§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he is satisfied with the progress of local authorites in providing community services for young offenders and intermediate treatment centres; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will allocate extra funds to local authorities for the specific purpose of encouraging the expansion of community services for young offenders and intermediate treatment centres.
§ Sir George YoungThe Government attach importance to the expansion of community-based facilities for young people who offend or are at risk of doing so. Local authorities have been developing these provisions substantially over the past few years. There is still a long way to go, and I hope the process of development will continue as quickly as possible within available resources. Local authorities are responsible for the level of their own expenditure on these facilities, but I have recently announced in a speech to the Leicester Action for Youth Trust—a copy of which is in the Library—a significant increase in real terms in the resources being made available to the intermediate treatment fund, both this year and next, to help expand the development of intermediate treatment facilities in the voluntary sector.