Sickness absence is measured as the average working days lost per staff year, which is the measure used across all Government Departments. Sickness rates in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) have fallen in recent years. An average of 16.8 working days were lost in 2002-03, compared to 10.8 in 2012-13.

Figures for average working days lost for prisons in the YOIs are used in the Prison Rating System and have been published annually since 2011-12 as part of the data set that accompanies the published ratings.

Figures for 2012-13 can be found on the 'Data' sheet of the published spreadsheet at the following location:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225231/prs-data-12-13.xls

Figures for 2011-12 are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/218342/prison-rating-system-2011-12.xls

Figures for 2010-11 can be seen in the following table.

Data are not held centrally for average days lost for staff in Secure Training Centres or teaching staff in Young Offender Institutions. The contracts for Secure Training Centres and education provision in Young Offender Institutions specify the levels of service required and these are monitored against delivery. It is for the

operators to ensure they have the necessary staffing complement to deliver against the contract.

We are committed under the Transforming Youth Custody programme to improving education outcomes for young people in custody. Our proposals for Secure Colleges, and to radically improve the education provided in Young Offenders Institutions, will place education at the heart of youth custody and provide young offenders with skills, qualifications and self-discipline they require to build a life free from crime.

The amount of education delivered to young people in Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres is clearly defined and monitored through contractual arrangements with providers. We believe that these expert educational providers are best placed to determine how—at a local level—to secure education outcomes for the young people they are working with. As such we do not collect data centrally on the staff they employ.

We are committed under the Transforming Youth Custody programme to improving education outcomes for young people in custody. Our proposals for Secure Colleges, and to radically improve the education provided in Young Offenders Institutions, will place education at the heart of youth custody and provide young offenders with skills, qualifications and self-discipline they require to build a life free from crime.

The amount of education delivered to young people in Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres is clearly defined and monitored through contractual arrangements with providers. We believe that these expert educational providers are best placed to determine how—at a local level—to secure education outcomes for the young people they are working with. As such we do not collect data centrally on the staff they employ.

The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners who are identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm. Its use for young people (under 18) is currently under review.

Secure colleges are not part of this review. However, as the Ministry of Justice develops the approach for secure colleges, we will need to ensure processes are in place to safeguard young people held in them. This will take into account learning from the current youth estate including the applicability of the ACCT process.

An impact assessment for the Transforming Youth Custody programme, including the development of a pathfinder Secure College, was published on 17 January alongside the Government response to the Transforming Youth Custody publication.

We have not ruled out having units for girls at the pathfinder Secure College that will open in 2017. As we develop our plans, we will carefully consider our approach to accommodating girls to ensure that the secure youth estate continues to meet their needs.

Placements in secure children's homes occur via two different routes. Either young people will have been remanded or sentenced by the courts; or a secure welfare order is made under section 25 of the Children Act 1989 when they become a danger to themselves or others. The Youth Justice Board (YJB) only has responsibility for those young people that are remanded or sentenced by the courts and has a series of block contracts for that purpose. Welfare beds are spot purchased by individual authorities as required. The

2013/14 average annual price for YJB-contracted beds is £209,000. The average annual price for welfare beds is £277,000.

In its response to the consultation Transforming Youth Custody, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) announced it would be introducing a new model of youth custody, the secure college, which could accommodate all young people currently placed in YOIs and secure training centres (STCs), as well as some currently placed in SCHs. We anticipate retaining some specialist custodial provision for the very youngest and most vulnerable young people remanded or sentenced to custody by the courts, but our vision is for secure colleges to cater for the vast majority of young people in custody. The average cost of a place in youth custody is around £100,000 per annum. Secure colleges will achieve ongoing savings by operating at a significantly lower cost per place than the current average, while allowing withdrawal from more expensive and inefficient provision. The larger sizes of secure colleges will allow a broader curriculum and range of services to be provided at a lower cost, without any compromise in the safeguarding of young people. The MOJ will not be able to confirm the annual cost per place until it has completed the operator competition for the pathfinder secure college.

We recognise that some young people in custody require specialist medical treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983 and are committed to ensuring timely transfers are made, so the appropriate care can be provided.

The number of young people aged under 18 who have been directed to hospital for treatment under sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983 from (1) young offender institutions (YOIs) and (2) secure training centres (STCs) in each of the last 5 years is set out in the table below.

Year

YOIs

STCs

Total

2008

39

0

39

2009

39

0

39

2010

26

1

27

2011

23

5

28

2012

26

4

30

The figures represent a breakdown of previously published information in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics and Mentally Disordered Offenders Bulletins. Data for 2013 will be published later in the year.

Notes

1. These figures may include those admitted more than once in the year.

2. As well as section 47 transfers for sentenced prisoners, these data include transfers under section 48 for those remanded in custody by the Magistrates Court, sent to trial at Crown Court, detained under immigration powers, and civil prisoners.

A child's possession of a statement of special educational needs is recorded when he or she enters custody. However, the information requested on the numbers of young people with such statements in each of the last five years is not routinely extracted and collated and could only be done at disproportionate cost.

The Government will shortly set out our plans for transforming youth custody to ensure that all young people in the youth secure estate, including those with special educational needs, receive high quality education provision. The Government has also recently introduced provisions in the Children and Families Bill to improve the support provided to young people in custody with special educational needs.

1: In every prison, a designated manager has lead responsibility for co-ordination of equality work and issues. This would be undertaken at a minimum of pay band 7 but may be a more senior role dependent

on the size and complexity of the prison. This appointment is instructed through Prison Service Instruction 32/2011 Ensuring Equality. This applies to all prison establishments and includes Young Offender Institutions. Secure Training Centres do not have a nominated ‘equality manager’, instead the Director maintains overall responsibility for these important areas

2: There is an expectation that Equality Managers will complete the available training (e.g. Civil Service Learning Equality Modules) but we do not hold records centrally of those who have completed the training. This information can only be collated at a disproportionate cost. This would involve contacting every establishment to find out what training each staff member has completed.

