Much has been achieved by the youth justice system: overall crime and proven offending by young people are down, and fewer young people are entering the criminal justice system and ending up in custody.
However, for serious and persistent young offenders, youth custody is not delivering good enough outcomes.
Secure Colleges
The document highlights how we are setting out plans to introduce a pathfinder Secure College, a new secure educational establishment which will put education at the heart of youth custody. The pathfinder Secure College will open in the East Midlands in 2017 and, if proven successful, will provide a blueprint for a network of Secure Colleges across England and Wales to replace most existing youth custodial provision.
Enhancing existing provision
As well as taking forward our plans to introduce a Secure College, we are improving education provision in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). At present, 15-17 year olds in YOIs receive an average of only 12 hours contracted education a week. We have launched a competition for new contracts which will seek to more than double the number of hours young people in YOIs spend in education each week.
Resettlement
We are committed to improving the resettlement of young people in order that progress in custody is built upon on release. We want all young people to be returning to suitable accommodation, with more going into education, training or employment and fewer going on to reoffend.
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