Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the potential number of (a) filled and (b) vacant places in each youth custody setting in each of the next five years.

Although it is difficult to predict demand in the forthcoming years, overall demand in the Youth Secure Estate has fallen in the past two years, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the removal of restrictions and with the Government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers by 2023, we expect to see demand steadily rise, although there is significant uncertainty associated with this. Despite this anticipated higher demand for places, we are confident there will still be capacity to place the increased numbers of children and young people into custody in the next five years with children placed according to their individual needs.