Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people aged under 18 are in youth detention facilities.

As of 1 February 2019 the population of the secure estate for children and young people, for under 18 year olds was 812. Statistics on Youth Custody population of the prison estate in England and Wales are regularly published and can be found at;

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-custody-data

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which as with any large scale recording system are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.

We are fundamentally reforming youth custody to ensure that the safety, welfare and rehabilitation of young people are prioritised across all aspects of the system. In addition, we increased frontline Youth Custody Service staff by over a third in 2018 and are completely changing our approach by investing in Secure Schools to put education at heart of youth custody.

Prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland are a devolved matter and responsibility lies with the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive respectively.