Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Howarth of Breckland (Crossbench). It was answered on Wednesday, 13 January 2010.

Prisons: Search and Restraint

Question: My Lords, I am sure that the Minister would not necessarily agree with me on the matter of placing our young people in penal establishments rather than in establishments that deal with their development and their particular difficulties. However, I have been responsible for some of the establishments that have had some of the most difficult young people in them, and it is my experience that changing from a regime that looks at their development and difficulties to one that places the majority of them in penal establishments leads, in fact, to a deterioration in their behaviour. Would it not be better to look more strategically at where young people are placed and at how we look at their future, rather than considering the matter piecemeal as we address this very difficult issue of inflicting pain?

Answer: My Lords, I agree with a great deal of what the noble Baroness says. Unfortunately, young people occasionally need to be remanded in secure accommodation or, at a particular age, in a young offender institution. I hope she will agree that a huge change has taken place in the way in which training and education occur in those establishments—which are crucial to trying to ensure not only that young offenders are punished but that, when they come out, they can avoid crime in the future. I want to reassure her that the ideas that she has put forward are very much our ideas too.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 716 c502-3
Session: 2009-10
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Body searches Pain Young offenders Restraint techniques Youth custody European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk