HC Deb 24 January 1991 vol 184 c299W
Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders were sent to adult prisons whilst awaiting trial in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of them were involved in incidents where there were allegations of them being threatened or they came to physical harm.

Mrs. Rumbold

During 1989, the last year for which figures were available, 4,300 unsentenced young offenders were initially received in adult prisons. Information is available centrally on alleged assaults only where these gave rise to action by the police. In 1989, there were 13. Of these, 10 were carried out by other young offenders and three by adult males. There is no centrally available information on threats.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence his Department has obtained on the likelihood of young people awaiting trial to be sent to an adult prison if they live in a local authority which does not have its own secure centre as against those in an authority which does have such a centre.

Mr. John Patten

Local authority secure accommodation is a resource to which all local authorities in England and Wales have access. But the availability of secure accommodation locally and the local authority's willingness to use it for remanded juveniles may affect at present a court's decision whether it is necessary to remand a juvenile in Prison Department custody.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the daily cost of keeping a young person in(a) local authority secure accommodation and (b) an adult prison.

Mrs. Rumbold

The daily cost of keeping a young person in an adult prison during 1989–90 was £44.

I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health that the disparity in types of local authority secure accommodation makes in impossible to provide a realistic representative figure for the cost of accommodating a young person in such accommodation.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to stop young people awaiting trial being sent to adult prisons.

Mr. John Patten

We intend to issue very soon a consultation paper setting out our detailed proposals for reforming the arrangements for the remand of alleged offenders under 17. This will include proposals affecting the use of Prison Department establishments for remanded juveniles.