A total of 166 beds will be commissioned from 1 April, once the majority of contracts come to an end on 31 March, down 17 beds on the current figure of 183 – in 2002, the YJB commissioned 274 secure children's homes places.
SCHs are generally used to accommodate young offenders aged 12 to 14, girls up to the age of 16, and 15- to 16-year-old boys who are deemed to be vulnerable.
Frances Done, YJB chair, told CYP Now that there are fewer younger children being sentenced to custody, part of a wider fall in custody levels.
In total the move to reduce the number of beds, which cost around £220,000 per year each, will save in the region of £3.8m, although Done did not say how much of this will go towards budget savings.
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