On the inception of the community home system on 1st April 1973 remand homes will be incorporated in it.
In the area referred to there are four remand homes for boys and six for girls. In the last quarter for which figures are available—July-September 1972—these establishments had 208 places for boys and 104 for girls; occupancy, averaged over the quarter, was 79.6 per cent. for boys and 68.3 per cent. for girls. Staffing is the responsibility of local authorities, as are the admission and transfer of children, and information as to the circumstances of the children and the effect of the staffing position on the number of admissions is not available centrally.
In the period 20th December last to 19th March, 87 persons over 14 and under 17 were received at Risley remand centre after being certified by a court, under Section 23(2) or 23(3) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969, as being of so unruly a character that they could not safely be committed to the care of a local authority. Such certification relates to the character of the accused, not the availability of places. Committal to a remand centre may be 136W appropriate even though remand home accommodation is not fully occupied.