Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice of 5 June 2018, Official Report, column 166, whether the government has a strategy to reduce the number of young people in custody; and if he will make a statement.

There are times when an offence is so serious that custody is the only option. However, we are clear that this should be a last resort and the sentence length should be appropriate and proportionate. That is why we have a range of targeted community sentences which can be tailored based on the needs of children.

The government has worked to provide robust community sentences, and between 2007 to 2017 there has been a 73% drop in the number of young people sentenced to custody[1]. In 2017, 68% of all youth sentences were community sentences and only 7% were custodial sentences.

We are focusing on tackling the factors that put young people at risk of offending and are working across government to ensure we respond properly to the needs of vulnerable young people before they reach the criminal justice system. The number of FTEs into the Youth Justice System has fallen by 86% over the last 10 years, and by 10% in the latest year[2].

For those children that do receive a custodial sentence, it is important that custody rehabilitates them. We currently have a Youth Justice Reform Programme which aims to improve standards in custody and puts a focus on health, wellbeing and education. It also includes expanding the workforce to ensure that children are supported in custody.

[1] Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2017, published 17^th May 2018, Sentencing data tool.

[2] Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2017, published 17^th May 2018, Offending History Data Tool: Sanction statistics