Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to (a) develop a different approach to youth justice and (b) use programmes of diversion to prevent young people entering the youth estate.

This Government is committed to intervening early and supporting the most vulnerable children to address their needs and reduce the risk of young people offending. We are developing a new approach to youth justice by creating a new Young Futures programme with a network of hubs reaching every community. These hubs will have youth workers, mental health support workers and careers advisers to support young people’s mental health and avoid them being drawn into crime. Local prevention partnerships will identify young people who could be drawn into violence and crime and intervene.

Custody should always be a last resort for children. To divert more children from custodial remand, we are also running pilots in Greater Manchester and London for new forms of community accommodation as robust alternatives to custody and will continue to explore potential further reforms and steps in this area.