Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of new inmates arriving after 8pm at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Youth Custody Service Placement Team endeavours to place every child who is sentenced to custody safely, appropriately, and swiftly. Each child’s placement is determined by the Placement Team following a thorough review of all evidence presented by the child’s Youth Offending Team. If all relevant information is available, the decision on placement can be taken quickly, but factors outside the team’s control – for example, if the child’s case is heard towards the end of the court day – can lead to late arrival in custody.
Some placements are at a significant distance from the court, though the effect of this is mitigated, as far as possible, by children being moved direct to the placement location. Additionally, there may be delays in escorting the child to the placement – stoppages caused by road traffic accidents, for example – which can be outside the control of the escort providers. We have robust contract management processes in place to ensure the performance of Prison Service Escort Contractors.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons' publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby (20 November - 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to respond to discrimination complaints.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
HMYOI Wetherby has put measures in place to improve the timeliness and quality of discrimination complaint responses. A tiered quality-assurance process has been introduced for discrimination incident reporting forms (DIRFs); Equality Advisors and the Head of Equalities will quality-assess all DIRF cases, monitoring the promptness and quality of investigation responses. An escalation process, overseen by the Deputy Governor, is in place for any overdue responses.
In addition, the monthly meetings of the Senior Leadership Team and Equality Action Group will discuss the DIRFs submitted during the previous month, to identify any trends relating to discrimination.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) conditions and (b) maintenance of (i) communal areas and (ii) cells at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Youth Custody Service is confident that HMYOI Wetherby is taking the required steps to improve the conditions of the grounds and facilities at the site.
A new recording process will be put in place to enable the weekly facilities management meeting to take forward improvements in decency and conditions on residential units. The residential heating systems will be reviewed. Necessary repairs have been identified, including the replacement of windows on the Keppel Unit. A new graffiti removal programme will be developed, and the cleaning schedules will be reviewed and extended, to provide additional cleaning of the residential units.
Residential managers will be identified, who can act as decency leads to improve maintenance assurance and ensure escalation of any continuing problems. HMYOI Wetherby is re-introducing weekend room inspections by custodial managers and senior leaders.
Opportunities for paid part-time employment, including cleaning and redecoration, will be created for young people at the young offender institution, together with incentives to instil a sense of pride in, and responsibility for, their own communities.
The Governor or Deputy Governor will meet weekly with AMEY, the facilities management provider, to discuss the delivery and completion of estate maintenance and the annual painting schedule. Progress will also be monitored at the monthly tri-partite meetings between the Governor or Deputy Governor, AMEY and the Regional Health and Safety Advisor.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to increase the amount of regular face-to-face contact looked-after inmates have with their (a) home local authority social worker and (b) personal adviser between formal reviews.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The dedicated social workers located in HM Young Offender Institutions support staff to meet their safeguarding and looked-after child responsibilities, and facilitate good working relationships between establishments and local authorities. Additionally, the recently revised ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ guidance includes direction for local authorities when a child becomes looked-after as a result of being remanded to youth detention accommodation.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is developing further guidance on how professionals in establishments and the community should work together to facilitate a looked-after child’s contact with their social worker and how to resolve issues where these arise. This will be available to staff by May 2024. The YCS will also be creating opportunities for staff to come together and share good practice in this area.
The YCS has recently improved processes to collate and analyse data, both on community professionals visiting children in custody, and on the social care status of children and young people in its care. The higher-quality data will help inform future work to improve care for looked-after children.
Work is in progress to improve data quality in the Youth Justice Application Framework and Asset Plus framework, including the looked-after child field.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the finding that more children than previously stayed at HMYOI Wetherby beyond their 18th birthday.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
In November 2022, to support adult prison capacity challenges, it was decided that children who reach the age of 18 should generally remain in the youth estate until just prior to their 19th birthday. All placement decisions are taken on a case-by case basis, however, considering both the young person’s needs and the safety and safeguarding of others. Newly-sentenced and remanded 18-year-olds continue to be allocated to adult establishments; there are no plans to change this.
The interim policy has contributed to an increase in the overall youth custody population. We are continuing to monitor the impact of holding 18-year-olds for longer in the youth estate. The level of assaults and use of force incidents as a proportion to the total population of the estate has decreased; rates of self-harm across the population have also decreased.
We are conducting a review to assess the impact of the interim policy in greater detail, and will publish a report later this year.
