Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Brine Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)]

5. What plans he has to ensure that young offenders leave custody better equipped to avoid a life of crime.

[Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)]

7. What plans he has to ensure that young offenders leave custody better equipped to avoid a life of crime.

[John Howell (Henley) (Con)]

11. What plans he has to ensure that young offenders leave custody better equipped to avoid a life of crime.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jeremy Wright]

My hon. Friend is right: that is exactly what we hear from young offenders, and evidence is overwhelming that young offenders who engage in education, get qualifications, and go on to find work, have a better chance of staying out of trouble. That is exactly what we want to see.

[Steve Brine]

Does the Minister agree that custody in secure colleges provides an opportunity to end the chaos that many of these children face and to impose boundaries that have all too often been lacking in their lives? Will he stick rigidly to the cross-departmental approach that was set out so intelligently in the “Transforming Youth Custody” paper, which is now a year old?

[Jeremy Wright]

We want to see a cross-Government approach to this, and my hon. Friend is right to say that many other Departments have an interest in what we are doing. He is also right that a period of stability is vital. It may be a relatively short period of incarceration for those young people, but it is probably one of the few opportunities they have had to be clear about where their next meal will come from and where they are going to sleep, and to give us the space to address some of their significant problems. That is a large part of what we intend to do.