Government considers prisons for 18- to 30-year-olds

Appearing before the justice select committee, Michael Spurr, the chief executive of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), said the change was one of a number of possible arrangements being considered in the wake of the government shelving plans to place 18- to 21-year-olds with the general prison population.

Under proposals unveiled last November, any young person aged over 18 sentenced to custody, including those who turn 18 while in youth custody, would have been sent to an adult jail.

But the government halted the plans after a consultation found intense opposition from charities, pressure groups and even the Youth Justice Board (YJB).

The government is now holding off from taking a final decision until the findings of a review into self-inflicted deaths of 18- to 24-year-olds in custody are published in spring 2015.

But Spurr told MPs that although he would personally support the move towards ending the distinction between 18- to 21-year-olds and adults, he is not necessarily keen to move away from having “specialist establishments for younger people”.

He said that different arrangements are currently being trialled in establishments where younger adults are held alongside the general adult population, including creating prisons for 18- to 30-year-olds.

“We have tried a number of different things including establishments like ISIS (a young adult and category C training prison in Thamesmead), which initially was set up for 18- to 24-year-olds,” Spurr said.

“I’m not certain that age group is the right age group to keep together.

“If you are going to mix with adults, there is something about having potentially that age group up to 30.