Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of (a) young offenders institutions and (b) education provision in these institutions.

We recognise that current performance in our public sector young offender institutions (YOIs) is not where we need it to be. This puts staff under pressure and affects the quality of regime, including education opportunities, that we can offer children and young people.

To drive performance improvements, we have developed roadmaps to effective practice which will focus on outcomes in areas such as safety, behaviour management support and education. Where required, action is being taken under the education contracts to require providers to improve performance, but this is a shared challenge, in which the maintenance of good order and discipline in establishments plays a key part.

The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is working closely with education providers in the community, in particular those making provision for children who have experienced school exclusion, children with special educational needs and young people who have previously experienced, or are at risk of, being unemployed without involvement in education or training. These partnerships will be crucial to developing practice in our YOIs, but also in offering some continuity with children’s education on release.

Work is under way to apply new learning frameworks to the current provision. This will create a wider range of pathways for children, and a roadmap will be used to promote these improvements.

I recently met with education providers and the YCS, including governors, to explore the barriers and plans for improvement. Effective engagement with individual children and young people will make a huge difference in improving safety and achieving more positive outcomes for them on release.