§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to provide drug treatment for young offenders addicted to hard drugs. [148602]
§ Caroline FlintTo ensure that effective treatment is available when it is needed, we have made significant investments in the youth justice system and drug treatment sector.
An arrest referral scheme for young people is currently being piloted, to get young offenders into treatment or other appropriate interventions as early as possible. £6 million is being invested to pilot arrest referral for young people in 10 high crime areas across England. Trained staff in the police custody suites identify if young people have a substance misuse issue and refer them to appropriate treatment or intervention.
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has provided £8.5 million funding each year for all 155 youth offending teams across England and Wales to have access to an allocated named drugs worker. The drugs worker is able to assess the needs of young people and ensure that they receive appropriate treatment or other interventions.
80 per cent of drug action teams areas now have access to community-based young people focused treatment services. DATs across the country are 1232W continuing to improve and build on existing provision so that the number of different modalities of treatment for young people are increased.
The Youth Justice Board is investing £10 million this year and for the next two years. This will establish integrated substance misuse services through out all juvenile custodial institutions that will ensure that young people are able to access similar levels of service provision within the juvenile secure estate as in the community. The Youth Justice Board will ensure that custodial institutions are able to provide: identification, assessment and planning services; prevention and education work; support and appropriate programmes; detoxification and clinical management; and on release throughcare and resettlement.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the decision to re-introduce young offenders into Gloucester Prison; and whether the decision was affected by the closure of Ashfield Young Offenders Institution. [146729]
§ Paul GogginsThe allocation of young adult offenders (YAOs), aged 18–20, into Gloucester prison forms part of the ongoing programme to adjust the population mix of adult and young prisoners at a number of establishments. This is in response to the requirements of the Youth Justice Board for juvenile places and to increasing demand for spaces for adult male prisoners. This will be achieved through careful monitoring of population changes and the allocation of prisoners to establishments appropriate to their needs. It will also ensure maximum use of all available spaces in the prison estate, while minimising the distance of remand prisoners from the courts. This will enable the Prison Service to maintain its service to the courts despite the population pressures.
Ashfield prison is not being closed, but will instead only hold young prisoners, aged 15–17. Gloucester and other prisons in the area will hold remand and sentenced YAOs. Sentenced YAOs returning from court will be held at Gloucester for the minimum time possible before being transferred on to other establishments with YAO regimes.