A clause in the offender management bill would allow 18- year-olds to be placed in adult prisons, prompting fears young prisoners could be placed in adult institutions to ease overcrowding in young offender institutions (YPN, 17-23 January, p7).
But in committee discussions on the bill last week, the Government insisted this is not the case. Gerry Sutcliffe, junior criminal justice minister at the Home Office, said the clause is a "contingency arrangement".
"Unless detention in a young offender institution is abolished and the age of adult imprisonment reduced to 18, we have no intention of placing detention and training order trainees in adult establishments," he said.
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