Early lights out for young offenders
30 Jun 2014 03:47 PM
Early bed-times are to
be enforced for young offenders for the first time, Justice Secretary Chris
Grayling announced today.
Under new proposals, young
people will have to be in their cells with lights out by 10.30pm –
creating more routine and structure to their lives and meaning they can’t
stay up all night watching TV.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling
said:
The public expects that serious
offenders face prison – that is right. But it is also crucial that young
people, most of whom have had chaotic and troubled lives finally get the
discipline so badly needed to help turn their lives around.
In some prisons young people are
allowed to go to bed when they please. I don’t think that is right.
Stopping this inconsistency and introducing a strict “lights-out”
policy is all part of our approach to addressing youth offending. Those who
fail to comply will face tough sanctions.
The new changes will affect
young people between the ages of 15-17 who are currently serving custodial
sentences in one of the five public sector under 18 young offenders
institutions (YOIs) in England. Those who do not observe the new bed-times will
be penalised and lose privileges like access to a television.
This government is committed to
reforming the youth estate by putting education at the heart of custody and
giving young people the right skills and self-discipline to gain employment and
training upon their release.
The amount of education being
delivered in YOIs is also being doubled to ensure that young people are being
given relevant training and the opportunity to develop skills; for example in
basic literacy and numeracy. Proposals are underway to introduce the first
Secure College Pathfinder in 2017 – it will focus on education and
training and will help put a stop to the vicious cycle of reoffending that
exists at the moment. The proposals are currently being debated in
Parliament.
Notes to
editors
- Young people have to be in their
cells by 8pm.
- There are currently 827 young
people serving custodial sentences in YOIs. (Latest snapshot from April
2014)
- The number of young people in
custody has consistently fallen year on year – the following table shows
the average YOI population.
| Financial Year |
Average YOI Population (under
18s) |
| 2009/10 |
1,998 |
| 2010/11 |
1,610 |
| 2011/12 |
1,517 |
| 2012/13 |
1,149 |
| 2013/14* |
837 |
Further information on
youth population figures.
- The changes will come into
effect on 3 August 2014 and governors will be notified by
letter.
- New education contracts will
come into effect in late 2014, which will seek to more than double the number
of hours contracted education that young offenders receive each week. At the
moment, young offenders receive an average of 12 hours a week contracted
education, though it ranges from 5-15 hours across the YOI estate. The
contracts will be overseen by the Youth Justice Board, rather than the
Education Funding Agency, ensuring that education is fully integrated into a
new regime for young offenders in custody.
- The government have put forward
proposals in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, currently going through
Parliament, to create secure colleges as a new form of youth detention
accommodation with education at the heart.
- Secure colleges will have strong
educational leadership, with a head teacher or principal at the core of the
establishment’s leadership team. They will put learning, vocational
training and life skills at the core of a regime which educates and
rehabilitates young offenders.
- A Secure College Pathfinder is
planned to open in the East Midlands in 2017, which will provide young
offenders with strong discipline, while focussing on rehabilitation and
education.
- The 5 public sector under 18
YOIs are Cookham Wood in Kent, Feltham in London, Werrington in Stoke-on-Trent,
Wetherby in Yorkshire, and Hindley in Wigan
- For further information please
contact the MOJ news desk on 0203 334 3536