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 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the causes of levels of self-harm by female inmates.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In 2021, the Youth Custody Service and NHS England co-commissioned the Centre for Mental Health to undertake a review into the needs of girls in the children and young people secure estate.
The report found that trauma-related stress is then communicated differently by boys and girls. More often, girls communicated stress through internalising behaviours such as self-harm, and boys through externalising behaviours.
Any girl in the secure estate who is at risk of self-harm will be supported through the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, ensuring she has a dedicated case manager, and girls with the most complex needs will receive additional monitoring and more intensive case management.
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 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to improve the teaching of English at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Education managers created a reading strategy which commenced in November 2023 and is in use across the prison, making sure reading for purpose and reading for pleasure are adequately planned and delivered in all lessons, including those for children receiving outreach tuition.
The Head of Education, Skills & Work at HMYOI Wetherby, who is part of the Senior Management Team, will work with the education provider to effect improvements in the quality of English teaching. Attention will be given to ensuring that teachers, when planning learning, pay full regard to children’s starting points, so as to be able to maintain their interest and engagement. All functional skills staff will be required to attend collaborative planning workshops, to improve planning for learning, create clear assessment checkpoints and markers for assessing progress, and develop a sequenced curriculum for delivering English lessons. The Education provider will ensure their staff are teaching to good or outstanding grades through observations of teaching and learning, providing continual professional development and support to any staff who do not reach the required minimum standards. This will be monitored through contract management processes.
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 cells by female inmates was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days at HMYOI Wetherby in January 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested, stated in hours and minutes, is set out in the table below. The figures below were calculated during January 2024.
Weekday | 4hr 34mins |
Weekends | 4hr 24mins |
As the number of girls at HMYOI Wetherby is very small, it would not be statistically appropriate to try to draw conclusions from the above figures about girls’ general experience of time out of room.
We recognise the importance of ensuring that time in a secure setting is purposeful, and we are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work related provision with a consistent daily programme of activities supporting their wellbeing and progress. The Youth Custody Service continues to review daily activity and staff deployment to maximise time-out-of-room, with a focus on staff recruitment and retention to support this delivery.
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 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, 20 November – 7 December 2023, published on 5 March 2024, what assessment he has made of future options for the accommodation of girls on the Secure Youth Estate.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service is providing support to the staff at HMYOI Wetherby who care for girls in the Keppel Unit. The Youth Custody Service is looking to develop a gender-specific operating model for HMYOI Wetherby, and gender-responsive guidance for the wider youth secure estate. We will continue to place girls into the Keppel Unit when it best suits their needs.
For the longer term, we are examining future placement options of girls who receive a custodial sentence, together with the operational support and training needed for the care of girls in the youth estate.
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 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the quality of risk assessments completed by resettlement practitioners.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following the previous inspection of HMYOI Wetherby, additional emphasis was placed on resettlement work. This has resulted in improved outcomes for children and young people in our care. HM Inspectorate’s latest report notes that children and 18-year-olds received good support from resettlement practitioners (RPs) and the social workers who worked with them, and Home Detention Curfew (HDC), transitions, parole and early release processes were managed well.
The Head of Resettlement at HMYOI Wetherby will lead improvement in the quality and consistency of risk-assessment work by RPs, by undertaking the following actions:
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons' publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby (20 November - 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of reducing time spent in cells on levels of (a) violence and (b) self-harm at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Custody Service’s COVID-19 Research & Evaluation Programme Report, published in January 2023 (Youth Custody Service YCS CoRE Programme report (publishing.service.gov.uk)) explored the experiences of those involved in the youth secure estate in England and Wales during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the key findings was that staff were concerned about the effect on children’s well-being of regime restrictions and interruptions to criminal cases. They noted, however, a reduction in self-harm and violence, which they related to children’s feeling safer, as a result of smaller residential groups and a calmer regime.
Overall, our primary strategy to reduce violence within the youth estate is to deliver our framework for integrated care, known as ‘SECURE STAIRS,’ which seeks to support staff in working with children and young people to provide trauma-informed care which addresses the causes of their offending behaviour and sustainable long-term support in preparing them for release. This is delivered in partnership with NHS England, and includes improvements in areas such as conflict resolution and specialist psychological interventions.
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 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the finding that some separated children receive 30 minutes a day out of their cell at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Inspectorate’s report explains that the key reason for differences in length of time out of room, was whether children could mix with other children. The Youth Custody Service (YCS) will aim to reduce the length of time for which children at HMYOI Wetherby are separated, and improve the regime provided for them, by introducing new guidance which will make for a consistent approach to carrying out Rule 49 (Removal from association) reviews. A psychologist will provide timely short-term assessments of risk and need, to support efficient reintegration at the earliest opportunity.
The YCS will seek to ensure that reintegration planning commences at the point of separation, and includes input from all key areas, to ensure the child is provided with a purposeful regime including education, gymnasium, wing-based activities and psychology.
We will improve the education provision for all children, and the charity Kinetic Youth will be involved in enhancing provision for separated children.
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 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of new inmates arriving after 8pm at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Custody Service Placement Team endeavours to place every child who is sentenced to custody safely, appropriately, and swiftly. Each child’s placement is determined by the Placement Team following a thorough review of all evidence presented by the child’s Youth Offending Team. If all relevant information is available, the decision on placement can be taken quickly, but factors outside the team’s control – for example, if the child’s case is heard towards the end of the court day – can lead to late arrival in custody.
Some placements are at a significant distance from the court, though the effect of this is mitigated, as far as possible, by children being moved direct to the placement location. Additionally, there may be delays in escorting the child to the placement – stoppages caused by road traffic accidents, for example – which can be outside the control of the escort providers. We have robust contract management processes in place to ensure the performance of Prison Service Escort Contractors.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons' publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby (20 November - 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to respond to discrimination complaints.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HMYOI Wetherby has put measures in place to improve the timeliness and quality of discrimination complaint responses. A tiered quality-assurance process has been introduced for discrimination incident reporting forms (DIRFs); Equality Advisors and the Head of Equalities will quality-assess all DIRF cases, monitoring the promptness and quality of investigation responses. An escalation process, overseen by the Deputy Governor, is in place for any overdue responses.
In addition, the monthly meetings of the Senior Leadership Team and Equality Action Group will discuss the DIRFs submitted during the previous month, to identify any trends relating to discrimination.
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 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) conditions and (b) maintenance of (i) communal areas and (ii) cells at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Custody Service is confident that HMYOI Wetherby is taking the required steps to improve the conditions of the grounds and facilities at the site.
A new recording process will be put in place to enable the weekly facilities management meeting to take forward improvements in decency and conditions on residential units. The residential heating systems will be reviewed. Necessary repairs have been identified, including the replacement of windows on the Keppel Unit. A new graffiti removal programme will be developed, and the cleaning schedules will be reviewed and extended, to provide additional cleaning of the residential units.
Residential managers will be identified, who can act as decency leads to improve maintenance assurance and ensure escalation of any continuing problems. HMYOI Wetherby is re-introducing weekend room inspections by custodial managers and senior leaders.
Opportunities for paid part-time employment, including cleaning and redecoration, will be created for young people at the young offender institution, together with incentives to instil a sense of pride in, and responsibility for, their own communities.
The Governor or Deputy Governor will meet weekly with AMEY, the facilities management provider, to discuss the delivery and completion of estate maintenance and the annual painting schedule. Progress will also be monitored at the monthly tri-partite meetings between the Governor or Deputy Governor, AMEY and the Regional Health and Safety Advisor.