Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the (a) needs and (b) characteristics of girls in the youth justice system.

The number of girls entering the youth justice system for the first time has fallen by 92% between 2009-10 and 2019-20 (from around 22,400 to around 1,900). The national standards for youth justice guide local authorities’ youth offending teams to personalise the approach to each child under their supervision and assess children’s individual needs, which will include those relating to gender.

Girls in secure settings form a small but vulnerable cohort, often with complex needs. To develop the evidence base to better support girls in custody, the Youth Custody Service and NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned the Centre for Mental Health to review the needs of, and pathways for, girls in the secure estate.