§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what research his Department has commissioned into ADD/ADHD in young offender institutions; [136229]
(2) what meetings have been held between his Department and the Departments for Health and Education and Skills on ADD/ADHD among inmates of young offender institutions; [136230]
(3) what steps his Department has taken to assess the implications on behavioural difficulties of ADD/ADHD in young people in young offender institutions; [136231]
(4) how many young people were diagnosed with (a) ADD, (b) ADHD and prescribed Ritalin in (i) young offender institutions and (ii) secure training centres in each of the last five years. [136232]
§ Paul GogginsThe Youth Justice Board (YJB) has commissioned Manchester University to undertake research at six sites, four of which are young offenders'institutions, into the prevalence of mental ill health, including Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder (ADHD), and effective mental health practice. The YJB has developed a Mental Health Screening Tool and guidance on effective mental health practice. It is also developing a mental health awareness training pack for use by teams working with young people who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Officials in the Home Office and the Department of Health regularly discuss the whole range of health care issues in prisons and young offender institutions. The extent to which Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/ADHD may be a significant problem in individual prison establishments would be expected to emerge from the regular health needs assessments undertaken jointly by prisons and their national health service partners.
The Department of Health, the Prison Service and the YJB have created a new post of Programme Manager for Juvenile Health. This post will enable a greater focus on health issues such as ADD/ADHD, which are of potentially great significance in young offender institutions. The Government are investing significant additional resources, rising to around an extra £46 million in England by 2005–06, in prison health services over the next three years. Information is not collected centrally about the number of young people in young offenders'institutions and the juvenile 92W secure estate who have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD or the particular treatments prescribed for them.