Board may end joint adult and youth sites

Under-18s would no longer be held on “split” sites with young adult offenders under Youth Justice Board plans, chair Rod Morgan told Community Care last week.

Speaking ahead of the publication of its strategy for the secure estate, expected in the next few weeks, Morgan said there were difficulties in sites where there were shared facilities and reception arrangements.

But he added that while there was a need for dedicated establishments tailored to the needs of juveniles, the speed of the changes would depend on whether prison population pressures reduced.

Morgan also said vulnerable young people aged 15 to 17 could be placed in intensively staffed units with around 40 to 50 beds.