Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote rehabilitation of young offenders.

Our key objective through the youth justice system (YJS) is to reduce offending and reoffending by increasing the life chances of children in touch with the YJS. Over the last ten years we have successfully reduced first time entrants into the YJS by 86% and the number of children in custody has fallen by 70%. However, while these successes are welcome the consequent change in the size and composition of the cohort brings its’ own particular challenges, with the children left in the system generally displaying a more concentrated mix of high-end need.

Although the reoffending rate for children in the YJS dropped 1.3 percentage points over the last 12 months, it remains far too high and I am committed to ensuring we continue to work as hard as we can to reduce it further. That is why resettlement is a key priority for the Youth Justice Board and why my Department is undertaking a programme of reform in the youth custodial estate.

Over the next two years we will invest over £2m to increase the range of educational, vocational and enrichment activities, including sports and physical activity, available across the estate. We are expanding frontline staffing in public-sector Young Offenders Institutions, and have increased the number of staff in key frontline posts by 27% in the last year. And we are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a foundation degree in youth justice. Over 300 staff are already enrolled on this qualification. We are also investing in the development of Enhanced Support Units to provide specialist psychological support to children with the most complex needs.

In addition, we are investing £5m to repurpose the Medway Secure Training Centre (STC) site into the first Secure School. Due to open in late 2020, this new provision will combine the ethos and practice of schools with the structure and support of secure children’s homes. This is a first step towards our future vision for youth custody.