To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children in each young offenders' institution have been placed on closed visits in each month of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered on
16 July 2015
Visits are an important part of the rehabilitation of prisoners, allowing them to gain professional advice and support and enabling them to maintain family contact. Reasonable physical contact between a prisoner and a visitor should normally be permitted subject to any security considerations and public protection measures that may be in place.
There are circumstances however in which closed visits may be imposed as a precautionary or preventative measure where necessary and proportionate in accordance with Prison Rule 34 (3) for reasons of securing good order and discipline, for the prevention of crime or in the interests of any individual. Each case must be considered on an individual basis and, where closed visits are imposed, subject to regular review. The tables below set out the number of young people who were placed on closed visits in each month for the last three years for which figures are available.
2012
July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Cookham Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Feltham | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
Parc | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Warren Hill | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Werrington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wetherby |
2013
Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Cookham Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Feltham | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Parc | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Warren Hill | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Werrington | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Wetherby | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
2014
Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Cookham Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Feltham | 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
Parc | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Warren Hill | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Werrington | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Wetherby | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
2015
Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | |
Cookham Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Feltham | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Parc | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Werrington | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Wetherby | 5 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
There are a number of establishments that held young people for some of the period in question but were decommissioned during that time (Downview, Eastwood Park, Hindley and New Hall). In these cases data is no longer readily accessible and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Warren Hill was also decommissioned during this period but we have been able to provide data in this instance.
Data for Wetherby is only available from June 2013 onwards. The spike in young people being placed on closed visits at Wetherby in February 2015 was due to the introduction of a local violence management initiative.
The reasons for the use of closed visits in individual cases are not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The main reasons for which closed visits are usually imposed in public sector under 18 young offender institutions include possession of a banned article or substance, suspicion of trafficking a banned substance, violent behaviour and/or failing a drugs test.
The lengths of time young people are placed on closed visits for are also not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, in most cases this will usually be for a period of between 1-3 months.