Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential effect on capacity in young offender institutions of proposed changes to youth sentencing before bringing forward legislative proposals.

The Smarter Approach to Sentencing White Paper, which was published on 16 September 2020, included impact assessments which outline the impact the proposed changes would have on Youth Custody Services (YCS).

The Government is aware that the Youth Custody Service may face an increased population due to some individuals spending longer in custody than they otherwise would. However, our assessment has shown that reform of the Detention and Training Order will result in an increase in the youth custody population of fewer than 50 offenders in steady state by 2024/25.

The impact assessments can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-smarter-approach-to-sentencing.

The YCS regularly reviews capacity of youth secure establishments, engaging with secure settings to ensure that children continue to be placed based on their needs and requirements, which may change over time.