§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government expect to abolish prison department custodial remands for 15 and 16-year-olds.
§ Mr. JackWe aim to end the remand of 15 and 16-year-old boys to prison custody as soon as enough places in local authority secure accommodation are available. The necessary plans are being forwarded through the Department of Health with the aim of completing them by the end of 1995.
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles held in custody on remand or after conviction have in each of the last five years(a) committed suicide or (b) been recorded as having attempted self-mutilation.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe available information is set out in the table. Both sentenced and unsentenced juveniles are included. Figures for the incidence of deliberate self-harm prior to 1991 are not available.
Acts of deliberate self-harm by prisoners aged under 17 in HM prison service establishments 1988–921 Acts of deliberate self-harm Year Not causing death Causing death 1988 N/A — 1989 N/A — 1990 N/A 2 1991 59 1 1992 100 1 1 17-year-old prisoners were not regarded as juveniles until the Criminal Justice Act 1991 came into effect on 1 October 1992.
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policies he has for reducing the disruption to education, training and work to those juveniles who are in custody.
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§ Mr. Peter LloydI do not accept that there will be disruption to the education, training and work of juveniles in custody.
I am confident that, where changes take place as a result of the competitive tendering exercise, prison governors and the contractors will arrange a smooth transition from the current to the new education provider so as to ensure an effective continuation in the delivery of education services.
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juvenile offenders received custodial sentences in 1979, in 1981 and in 1992.
§ Mr. JackInformation on persons aged 14 and under 17 sentenced to immediate custody is published annually in the Command Paper "Criminal statistics, England and Wales". Table 7.15 of the 1989 publication gives the requested data back to 1979. Copies of this publication are available in the Library. 1992 data will not be available until the autumn of 1993.
§ Mr. BlairTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles(a) under 15 years of age and (b) between 15 and 17 years of age committed offences (i) after a police caution, (ii) while on bail, (iii) while on remand in local authority accommodation and (iv) while undergoing non-custodial community penalties, in each of the last three years.
§ Mr. JackThis information is not available. The number of people who commit offences cannot be measured. Research studies of those convicted for offences are made and published from time to time by the Home Office. The most relevant estimates—Home Office statistical bulletin 20/92—are that 11 per cent. of those aged under 14 and 16 per cent. of those aged 14 to 16 who had been cautioned in 1985 were convicted of standard list offences within two years of their caution.