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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of concerted indiscipline have been recorded at each secure training centre in each quarterly period since they have been open and in total to date; and if he will make a statement. [114640] Mr. Boateng: There have been a total of 45 recorded incidents of concerted indiscipline at the three secure training centres (STC) since the first centre opened. Medway opened on 17 April 1998, Rainsbrook opened on 1 July 1999 and Hassockfield opened on 17 September 1999. The definition of concerted indiscipline is not uniform across the three contracts. In the Medway and Rainsbrook contracts, "concerted indiscipline" is defined as Any single act committed by a group of more than two Trainees, which is in breach of the STC Rules. In the Hassockfield contract, "concerted indiscipline" is defined as Any single incident when two or more Trainees act together with the intention of disrupting the order and discipline of the Secure Training Centre and/or refusing to desist any action or to comply with any lawful order. A quarterly breakdown of the total of recorded incidents of concerted indiscipline, by individual centre, is as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Medway Rainsbrook Hassockfield April-June 1998 2 {1}-- {1}-- July-September 1998 10 {1}-- {1}-- October-December 1998 5 {1}-- {1}-- January-March 1999 1 {1}-- {1}-- April-June 1999 5 {1}-- {1}-- July-September 1999 3 1 1 October-December 1999 5 2 4 January-10 March 2000 2 0 4 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Not open Persistent young offenders often exhibit challenging behaviour. Preliminary analysis shows that half of the early recipients of the Secure Training Order had been excluded from school and at least 75 per cent. had been in local authority homes care. Many trainees have a history of disruptive behaviour in local authority homes. Previous community-based attempts to tackle their offending have proven to be unsuccessful. Dealing with large groups of volatile young offenders has been problematical. The centres have experienced early operating difficulties, each to varying degrees. The contractors continue to learn from their experience and my officials, with the assistance of inspectors from Social Services Inspectorate and Ofsted, continue to monitor the management of each of the centres.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

114640; 346 c164-5W

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Discipline Young offenders Civil disorder Secure training centres

Contains statistics

Yes