§ Mr. Robert McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 6 March,Official Report, column 225, if he will specify the daily average number of residents at the Rathgael centre in Bangor in 1995 and the annual total, by type, and the percentage who absconded in that year, and the range of penalties that can be, and were imposed for going absent without leave; and if he will make a statement. [21686]
§ Sir John WheelerThe information requested is as follows:
- (1) The annual average number of residents on campus at Rathgael in the year from 1 January 1995 to 1 January 1996 was 82. Of this total an average of 53 were the subject of order for care, protection and control and 29 were the subject of orders for offending.
- (2) In that period Rathgael had a throughput of 285 children of which 166 were there for care reasons and 119 for offending.
- (3) During the same one-year period 144 children—76 care and 68 justice—were responsible for 481 incidents of absconding. This represents an average of 1.3 per day or
310 1.6 per cent. per day of the average population. These statistics include all those suspected of leaving the campus without permission, even for a very short time. - (4) There is a range of sanctions available to staff to enable them to respond meaningfully to absconding and other misdemeanours. At the lowest level a young person may be given extra chores, lose recreation time, be sent to bed earlier for a specified period, suffer a reduction in pocket money and have restrictions placed on, or even lose, home leave privileges. At the higher level, where there are concerns about physical or moral welfare or where there is evidence of anti-social behaviour or persistent absconding, a child may be sent to one of the on-site close supervision units. In extreme cases a young person may be removed to the secure unit at Lisnevin or to the Young Offenders Centre at Hydebank.