The Ministry of Justice recently announced the publication of their consultation, Transforming Management of Young Adults in Custody, which outlines a significant change to the accommodation of young adults serving custodial sentences. The consultation proposes accommodating young adults (18-20 year olds) in mixed institutions as opposed to Young Offender Institution (YOIs) where young adults in custody are currently held.

Speaking about the consultation, Jeremy Wright MP, Minister for Prisons and Rehabilitation, stated:

This Government feel that current provision for young adults in custody, who are 18 to 20, does not adequately meet their needs and does not make the best use of available resources for this age group.

 

With that in mind, this consultation document outlines the Government’s proposed fresh approach to managing young adults in custody, which moves the focus from age-specific institutions to looking at how we can better meet their rehabilitation and resettlement needs.

 

We have already taken substantial steps towards reforming how we manage adults in custody, particularly in terms of ensuring that prisoners are better aligned towards release into their home communities. We want to ensure that young adults can fully benefit from our proposals around transforming rehabilitation, including resettlement prisons and through the gate provision. We want to make sure that young adults who are on longer-term sentences are allocated to the most suitable institutions to meet their rehabilitation needs.

The recently published Transition to Adulthood report Young Adults in Custody: The Way Forward , looks at the provisions currently available for young adults in custody alongside the key challenges that are posed to the custodial care of young adults.

The Transforming Adults consultation will last for six weeks.

The T2A Alliance will be responding to the consultation in due course.