Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the change in the number of commissioned beds in (a) secure children’s homes, (b) secure training centres and (c) young offender institutions since 2010.

The change in the number of commissioned places in the three sectors of the under-18 estate is consistent with the sentencing practice of the courts and our policy of ensuring that young people are sent to custody only when there is no alternative. We will continue to ensure that enough places are available to ensure that the sentence of the court can be carried out.

The number of children entering the youth justice system has declined year on year, but many of those in our care demonstrate very challenging and complex behaviour.

To deal with these challenges we are increasing frontline staff numbers in public-sector Young Offender Institutions and already have more than 200 officers enrolled on a specialist youth custody foundation degree.