Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours spent out of their cell by inmates was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days in each young offender institution in February 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested regarding average time-out-of-room spent by children and young people in young offender institutions during February 2024 is shown in the table below.
| Cookham Wood | Feltham | Parc | Werrington | Wetherby |
Weekdays | 3:24 | 5:02 | 8:30 | 4:06 | 6:25 |
Weekends | 2:01 | 3:49 | 5:47 | 3:10 | 4:33 |
The average time spent out-of-room each day by children and young people at Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024 was 13 hours. As information about Oakhill Secure Training Centre is collated on a different basis from information about young offender institutions, it is not possible to provide the requested breakdown between weekdays and weekends.
We know the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful and are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work provision with a consistent daily programme of activities.
The Youth Custody Service is reviewing regime models and staff deployment to maximise time out of room, creating as open a regime as it is safe to do so, as well as providing education and enrichment for those who cannot safely be in a classroom setting. Additionally, work done to reduce conflict and manage behaviour, to increase the size of groups who are mixing in the regime, has increased time out of room.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by Lay Observers entitled 2022-23 Annual Report, published on 10 April 2024, and the response from the Minister of State published on the same date, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the report's recommendations on ensuring that children and young people are (a) always transported in vehicles without adult detained persons and (b) looked after and managed by suitably trained staff.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are very grateful to the Lay Observers for their invaluable work. We have thoroughly considered their annual report and its recommendations.
Timeliness is a key consideration when conveying children and young people to and from court and, in certain circumstances, transport in vehicles with adults may be the appropriate solution. In these cases, the children and young people would be collected and supervised by staff who normally work with adults. This is provided for in the contracts, and our focus is on ensuring that the service provided for in the contracts is delivered.
On all occasions when children and young people are transported with adults, the cellular accommodation in the vehicle must be separated by a screen to ensure that the children and young people are kept apart.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours spent out of their cell by inmates was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days in Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested regarding average time-out-of-room spent by children and young people in young offender institutions during February 2024 is shown in the table below.
| Cookham Wood | Feltham | Parc | Werrington | Wetherby |
Weekdays | 3:24 | 5:02 | 8:30 | 4:06 | 6:25 |
Weekends | 2:01 | 3:49 | 5:47 | 3:10 | 4:33 |
The average time spent out-of-room each day by children and young people at Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024 was 13 hours. As information about Oakhill Secure Training Centre is collated on a different basis from information about young offender institutions, it is not possible to provide the requested breakdown between weekdays and weekends.
We know the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful and are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work provision with a consistent daily programme of activities.
The Youth Custody Service is reviewing regime models and staff deployment to maximise time out of room, creating as open a regime as it is safe to do so, as well as providing education and enrichment for those who cannot safely be in a classroom setting. Additionally, work done to reduce conflict and manage behaviour, to increase the size of groups who are mixing in the regime, has increased time out of room.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to work with local authorities to increase access to support services for people with autism.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Our national autism strategy, published in July 2021, acknowledges the importance of autistic people being able to access community support, including social care, and that this support should be available at the right time, and tailored to autistic people’s needs. We are currently updating the Autism Act Statutory Guidance to support the National Health Service and local authorities in delivering improved outcomes for autistic people. This will include setting out what local authorities must and should be doing to support autistic adults.
Under the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local authorities to assess individuals’ care and support needs, including those of autistic adults, and, where eligible, to meet those needs. A new duty for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to assess local authorities’ delivery of their Care Act 2014 duties, went live on 1 April 2023, and the formal assessment period has started. The CQC will examine how well local authorities deliver their Care Act duties, including those that apply to autistic people with care and support needs. This will increase transparency and accountability and, most importantly, drive improved outcomes for people who draw on care and support.
Each integrated care board (ICB) must have an Executive Lead for learning disability and autism, to support them in delivering care and support for autistic people in their area. NHS England has published statutory guidance on these Executive Lead roles. Key areas of the Executive Lead role include, but are not limited to: supporting the board in developing a strategic plan for people with a learning disability and autistic people, with local authorities and wider partners; using joint commissioning principles to work together to facilitate appropriate community support, care, and housing; and enabling people to live well at home. It also includes working with local authorities, primary care networks, place-based partnerships, provider collaboratives, health care providers, and wider partners to address inequalities in health outcomes for people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate on the waiting times for (a) assessment for and (b) diagnosis of autism in (i) adults and (ii) children in Lewisham East constituency.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is not held centrally, but may be held by individual providers or integrated care boards (ICBs). Some relevant information is available on autism assessment waiting times for the NHS South East London ICB. In December 2023, the NHS South East London ICB’s Autism Waiting Time Statistics show that there were a total of 1,425 patients with an open suspected autism referral. 100 of these patients were aged between 0 and 17 years old, and 1,325 of these patients were aged 18 years old and over.
The median waiting time of all patients in this ICB, with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 545 days. For 0 to 17 year olds, the median number of days patients waited was 149 days, compared to 606 days for over 18 year olds.
Data on children and young people in this dataset is expected to be an underestimate, and caution should be used when interpreting these statistics, since they are experimental rather than official statistics. The majority of children assessed for autism in the United Kingdom are seen in child development services, which are out of the scope of this dataset. This means the published figures will underestimate the volume of referrals or diagnoses, and the associated impact on health services. NHS England continues to conduct exploratory analysis into the Community Services Dataset, with a view to including autism waiting times data from that dataset.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of miles of hedgerow that has been (a) created and (b) restored since January 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have made no such assessment regarding the total number of hedgerows created or restored since 2023, however, there are now approximately 56,000 miles of hedgerows being managed through 16,000 agreements in the Government’s Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes. Under Countryside Stewardship approximately 20,680 Miles of Hedgerow have been created and restored since January 2023.