Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have received on the use of constraint in secure colleges.

During the passage of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill through this House my officials and I have received representations from Members of the House and a number of stakeholders on the use of reasonable force for the purposes of ensuring good order and discipline in Secure Colleges.

The Bill provides for the use of force by a custody officer in discharging his or her duties, but only in circumstances authorised by Secure College rules. At Report stage on 16 May 2014 I announced that we will be consulting on the approach to the Rules, while the Bill is still before Parliament.