Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours children spent in education was in each (a) young offender institution and (b) secure training centre in each week of November 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We know the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful, and are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work provision, with a consistent daily programme of activities.
Figures for November 2023 for average hours spend in education are being quality-assured for publication, and are therefore not yet available. Total figures for October, the most recent month for which data have been verified, are provided in the table below:
Establishment | Average no. of hours per week i |
HMYOI Cookham Wood | Not currently available |
HMYOI Feltham | 8.7 |
Parc YOI | 19.0 |
HMYOI Wetherby | 9.6 |
HMYOI Werrington | 13.7 |
Oakhill STCii | 24.2 |
Notes:
1 YOI figures are for classroom-based hours only: vocational training is not included.
1 Average number of educational and vocational training hours per week at Oakhill.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is taking a number of measures to improve access to education and training across Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) in the youth secure estate, and at Oakhill Secure Training Centre. We are reviewing regime models and staff deployment to maximise time-out-of-room, balancing openness with the requirement to ensure safety. We are also committed to providing education and enrichment for those for whom a classroom setting is not appropriate, and a central review is being carried out of steps YOIs can take to reduce the number of children and young people who are unable to mix. Conflict resolution practitioners at each site are working with children and young people to resolve conflict between individuals and groups, and to help them engage in opportunities available in our care. There has been notable success in reducing the number of regime groups in YOIs, with increased interactions and more time-out-of-room as a result.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours spent out of their cell by inmates on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days was in each young offender institution in November 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The information currently available about time out of room during November 2023 covers the period
1-26 November. It is shown in the table below.
| Cookham Wood | Feltham | Parc | Werrington | Wetherby |
Weekdays | 02:59 | 04:37 | 10:32 | 04:37 | 05:50 |
Weekends | 02:10 | 02:57 | 08:30 | 02:46 | 03:45 |
Overall | 02:44 | 04:06 | 09:55 | 04:03 | 05:12 |
We recognise the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful, and are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work provision with a consistent daily programme of activities. We have commissioned a resource review to explore opportunities to make better use of the staff available in the current operating environment (including the balance between management and frontline supervisory staff), whilst continuing to provide education and enrichment for those who cannot be safely accommodated in a classroom setting. It is our expectation that this will lead to an improvement in delivery and a more stable daily timetable for children and young people in our care.
Jul. 12 2024
Source Page: Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 2023 to 2024 Annual ReportFound: centres and young offender institutions.
Written Evidence Nov. 07 2023
Inquiry: Future prison population and estate capacityFound: 4.It provides: oAn overview of our findings in 2023 to highlight outcomes across the prison and young
Oral Evidence Mar. 04 2025
Committee: Justice Committee (Department: Ministry of Justice)Found: Then you have things like education contracts, done in lots or nationally, right down to things like
Oral Evidence Mar. 04 2025
Committee: Justice Committee (Department: Ministry of Justice)Found: Then you have things like education contracts, done in lots or nationally, right down to things like
Formal Minutes May. 09 2024
Committee: Justice Committee (Department: Ministry of Justice)Found: of Dartington Dorit Young (TCS0005) Miss Keshia Johnson (TCS0006) Dr James Fraser (TCS0007
Formal Minutes Apr. 25 2024
Committee: Justice Committee (Department: Ministry of Justice)Found: ) Tom Luce C B (TCS0002) Mr Lee Gibbs (TCS0003) Dr Imogen Jones (TCS0004) Lady Young
Nov. 30 2023
Source Page: HMPPS Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23Found: We have made progress in improving the provision for young people with new education contracts and
Nov. 28 2023
Source Page: HMPPS Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23Found: We have made progress in improving the provision for young people with new education contracts and