§ 15. Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures the Government are taking to reduce the rate of reoffending among young offenders. [10562]
§ Mr. HowardWe have proposed in the Crime (Sentences) Bill that curfew orders with electronic monitoring should be extended to 10 to 15-year-olds, and that the courts be given greater discretion to allow the identification of convicted juveniles. We are introducing a new secure training order for 12 to 14-year-old persistent offenders. High-intensity training regimes have been introduced at Thorn Cross young offender institution and will be extended to a new YOI to be opened at Colchester military corrective training centre within a month. But reducing offending is not the responsibility of the Government alone, and that is why we have strengthened the courts' powers to involve parents when their children offend.