Be bold and make youth custody education-focused

First, she announced significant pay rises for prison service staff in South East England to stem the fall in recruitment and consequent staff shortages in the secure estate. She then withdrew responsibility from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) for child imprisonment and put that in the hands of a new body, the Youth Custody Service. It is disappointing she has not yet displayed the same level of commitment to the recommendations of the long-awaited Charlie Taylor report on the juvenile secure estate.

Taylor became convinced that the best strategy for transforming the lives of young offenders and releasing and realising their potential was to strengthen their educational experience during their time in custody. And that was education at many levels - a basic level that far too many incarcerated young people have not yet reached, a level of formal learning attainment commensurate with the norms for their age, and perhaps some provision and achievement in the realms of non-formal learning, such as through the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.