Young Offenders

HC Deb 26 November 1991 vol 199 cc440-2W

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in what circumstances teenagers are placed in young offender institutions for non-violent offences; and whether he has any plans to end this practice;

(2) under what circumstances it is his policy for persons aged 15 years to be locked up in prisons or young offenders' institutions; and whether he has any plans to end this policy;

(3) from what age young people who have committed offences can be dealt with through the prison system;

(4) if he will bring forward proposals to remove persons under the age of 21 years from the prison system; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

From the age of 10, juveniles convicted of murder or manslaughter may be detained under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. Section 53 detention is available from the age of 14 for juveniles convicted of other offences carrying a maximum penalty for an adult of imprisonment for 14 years or more. Juveniles aged under sixteen and a half years who are detained under section 53 are normally held in the child care system rather than Prison Service establishments. Detention in a young offender institution is available for males from the age of 14 and females from the age of 15 for any offence for which an adult may be sentenced to imprisonment. Male defendants aged 15 and 16 may be remanded in prison. The Criminal Justice Act 1991 provides for the abolition of courts' power to sentence 14-year-old boys to detention in a young offender institution; for the ending of prison remands for 15 and 16-year-old males: and tightens the restrictions on the use of custodial sentences for young offenders.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he intends to take to prevent suicides at Feltham and other young offenders' institutes;

(2) what plans he has for a public inquiry into the suicide rate at young offenders' institutions.

Mrs. Rumbold

Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons, Judge Tumim, prepared at my right hon. Friend's predecessor's request last year a report on suicide and self-harm in Prison Service establishments. My right hon. Friend responded to that report in the White Paper "Custody, Care and Justice", Cm 1647. We have also received, and circulated to all governors, the summary report of research carried out by Dr. Alison Liebling of the Cambridge university institute of criminology into self-injury among young offenders. A wide-ranging programme of work is in hand to try to reduce the incidence of suicide and self-harm in young offender institutions and other penal establishments. In work with young offenders, the emphasis is on the development of personal officer schemes, the provision of useful activity and measures to address problems of vulnerability and peer group pressure. A recent initiative at Feltham, which I welcome, has been the introduction of weekly case conferences to review the care of the most vulnerable prisoners.

I do not think that a public inquiry into the suicide rate at young offender institutions would materially advance the substantial efforts already being made at Feltham and elsewhere to provide care for a particularly vulnerable section of the prison population.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how many hours a day he advises that teenagers should be kept in solitary confinement in prisons or young offenders' institutions.

Mrs. Rumbold

There is no such thing as solitary confinement in prisons or young offenders' institutions. However, an inmate may be removed from association with other inmates where this appears desirable either for the maintenance of good order or discipline, or in his own interests, under young offender institution rule 46 or prison rule 43. The length of time for which an inmate is removed from association will depend on the circumstances of each case. No inmate should be segregated for longer than is absolutely necessary. Each case must be kept under continuous review.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide alternatives to custodial sentences for young offenders.

Mr. John Patten

A wide range of community sentences already exists for young offenders. The emphasis is on dealing with young offenders in the community wherever possible. The Criminal Justice Act 1991 establishes a new sentencing framework providing courts with a wider range of strengthened community penalties. The Act creates two new community sentences—the curfew order backed by electronic monitoring and the combined probation and community service order—which will be available from the age of 16.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigation he has made into the psychological effect on persons under the age of 16 years of being held in young offender institutions and being held for long periods in solitary confinement in cells; and whether he has any plans to make further investigations.

Mrs. Rumbold

An assessment of how young offenders adjust to a custodial environment was the subject of one of the studies in "Applying Psychology to Imprisonment", published in 1987. A further research study was completed this year, which compares regimes in young offender institutions and local authority community homes for juveniles sentenced under section 53(2) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 for serious offences.

Research has also recently been undertaken by Dr. Alison Liebling of the Cambridge university institute of criminology, into self-injury among young offenders. The need for further research in this area is kept under regular review.