§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the average number of out of cell hours for juveniles and young offenders on remand in each young offenders unit in England; [136657]
(2) what is the average number of out of cell hours for convicted juveniles and young offenders in Feltham Young Offenders Unit and for each of the other young offenders units in England. [136547]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Prison Service does not collect separately the number of out of cell hours for sentenced and remand prisoners.
The table gives the average weekday time out of cell for September 2000 for all prisoners in those establishments in England which hold male juveniles or young offenders. Figures are provisional and subject to validation by prisons.
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Establishment holding male juveniles or young offenders Average hours out of cell weekdays1 Altcourse 13 Ashfield 12 Aylesbury 8 Brinsford 6 Castington 9.9 Chelmsford 8 Deerbolt 10.1 Doncaster 11 Dorchester 11 Dover 8.3 Exeter 8 Feltham 8 Forest Bank 12 Glen Parva 5.1 Gloucester 9 Guys Marsh 8 Hatfield 13.3 Hindley 7.2 Hollesley Bay 2— Hull 8.5 Huntercombe 9 Lancaster Farms 7.2 Lewes 9.3 Moorland 9 Northallerton 6.4
Establishment holding male juveniles or young offenders Average hours out of cell weekdays1 Norwich 8.6 Onley 11.5 Parc 8.4 Portland 10.3 Reading 8.2 Rochester 8 Stoke Heath 10 Swansea 9 Swinfen Hall 10.1 Thorn Cross 12.5 Wetherby 10 Werrington 10.8 1 September 2000 2 Not appropriate—open prison
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the offences for which juveniles and young offenders on remand in Feltham Young Offenders Unit have been charged over the last two years. [136653]
§ Mr. BoatengThis information is not available.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is held on the previous convictions of remand and convicted prisoners in Feltham Young Offenders Unit. [136524]
§ Mr. BoatengDetails of previous convictions are obtained either from the court or from the Police National Computer and held on the individual prisoner's file.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of juveniles and young offenders in Feltham Young Offenders Unit sharing a cell designed for one person(a) at the latest date for which figures are available and (b) for each quarter since 1999. [136659]
§ Mr. BoatengThe information is in the table:
Number September 1999 78 December 1999 0 March 2000 26 June 2000 24 2 November 2000 24 Only young offenders share cells designed for one person.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many juveniles were on remand in Feltham Young Offenders Unit in each quarter since January 1999; and what percentage they constitued of the total number of prisoners; [136651]
(2) how many offenders between 18 and 21–years-old are on remand in Feltham Young Offenders Unit for each quarter year since January 1999 in (a) actual terms and (b) as a percentage of the total number of prisoners. [136667]
§ Mr. BoatengThe information requested is given in the table.
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Population1 of young offenders on remand2 at HMP Feltham Age Percentage of total population in HMP Feltham Date/last day of month 15–17 18–21 15–17 18–21 1999 31 March 111 275 13 33 30 June 126 261 16 33 30 September 112 337 14 41 31 December 100 283 13 37 2000 31 March 91 286 12 38 30 June 164 288 23 40 30 September 166 293 23 40 1 Provisional figures 2 Includes untried and convicted unsentenced prisoners
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies he has conducted into the benefits of staffing young offender units with officers specifically trained in child and youth care. [136548]
§ Mr. BoatengThere have been no formal studies of the benefits of training staff who work with young offenders in child and youth care. However, both the Prison Service and the Youth Justice Board recognise the value of ensuring that staff working with young offenders have appropriate training.
Joint training, commissioned by the Youth Justice Board, has been undertaken by staff working with young offenders in the juvenile secure estate. This included Youth Offending Team staff as well as those working in Prison Service establishments, Local Authority Secure Units and Secure Training Centres.
The recruitment process for new prison officers to work in the under-18 estate has also been enhanced with additions to the competence questionnaire which forms part of the application form, and additional exercises at the job simulation assessment centres.
The Prison Service also trains staff in understanding adolescence through a programme designed by the Trust for the Study of Adolescence.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines his Department has issued on the sharing of cells by inmates in young offender institutions. [136658]
§ Mr. BoatengPrison Service policy on cell sharing and the separation of different classes of prisoner remains as set out in Instruction to Governors 48–1995 issued on 11 May 1995, a copy of which is in the Library.
Following the murder in March of a young offender in his cell by his cellmate in Her Majesty's Young Offender Institution Feltham, the establishment immediately introduced a risk assessment system to try to prevent a recurrence. The Prison Service has refined that system in the light of experience with a view to introducing it at other prison establishments.
More generally, we are currently looking at several ways to make prison establishments as a whole safer places. The Prison Service will shortly be launching the safer prisons standard which emphasises this "whole prison" approach: it will not only set out required actions 398W on the reduction of violence and bullying in establishments, but will also look at the care of prisoners and staff/prisoner relationships.
The Prison Service has also improved the way in which the risk posed by individual prisoners is conveyed. The revised Prisoner Escort Record (PER), which accompanies every prisoner from court or when they are moved from another prison, is used to highlight different risk factors, including violence, potential hostage taking, racist behaviour or crimes such as stalking/harassing or sexual offences. The new guidance issued at the same time highlights the importance of ensuring this information is passed as soon as possible to the relevant staff and is used to inform decisions about, for instance, first night risk assessment and accommodation issues.