§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on funding of secure accommodation for young offenders; and what plans he has to transfer responsibility for the funding to the Home Office; [15428]
(2) what is the recidivism rate for young offenders who have been placed in secure accommodation for (a) one month, (b) three months, (c) six months and (d) one year and longer; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of secure accommodation placements; [15436]
(3) what is the weekly cost of placement per young offender in each approved secure accommodation venue; and if he will make a statement. [15437]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
142WLetter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Nigel Jones, dated 21 February 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the funding of secure accommodation for young offenders, the effectiveness of secure accommodation, and the cost of the various secure accommodation units.The Department of Health is responsible for the capital funding of secure accommodation and for its approval and inspection. However, revenue funding for the placement in secure accommodation of offenders convicted under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 is a Home Office responsibility having been transferred from the Department of Health on 1 April 1995. There are no plans to change these arrangements.The information requested on recidivism rates is not available. Limited research on recidivism is contained in Home Office Research and Planning Unit Paper 66, "Juveniles sentenced for serious offences: a comparison of regimes in young offender institutions and local authority community homes", published by the Home Office in 1992. This small scale study found some evidence that section 53 offenders released from secure accommodation did better in terms of reconviction than section 53 offenders released from young offender institutions.
The attached table shows the weekly charge per head for those secure accommodation units in which section 53 offenders have been detained since April 1995.
Charge Unit £ Amberdale 2,198.00 Atkinson Unit 1,973.16 Aycliffe 2,289.00 Barton Moss 1,879.50 Briars Hey 1,873.55 Dyson Hall 2,151.31 East Moor 1,941.80 Fairfield Lodge 2.434.18 Glenthorne 2,530.01 Market Street 2,162.09 Middlesex Lodge 2,849.98 Orchard Lodge 2,919.98 Red Bank 2,177.00 Red Sands 1,974.00 Salters 2,177.00 St. Johns, Birmingham 2.359.00 St. Catherines 2.074.80 Stamford House 2,919.98 Sutton Place 2.197.30 Stoke House 2,419.97 Vinney Green 1,981.00