Young Offender Institutions: Crimes of Violence
(asked on 18th June 2019) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many recorded violent incidents per head of population in young offender institutions there have been in each year for which figures are available.
Incidents of assault by children and young people in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) is published as part of the annual Youth Justice Statistics, the latest of which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2017-to-2018. The following has been taken from supplementary table 8.14:
Incidents of proven assault by children and young people (YOIs) years ending March 2012 to 2018
| Average number of children and young people per month(1) | Average number of proven assaults by children and young people per month | Average number of children and young people involved per month as perpetrators | Proportion of children and young people involved as perpetrators | Number of proven assaults per 100 children and young people in custody per month | Number of proven assaults per children and young people involved | |||||
Year ending March | Young Offender Institutions | ||||||||||
2012 | 2,209 | 143 | 133 | 6% | 6.5 | 1.1 | |||||
2013 | 1,738 | 124 | 120 | 7% | 7.1 | 1.0 | |||||
2014 | 1,163 | 133 | 132 | 11% | 11.4 | 1.0 | |||||
2015 | 1,000 | 117 | 118 | 12% | 11.7 | 1.0 | |||||
2016 | 904 | 137 | 129 | 14% | 15.2 | 1.1 | |||||
2017 | 861 | 82 | 85 | 10% | 9.5 | 1.0 | |||||
2018(2) | 853 | 99 | 113 | 13% | 11.6 | 0.9 | |||||
(1) This is based on the number of children and young people in the month, which is the population in custody at the beginning of the month plus new admissions during the month. This figure includes 18 year olds.
(2) The counting rules for assaults were updated from April 2017 onwards and are therefore not directly comparable with previous years. Please see the Guide to Youth Justice Statistics for more information.
The safety and welfare of young people held in custody is our highest priority and we are committed to improving their safety and life chances. That is why we began a youth justice reform programme in 2017, investing in staff, education and psychology services. We are making progress delivering these reforms, but we are clear that there is still much more to do. We are also expanding frontline staff capacity in public-sector YOIs. At the end of March this year, the Youth Custody Service had 348 more frontline officers than at the start of the reform programme – an increase of 40%.
The Youth Custody Service have started implementing a new evidence-based behaviour management strategy aimed at incentivising good behaviour and building positive relationships. This will sit alongside a new wrap-around approach to mental health provision developed by NHS England.