Campaigners back closure of all-girl YOIs
Joe Lepper
Thursday, July 4, 2013
A Youth Justice Board (YJB) decision to decommission the last three girls' young offender institutions (YOI) in England has been welcomed by youth justice campaigners.
The move comes as part of plans to reduce the number of custodial places for under-18s across England and Wales by more than 350.
The last 41 YOI places for girls will be decommissioned over the coming months at the Josephine Butler Unit at HMP Downview, Surrey; the Mary Carpenter Unit at HMP Eastwood Park, Gloucestershire; and the Rivendell Unit at HMP New Hall, West Yorkshire.
Penelope Gibbs, chair of the coalition group Standing Committee for Youth Justice, said: “Girls' YOIs were unsuitable places for young girls and the YJB has made the right decision.
“Where custodial sentences are used we believe that secure children’s homes and secure training centres are more appropriate due to the training of staff and the smaller size of the establishments.”
The move is due to a reduction in the number of children and young people being placed in custody, a trend that Gibbs also welcomed.
In April only eight girls were being held in the three YOIs and the under-18 population in custody was 1,292, down from 1,811 in April 2012 and nearly 2,000 less than in 2002.
Announcing the decision, YJB chair Frances Done said: “'Individual arrangements will be made with those girls currently within the units to minimise any disruption to them. Girls will either serve out their sentence, or be transferred to alternative suitable accommodation.”
She also confirmed that girls remanded or sentenced to custody would be placed in secure children’s homes and secure training centres in future.
Under these latest decommissioning plans, Hindley under-18 YOI in Greater Manchester will see a reduction of 192 places and Wetherby under-18 YOI in West Yorkshire will have 120 places cut. Both of these cater for young men.
