§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total cost of keeping and treating a child per week at the St. Charles Experimental Treatment Centre at Brentwood, Essex.
§ Mr. MoyleThe total cost of running the St. Charles Youth Treatment Centre in the financial year 1975–76 was £501,894. It would be misleading to base a cost per week on this figure because, owing to a major fire in January 1975, average occupancy throughout 1975–76 was well below the centre's full capacity. However, had all 33 places been occupied, the cost per week would have been £292.48 per child.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what lessons and benefit have been gained from the activities of the St. Charles Brentwood Treatment Centre for children; and if he will make a statement about this kind of provision.
§ Mr. MoyleYouth treatment centres are being provided under Section 64 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969, for the long-term care, control and treatment of disruptive and highly disturbed children between the ages of 12 and 19 whose specialised treatment needs cannot be met in any of the existing forms of residential provision. The first centre opened at Brentwood in Essex in 1971 in adapted premises. A second centre, which will be purpose-built, is to open in Birmingham in the summer of 1977.
Only 30 children have so far been discharged from the Brentwood centre and it is impracticable at this stage to reach any firm conclusions about the extent to which the centre has succeeded in their treatment of these children.
My Department is conducting research into the work at St. Charles, but here, again, it is too soon to draw any clear conclusions.