AYJ Response: MoJ’s Prisons Strategy White Paper
AYJ has responded to the Ministry of Justice’s Prisons Strategy White Paper which sets out the government’s 10-year vision for a reformed prison system. While we welcome that the MoJ has not included the children’s secure estate in its strategy for prisons, we urge the government to work with the sector to develop a comprehensive, long-term vision for the children’s secure estate that is is desperately needed and long overdue.
The government must publish a national strategy and improvement plan for the children’s secure estate
The White Paper contains a shocking lack of action or even acknowledgement of the need to ‘explain or reform’ the overrepresentation of racially minoritised people and their differential treatment in prisons
The White Paper contains one mention of investment in early intervention for children and so we are keen to learn more about this funding and be involved in discussions about how it is being allocated
We are concerned about the implications of the creation of an HMPPS workforce fast track scheme that includes those working in youth justice
We warmly welcome the commitment to a Young Women’s Stategy, and the young adult transition unit pilot