The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) claims the current system is “no longer appropriate or effective”, and says the shake-up will allow young people to get better resettlement support.
But campaign groups have raised a host of concerns, arguing that young people’s safety will be placed in jeopardy.
Currently, around 6,000 18- to 20-year-olds in custody in England and Wales are held across 54 young adult YOIs. Seven of these are dedicated YOIs for 18- to 20-year-olds, with 47 designated as both prisons and YOIs, where young people and adults are held in separate accommodation.
But under the proposals any young person who is sentenced to custody, or transfers from the under-18 secure estate, would be sent to an adult jail.
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