§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the supply of places for juveniles on remand or sentenced provided by(a) the Prison Service, (b) local authorities and (c) the independent sector over the next five years. [142593]
§ Mr. BoatengThe estimate of the supply of places for juveniles on remand or sentenced provided by all three sectors—Prison Service, local authorities and private are 269W shown in the table. There are no formal estimates of supply of Prison Service places beyond 2002–03 at this stage.
Estimates of supply for juveniles over the next five years Prison Service Local authorities Independent sector 2000–01 2,970 300 120 2002–03 2,970 300 230 2003–04 1— 300 450 2004–05 1— 300 500 2005–06 1— 300 660 1 No estimates beyond 2002–03 at this stage
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) 15 and (b) 16-year-olds are on remand in adult prisons; if he will list the prisons concerned; and how many were so remanded on the equivalent date in 1999. [142595]
§ Mr. BoatengThere are no 15 or 16-year-olds on remand in adult prisons. The number remanded to adult prisons in 1999 is set out in the table.
Receptions of 15 and 16-year-olds on remand into adult prisons in England and Wales in 1999 Untried Convicted unsentenced Prison 15 16 15 16 Altcourse 17 29 4 12 Cardiff 8 20 10 13 Doncaster 52 72 22 38 Exeter 3 4 — 5 Gloucester 4 18 2 5 Hull 13 21 3 12 Low Newton 2 5 1 2 Norwich 2 20 4 11 Parc 5 19 1 7 Swansea 3 12 — 3 Total 109 220 47 108 Notes:
1. Provisional figures
2. Total receptions cannot be calculated by adding together receptions in each category because of double counting
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the change in demand for places within the juvenile estate over the next five years. [142594]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Home Office publishes a long-term projection of the custodial population annually in February of each year. Projections are provided according to various alternative scenarios. For the February 2000 projection the middle variant projection assumes growth in the use of custody by courts but no change in the average sentence length. The higher variant projection assumes that custody rates and sentence lengths increase. Both variants include an assumption of an increase in the juvenile estate due to the introduction of the Detention and Training Order in April 2000.
270WThe projection made in February 2000 predicted the following numbers in the juvenile estate:
Variant Middle Higher 1999 2,690 2,690 2000 3,000 3,020 2001 3,010 3,050 2002 2,990 3,040 2003 3,010 3,090 2004 3,000 3,100 2005 3,040 3,160 The increase observed in 2000 was due to the expected impact of the introduction of the Detention and Training Order in April 2000.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what areas(a) a shortage and (b) a future shortage of places within the juvenile estate has been identified. [142592]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Youth Justice Board's commissioning strategy has identified three areas—London, Wales and the North-west, where there are currently overall shortages of secure accommodation for both male and female juvenile offenders.
The Board's current commissioning plans, which are subject to negotiations with the Prison Service and planning applications and approval for potential new sites seek to redress the shortages in Wales by late 2003–04. Options for London are under consideration which will release some of the pressure by March 2002, with further sites addressing the shortfall by March 2005. Some inroads into the North-west shortfall are expected in 2001–02 but the necessary new accommodation is not expected to be available until 2004–05.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to end the remand of 15 and 16-year-old youths to adult prisons. [142596]
§ Mr. BoatengJuveniles remanded to prison are held in Prison Service juvenile accommodation whenever possible. On 13 December 224 15 and 16-year-olds male remandees were held there and 17 in ordinary prisons for exceptional reasons.
Our wider priorities for the replacement of juveniles were set out in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Thomas) on 29 March 2000, Official Report, column 138W.