Appearing before the justice select committee, Gove said he has been working with Charlie Taylor, who is currently conducting a review of the youth justice system, and Michael Spurr, the chief executive of the National Offender Management Service, to address issues in the youth secure estate.
"[We are] making sure we have the additional investment, specifically in the youth estate in order to deal with some of these problems," Gove said.
There have been concerns about safety in the youth secure estate and issues with gangs for some time. Last January, it emerged that the Youth Justice Board (YJB) was considering placing police officers in Feltham Young Offenders Institution (YOI) in an effort to tackle high levels of gang violence.
Responding to a question from Conservative MP Victoria Prentis, who said she was "horrified" to find out how many hours a day children were spending in their cells in order to keep them safe from other young people, Gove said things need to change.
"I wouldn't want to second guess the operational decisions of individual governors, but across the youth estate we have got to make sure that young people are engaged in purposeful activity," Gove said.
"And of course, by definition, those young people who are going to find themselves in custody will often be those who are guilty of violent or gang-related offences.
"But we should not flinch from the need to ensure that those people are undertaking purposeful activity by praying in aid security excuses.
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