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 increase the amount of regular face-to-face contact looked-after inmates have with their (a) home local authority social worker and (b) personal adviser between formal reviews.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The dedicated social workers located in HM Young Offender Institutions support staff to meet their safeguarding and looked-after child responsibilities, and facilitate good working relationships between establishments and local authorities. Additionally, the recently revised ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ guidance includes direction for local authorities when a child becomes looked-after as a result of being remanded to youth detention accommodation.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is developing further guidance on how professionals in establishments and the community should work together to facilitate a looked-after child’s contact with their social worker and how to resolve issues where these arise. This will be available to staff by May 2024. The YCS will also be creating opportunities for staff to come together and share good practice in this area.
The YCS has recently improved processes to collate and analyse data, both on community professionals visiting children in custody, and on the social care status of children and young people in its care. The higher-quality data will help inform future work to improve care for looked-after children.
Work is in progress to improve data quality in the Youth Justice Application Framework and Asset Plus framework, including the looked-after child field.
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 more children than previously stayed at HMYOI Wetherby beyond their 18th birthday.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In November 2022, to support adult prison capacity challenges, it was decided that children who reach the age of 18 should generally remain in the youth estate until just prior to their 19th birthday. All placement decisions are taken on a case-by case basis, however, considering both the young person’s needs and the safety and safeguarding of others. Newly-sentenced and remanded 18-year-olds continue to be allocated to adult establishments; there are no plans to change this.
The interim policy has contributed to an increase in the overall youth custody population. We are continuing to monitor the impact of holding 18-year-olds for longer in the youth estate. The level of assaults and use of force incidents as a proportion to the total population of the estate has decreased; rates of self-harm across the population have also decreased.
We are conducting a review to assess the impact of the interim policy in greater detail, and will publish a report later this year.
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, if he will implement additional safeguarding measures to reduce instances of (a) girls having clothing removed by male officers and (b) pain-inducing restraint methods by staff members.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In emergency situations, the first priority of staff is always to safeguard the life and safety of those in their care. Staff will do all they can to preserve the dignity of a child, consistent with the urgent need to prevent harm.
Following the incident highlighted by HM Inspectorate, a Learning Review has been conducted by the Youth Custody Service’s Safeguarding Team. It made 21 recommendations to ensure that lessons on appropriate practice are learned, both at HMP Wetherby and across the youth secure estate. The recommendations focus on four main themes:
Force must only ever be used as a last resort, and at the lowest possible level. A policy on use of force in the youth estate (‘Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint’) was published last year. Staff are trained to use the minimum level of force, and the guidance makes clear that pain-inducing techniques should only be used as an exceptional emergency response.
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 instances of (a) girls having clothing removed by male officers and (b) pain-inducing restraint methods by staff members.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In emergency situations, the first priority of staff is always to safeguard the life and safety of those in their care. Staff will do all they can to preserve the dignity of a child, consistent with the urgent need to prevent harm.
Following the incident highlighted by HM Inspectorate, a Learning Review has been conducted by the Youth Custody Service’s Safeguarding Team. It made 21 recommendations to ensure that lessons on appropriate practice are learned, both at HMP Wetherby and across the youth secure estate. The recommendations focus on four main themes:
Force must only ever be used as a last resort, and at the lowest possible level. A policy on use of force in the youth estate (‘Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint’) was published last year. Staff are trained to use the minimum level of force, and the guidance makes clear that pain-inducing techniques should only be used as an exceptional emergency response.
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 rates of self-harm at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) will review the support available to all those placed at HMYOI Wetherby, ensuring that the placement of any child in the secure estate is needs-led, and is in the child’s best interests. It will also develop gender-specific guidance on the care of girls in the establishment.
All residents at HMYOI Wetherby will be allocated an appropriate Custody Support Plan Officer, and will receive support sessions following any significant events.
