Commenting on the two reports published today by HM Prisons Inspectorate in conjunction with the Youth Justice Board and Ofsted on the experiences of children aged 15-18 in Prison Service custody the Director of the Prison Reform Trust, Juliet Lyon, said:

“Why do we continue to lock up our most damaged and distressed children and young people in institutions where they spend far too much time confined to a cell, where purposeful activity is limited and there are few staff to talk to, where most are miles from home and miles from the support they need on release and where many of them feel frightened and unsafe?

Almost all the young men and women interviewed in these surveys wanted to stop offending. The tragedy is that they have so little support on release to help them realize this ambition.

Trying to turn prisons into suitable environments for vulnerable young women is a questionable use of scarce resources. Given that very few young women commit crime and that prisons are not geared up to work effectively with them, surely it should be possible to create small secure support and supervision centres near to their homes connected to the mental health, drug treatment, housing, employment and social services that they so badly need.”

On 12th May Prison Reform Trust is convening a major national conference, Young Mothers from Custody to Community at the British Library to call attention to the unmet needs of young mothers in prison and explore alternatives to custody.

Notes to Editors:

1. On  16th April 2004  there were 2,612 males aged under 18 years old in prisons in England and Wales, almost exactly the same as a year ago.

2. On 19th April 2004 there were 85 females aged under 18 years old in prisons in England and Wales, all aged 17. In June 2003 there were 76 girls in prison.

3. The number of 15 – 17 year olds in prison has increased by 61 per cent since 1995 when there were 1,675 in custody.

4. Reconviction rates are very high for children. In 1999, 80 per cent of 14 – 17 year olds discharged from prison were reconvicted within two years.

5. The majority of children in prison have been convicted of non-violent offences.  In 2002, of all the boys in prison, just over a third were convicted of property crimes such as burglary and theft.

6. Many children in prison have a background of severe social exclusion. Of those in custody of school age, over a quarter have literacy and numeracy levels of an average seven-year old. Over half of those under 18 in custody have a history of being in care or social services involvement and studies have found that 45 per cent have been permanently excluded from school.  (Youth Justice Board statistics).

7. Behavioural and mental health problems are particularly prevalent amongst children in prison. Of prisoners aged 16-20, around 85 per cent show signs of a personality disorder and 10 per cent exhibit signs of psychotic illness, for example schizophrenia (Psychiatric Morbidity Among Young Offenders in England and Wales, ONS, 2000).

8. Drug and alcohol abuse are major problems. Of prisoners aged 16-20, over half reported dependence on a drug in the year prior to imprisonment. Over half the female and two-thirds of the male prisoners had a hazardous drinking habit prior to entering custody (Psychiatric Morbidity Among Young Offenders in England and Wales, ONS, 2000).

9. The National Audit Office has highlighted the high number of movements of children between jails to make way for new arrivals, disrupting education and training courses and leading to inconsistent support and supervision.  The NAO reports that there were 2,400 movements between April 2002 and January 2003.

10. At the end of September 2003 nearly half of all female young prisoners aged under 21 and a third of male young prisoners aged under 21 were held more than fifty miles away from their home town.