Transforming Management of Young Adults in Custody

Jeremy Wright Excerpts

Thursday 7th November 2013 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jeremy Wright)]

I am today announcing the publication of the Government’s consultation “Transforming Management of Young Adults in Custody”.

This Government feel that current provision for young adults in custody, who are 18 to 20, does not adequately meet their needs and does not make the best use of available resources for this age group.

With that in mind, this consultation document outlines the Government’s proposed fresh approach to managing young adults in custody, which moves the focus from age-specific institutions to looking at how we can better meet their rehabilitation and resettlement needs.

We have already taken substantial steps towards reforming how we manage adults in custody, particularly in terms of ensuring that prisoners are better aligned towards release into their home communities. We want to ensure that young adults can fully benefit from our proposals around transforming rehabilitation, including resettlement prisons and through the gate provision. We want to make sure that young adults who are on longer-term sentences are allocated to the most suitable institutions to meet their rehabilitation needs.

The Government accept that some young adults have complex needs, and we want to target our resources more effectively to meet these. We strongly welcome the views of those with an interest in young adult offenders, which will inform this work as it moves forward.

The consultation period will last for six weeks during which time the MOJ will actively engage with stakeholders.

Copies of this Government consultation will be available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office.

An online version of the consultation will be available at: www.gov.uk/moj.