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 was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days in each young offender institution in January 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The information requested, stated in hours and minutes, is set out in the table below. These are average times-out-of-room in young offender institutions. They do not include any refusals to engage with offered activities. The figures below were calculated during January 2024.
| Cookham Wood | Feltham | Parc | Werrington | Wetherby |
Weekdays | 3:37 | 5:05 | 8:34 | 4:15 | 6:08 |
Weekends | 2:28 | 3:46 | 7:43 | 3:03 | 4:45 |
We recognise the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful, and we 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. The Youth Custody Service continues to review regime models and staff deployment to maximise time-out-of-room, with a focus on recruitment and retention to support this delivery.
The Youth Custody Service has commissioned a resource review across the four public sector young offender institutions, which is exploring opportunities to make better use of the staff available in the current operating environment (including the balance between management and frontline supervisory staff). The first review was at Feltham in 2023. A delivery plan following the review will be implemented early this year. We will monitor how this impacts service delivery. Cookham Wood YOI will be the next site subject to review, commencing soon, followed by the remaining public young offender institutions.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons' publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby (20 November - 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, if he will implement additional safeguarding measures to reduce instances of (a) girls having clothing removed by male officers and (b) pain-inducing restraint methods by staff members.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
In emergency situations, the first priority of staff is always to safeguard the life and safety of those in their care. Staff will do all they can to preserve the dignity of a child, consistent with the urgent need to prevent harm.
Following the incident highlighted by HM Inspectorate, a Learning Review has been conducted by the Youth Custody Service’s Safeguarding Team. It made 21 recommendations to ensure that lessons on appropriate practice are learned, both at HMP Wetherby and across the youth secure estate. The recommendations focus on four main themes:
Force must only ever be used as a last resort, and at the lowest possible level. A policy on use of force in the youth estate (‘Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint’) was published last year. Staff are trained to use the minimum level of force, and the guidance makes clear that pain-inducing techniques should only be used as an exceptional emergency response.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons' publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby (20 November - 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to reduce instances of (a) girls having clothing removed by male officers and (b) pain-inducing restraint methods by staff members.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
In emergency situations, the first priority of staff is always to safeguard the life and safety of those in their care. Staff will do all they can to preserve the dignity of a child, consistent with the urgent need to prevent harm.
Following the incident highlighted by HM Inspectorate, a Learning Review has been conducted by the Youth Custody Service’s Safeguarding Team. It made 21 recommendations to ensure that lessons on appropriate practice are learned, both at HMP Wetherby and across the youth secure estate. The recommendations focus on four main themes:
Force must only ever be used as a last resort, and at the lowest possible level. A policy on use of force in the youth estate (‘Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint’) was published last year. Staff are trained to use the minimum level of force, and the guidance makes clear that pain-inducing techniques should only be used as an exceptional emergency response.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons' publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby (20 November - 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to reduce rates of self-harm at HMYOI Wetherby.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) will review the support available to all those placed at HMYOI Wetherby, ensuring that the placement of any child in the secure estate is needs-led, and is in the child’s best interests. It will also develop gender-specific guidance on the care of girls in the establishment.
All residents at HMYOI Wetherby will be allocated an appropriate Custody Support Plan Officer, and will receive support sessions following any significant events.
Any child who is at risk of self-harm will be supported through the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, ensuring that he or she has a dedicated case manager; and those with the most complex needs will receive additional monitoring and more intensive case management. The weekly Safety Intervention Meeting will discuss any acts of self-harm, or violence, and appropriate actions to support the children concerned will be included in the safety action plan.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to increase the amount custody support plans that are implemented.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is dedicating the resources needed to achieve consistent delivery of custody support plans (CuSP) to children and young people in the secure estate, enabling staff to spend the time they need with children to improve relationships, with in-depth support sessions, working on progression, goals and behaviour.
The YCS is delivering training to all Band 3 and 4 operational staff to ensure they are appropriately skilled to implement and review CuSP. A CuSP officer is being allocated to each child entering custody during the induction process, to provide consistent adult support through the child’s custody journey.
The YCS is also improving oversight of CuSP through monthly management meetings, which will communicate information on emerging risks, and ensure accountability for delivery, through scrutiny of data.
In accordance with the YCS’s improvement plan (the “CuSP ladder”), HMYOI Wetherby plans to increase delivery of CuSP across the year, and will ensure that CuSP sessions are held following significant events.