Board reviews custody policies

The Youth Justice Board is consulting on its strategy for secure
accommodation for young offenders.

The board aims to tackle uneven distribution of beds across
England and Wales and the fact that too many prison service units
are large traditional cell blocks shared with adult prisoners.

Staff also need more training in positive, child-centred care
and control methods, says the YJB.

Meanwhile, the board has announced that last year the average
time from arrest to sentencing for young offenders was 65 days
– achieving the government’s 71-day target.

However, the target was not achieved on a regular basis in seven
of the 42 criminal justice areas, says the report.

Young offender institutions also exceeded the government’s
literacy and numeracy target by 16.7 per cent, with a total of
4,582 basic skills qualifications gained.

Although the juvenile prison population fell significantly last
year, there was a rise above predicted seasonal trends in the first
half of this year, much of it due to custodial remands, says the
report.