Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prison officers working in the youth secure estate receive training on tackling violence against women and girls.

The Youth Custody Service (YCS) recognises that girls have specific needs that require a gender-specific approach. A national Girls Oversight Board has been established to lead on the work of providing a dedicated care strategy, appropriate complex case management, and learning and development for staff.

A bespoke training offer is being developed by YCS Psychology Services for staff working with girls in our Young Offender Institution and Secure Training Centre sectors. This will cover a range of gender-specific issues that directly affect girls and young women.

Placement decisions in relation to girls in the youth secure estate take full account of the wider population of children. The Ministry of Justice expects standards of behaviour towards girls and women to be modelled and challenged appropriately by operational staff, and the mixing of cohorts is closely supervised at all times.