Community Justice Files 34

AuthorDr Nick Flynn, Ross Little

Preferred bidders for Community Rehabilitation Companies announced

The Ministry of Justice have announced their preferred bidders for the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies. Over half of the probation services will be run by consortia led by just two private sector providers: Sodexo and Interserve. A full list of the preferred bidders is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368266/table-of-preferred-bidders.pdf

Criminal Justice and Courts Bill: Secure Colleges (Part 2, Schedule 5 and 6)

First laid out in the Government response to the Green Paper ‘Transforming Youth Custody (January, 2014) and now legislated for in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, proposals to introduce a network of ‘secure colleges’, putting “education at the heart of youth custody”, have raised growing concerns amongst penal reform groups over the safety, health and wellbeing of the children it is intended to hold in them. A 320-bed, £85million ‘pathfinder secure college’, accommodating girls and boys between the ages of 12 and 17, is due to open in Leicestershire in 2017. A briefing prepared by the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, the Children’s Right’s Alliance and the Howard League for Penal Reform to inform the House of Lords Report Stage of the Bill has emphasised the following:

Large institutions, far from a child’s home, potentially holding a very diverse population are unsafe, unsuitable environments, which will not help to reduce reoffending or improve education… very little detail has been provided about how secure colleges will operate or the minimum standards required… The very limited information which does appear in the consultation document does nothing to allay our very serious concerns about the safety of children in secure colleges. On the contrary, it heightens our concerns. The consultation contains only one page on education, yet nearly half of the document is on punishment and the use of force. The impression is that punishment, rather than education, will be “at the heart of youth custody.

The following amendments to the Bill were proposed:

- 108, 110, 111 and 118, which prevent a secure college being established, or an operating contract being entered into, before Parliament has approved comprehensive Secondary legislation, and require the Secretary of State to ensure that secure colleges meet the adequate health and wellbeing needs of children.

- 109 which prevents girls and children younger than 15 being detained in a secure college.

- 121 which permits force to be used on children in secure colleges only as a last resort, for the purposes of preventing harm to the child or others, and to the minimum extent necessary.

However, opinion in the House of Lords on the proposals for ‘secure colleges’ appears to be divided. During the debate held on 23rd July 2014, peers voted only in favour of the second of the amendments tabled and then by a majority of just one (186 to 185).

Secure colleges and the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill (Part 2 and Schedules 5 & 6) House of Lords Report Stage briefing, prepared by the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, the Children’s Right’s Alliance and the Howard League for Penal Reform, can be found at: http://www.crae.org.uk/media/74279/cjc-bill-hol-report-stage-final.pdf

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Annual Report 2013-14

Concerns about the safety and welfare of children and young people held in new ‘secure...

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