Letters to the Editor: Prison resources must not be cut

Chris Grayling has begun a review of the children’s secure estate “with a view to building a much stronger educational heart to what we do with those young people” (‘Youth custody education must be expanded’).

The Standing Committee for Youth Justice welcomes any review of the children’s secure estate that proposes a radically more humane and effective approach. We do not want any under-18-year-old to be imprisoned in a young offender institution and we would like the government to prioritise the welfare and health of children and teenagers in the secure estate, as well as their education. 

A high proportion of children in custody have learning, behavioural and speech and language difficulties. These need to be addressed before any formal learning will work. The costs of child imprisonment are inevitably high and these should be reduced by reducing the number of those imprisoned, not by reducing the resources devoted to each child.