Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address safety concerns across the youth custody estate in England and Wales.

We are clear that levels of violence within the youth secure estate are too high, which is why we are continuing to reform youth custody so that children are safer, and better able to lead positive, constructive lives upon their release. We have also been using the COVID-19 period to ensure that benefits or lessons learned are built into future delivery.

We continue to train and upskill our staff so they are better able to meet the needs of children in custody. Having introduced the youth justice specialist role, providing funding for every prison officer to take up a foundation degree in youth justice, as of August 2021, 249 youth justice specialist officers were already in post with a further 260 staff signed up or undertaking the learning at this point.