3: Equality training is not mandatory for all prison staff. However, all new entrant Prison Officers will receive an eight hour equality specific module on their new entrant training and non-uniformed staff will receive an equality element within their induction into the prison. Prison Service Instruction 32/2011 - Ensuring Equality states “Governors must ensure that staff are aware of their equalities responsibilities.” A range of Equality Training is available and publicised, including those on Civil Service Learning (CSL) which is accessible online. The courses available for Equalities are: Introduction to Diversity and Equality, Equality and Diversity Essentials, Disability Awareness, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Awareness and Unconscious Bias.

4: NOMS does not mandate that all staff investigating complaints or diversity incidents/complaints attend specific training. DIRFs are investigated in line with the processes for regular complaints where all managers conduct the investigations.

5 & 6: With regards to how many DIRFs relating to the Prison Service were received in October 2013 and how many RIRFs relating to the Prison Service were received in October 2009; this information is not held centrally. It cannot be provided other than at a disproportionate cost. It would mean contacting every establishment and ask them to look through their DIRF paperwork to extract which, if any, were related to the Prison Service. The results would then need to be collated at the centre. A similar situation exists for RIRFs except that many prisons have archived this information, therefore this would take even longer.

Young people in custody require a range of support to ensure their safety and help prevent them re-offending on release.

Information on staff qualifications in under-18 Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) is not collated centrally. This information could only be collected at disproportionate cost. There are no qualified speech and language therapists in Secure Training Centres (STCs).

Young People in STCs and YOIs with speech and language issues are assessed upon entering custody and during their induction period by education staff. If a young person is identified as requiring specific assistance with speech and language issues the training plan put in place will be tailored to meet this need. Support includes access to an educational psychologist in STCs. In YOIs, young people will have additional contact time with the education provider, and access to an educational psychologist where such provision is in place.

Young people in custody require a range of support to ensure their safety and help prevent them reoffending on release.

Information on staff qualifications in under-18 Young Offender Institutions is not collated centrally. This information could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

All Secure Training Centres (STCs) meet contractual requirements that psychologist provision is in place, comprising of at least one member of staff, to facilitate assessments and inductions should a new young person arrive at the establishment. This provision is allowed to be covered by either a psychologist or assistant psychologist. There is one qualified and registered psychologist at Hassockfield STC. Medway, Rainsbrook and Oakhill STCs each have two Assistant Psychologists who are registered with the British Psychological Association. These psychological staff amount to 1% of staff at each STC. This is based on the entire STC staffing group to deliver 24 hour services at the centre (includes kitchen and maintenance staff, as well as those who work directly with young people).

In addition to on site psychologist or assistant psychologist provision, both operators of STCs, (Serco and G4S) have contracts with specialist mental health

providers to whom young people with complex needs can be referred. The contract held with G4S also provides clinical psychological support which can be accessed by the assistant psychologists employed in Medway, Oakhill and Rainsbrook.

The Government is committed to ensuring that staff working in the under-18 secure estate maintain the highest standards of personal and professional conduct. Managers within under-18 Young Offenders Institutions (YOI) and Secure Training Centres (STC) have a responsibility to create a culture in which staff feel confident to report wrongdoing and also to ensure they receive adequate protection from any form of discrimination or victimisation arising from an allegation.

Within under-18 YOIs, Prison Service Order 1215 “Professional Standards: Preventing and Handling Staff Wrongdoing” sets out the mandatory requirements and guidance on preventing wrongdoing, supporting staff who are vulnerable to wrongdoing and reporting suspicions of wrongdoing. The policy makes clear that staff who report wrongdoing should be supported and must be protected.

All new members of staff within under-18 YOIs sign a ‘Professional Standards Statement” and are also directed to the Staff handbook, both of which includes details of reporting wrongdoing. In addition, line managers have a responsibility to ensure all staff are aware of these processes.

In order to comply with the terms of their contracts, Secure Training Centre operators are required to have in place an operating procedure that describes the process for reporting wrongdoing. This procedure covers the mechanisms for protecting staff through the use of confidential telephone lines or mail boxes and ability to make contact with the organisation outside of their particular business area. The procedure is communicated to all new staff as part of the Initial Training Course and also forms part of the regular refresher training. All forms of victimisation against any person using the policy is regarded as a serious disciplinary offence.

We are committed to ensuring the safety of young people in custody through robust monitoring.

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 provides for the appointment of a ‘Monitor’ to every contracted out Secure Training Centre (STC). The Monitor’s responsibilities include reviewing and reporting on the running of an STC and investigating allegations made against STC staff.

There are four Monitors, one for each STC. Two of the Monitors have a social work qualification, although none are registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council. All of the STC Monitors have previously worked with children in institutional settings.

Young people in custody require a range of support to ensure their safety and help prevent them reoffending on release. Information on staff qualifications in under-18 Young Offender Institutions is not collated centrally. This information could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

The table below shows the proportion and number of staff employed in each Secure Training Centre who are qualified social workers and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Oakhill has two newly qualified social workers in the process of registering.

Young people in custody require a range of support to ensure their safety and help prevent them re-offending on release.

Information on staff qualifications in under-18 Young Offender Institutions is not collated centrally. This information could only be collected at disproportionate cost. There are no qualified arts psychologists in Secure Training Centres.

The Government recognises the importance of young people maintaining outside contacts and meaningful family ties to support their rehabilitation. Young people, in all secure training centres and young offender institutions, are permitted to have reasonable physical contact with their visitors, subject to any relevant security considerations and public protection measures that may be in place.