Labour MP Hilton Dawson said in a debate last week that in the board's consultation on the future of the secure estate for juveniles, it had "selectively" quoted a report by the Children's Rights Alliance by claiming it had made major improvements in the prison service but not mentioning that a number of institutions had violated children's rights.
"Frankly, I am critical of the Youth Justice Board," said Dawson. "It is the body that placed 3,337 children who were recognised as vulnerable in Prison Service custody in 2003/04."
Dawson also suggested that young offenders should receive a "much longer period of intervention" than they do in prison by placing them in long-term care in local authority secure children's homes, which have better staffing ratios.
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