§ Ms CorstonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where a 17-year-old alleged offender who is deemed to be category A would normally be held in the prison system.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Ms Jean Corston, dated 9 March 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about where a 17 year old alleged offender who is deemed to be category A would normally be held in the prison system.
For any alleged offender who, because of the nature and circumstances of their alleged offences, is placed in category A, security must be the first priority.
Unconvicted persons in prison custody who are placed in category A can only be held in Prison Service establishments with an appropriate level of security. In the case of a 17 year old alleged (ie unconvicted) offender the only YOI with a level of security appropriate to hold a category A is Moorland. Unless the courts to which a 17 year old would have to be taken for remand and trial appearances are within reasonable travelling distance of Moorland, such an individual would have to be held in a category A holding local prison.