Any child who is at risk of self-harm will be supported through the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, ensuring that he or she has a dedicated case manager; and those with the most complex needs will receive additional monitoring and more intensive case management. The weekly Safety Intervention Meeting will discuss any acts of self-harm, or violence, and appropriate actions to support the children concerned will be included in the safety action plan.
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 increase the amount custody support plans that are implemented.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is dedicating the resources needed to achieve consistent delivery of custody support plans (CuSP) to children and young people in the secure estate, enabling staff to spend the time they need with children to improve relationships, with in-depth support sessions, working on progression, goals and behaviour.
The YCS is delivering training to all Band 3 and 4 operational staff to ensure they are appropriately skilled to implement and review CuSP. A CuSP officer is being allocated to each child entering custody during the induction process, to provide consistent adult support through the child’s custody journey.
The YCS is also improving oversight of CuSP through monthly management meetings, which will communicate information on emerging risks, and ensure accountability for delivery, through scrutiny of data.
In accordance with the YCS’s improvement plan (the “CuSP ladder”), HMYOI Wetherby plans to increase delivery of CuSP across the year, and will ensure that CuSP sessions are held following significant events.
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 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. These are average times-out-of-room in young offender institutions. They do not include any refusals to engage with offered activities. The figures below were calculated during January 2024.
| Cookham Wood | Feltham | Parc | Werrington | Wetherby |
Weekdays | 3:37 | 5:05 | 8:34 | 4:15 | 6:08 |
Weekends | 2:28 | 3:46 | 7:43 | 3:03 | 4:45 |
We recognise the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful, and we 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 continues to review regime models and staff deployment to maximise time-out-of-room, with a focus on recruitment and retention to support this delivery.
The Youth Custody Service has commissioned a resource review across the four public sector young offender institutions, which is exploring opportunities to make better use of the staff available in the current operating environment (including the balance between management and frontline supervisory staff). The first review was at Feltham in 2023. A delivery plan following the review will be implemented early this year. We will monitor how this impacts service delivery. Cookham Wood YOI will be the next site subject to review, commencing soon, followed by the remaining public young offender institutions.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13379 on Secure Training Centres and Young Offender Institutions: Safety, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the trend in the number of safeguarding referrals issued within the youth secure estate for people aged 18 or over.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
To support the system-wide response to the adult prison capacity challenges, in November 2022, Ministers decided that the youth estate should continue to hold young adults until before their 19th birthday. This was a temporary change, and it is anticipated that we will be able to end this by January 2025. We have committed to a thorough review of how the interim policy arrangements are operating in practice, to be completed by the summer 2024.
The interim policy of retaining more young people who reach the age of 18 in the youth estate was introduced in November 2022. The increase in safeguarding referrals for this age group reflects their greater numbers in the estate.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been affected by the loan charge.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In September 2023, HM Revenue and Customs published an updated issue briefing on disguised remuneration and the loan charge. The issue briefing contains information at UK level and is available on GOV.UK here:
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13379, what steps he is taking to reduce the amount safeguarding referrals issued within the Youth Secure Estate for people aged 18 or over.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
When a safeguarding case is opened, the detail of the case may not be known. We conduct a thorough investigation of every case to understand the details, and the severity of the concern, and ensure that any necessary actions are taken to protect the children in our custody.
Not all referrals result in further action, and an increase in safeguarding cases need not always be a matter of concern. An increased number of cases may represent increased confidence on the part of staff in reporting concerns, or may indicate that children feel safe to disclose information to staff. Referrals may include the disclosure of concerns relating to a period prior to the child’s or young person’s entering custody. It is by conducting a thorough investigation that we can understand the nature of each case and identify any trends that need to be addressed.
We would not seek to discourage staff from making safeguarding referrals: in fact, we would encourage them to do so. The safeguarding policy in place in YCS, and the accompanying processes, are designed to keep children and young people safe, and it is therefore vital that these policies and processes are followed at all times. All policies applicable to children and young people under 18 also apply to 18-year-olds who remain within the Youth Estate.