Prisons: Population

Baroness Hughes of Stretford Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord McNally]

My Lords, yes indeed. The Ministry of Justice is working with the Department of Health and the Home Office to ensure that front-line criminal justice and health agencies focus on identifying those people with mental health problems at an early stage of the criminal justice pathway, and is exploring ways of diverting into health and social services those for whom this would be the better option.

[Baroness Hughes of Stretford]

My Lords, the Minister will know that at long last the Youth Justice Board has had some success in reducing the very large number of young people whom we incarcerate in this country. Given the Government’s announcement that they will disband the Youth justice Board, who now will be responsible for continuing this very welcome downward trend in the number of young people in prison in this country?

[Lord McNally]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the work of the Youth Justice Board. As the noble Baroness said, during its time it has overseen a very welcome drop in youth offending. It is not disappearing: its work will be reabsorbed into a unit within the Ministry of Justice.