Sentencing changes for young offenders should be flexible, says committee

A Holyrood committee has called for sentencing flexibility in plans to house offenders under the age of 18 in secure units rather than prison.

The Children (Care and Justice) Bill will amend existing legislation so that those aged between 18 and 21 will only be placed in young offender institutes, while under-18s will be detained in secure accommodation.

But the Criminal Justice Committee told ministers that the decision on where to place young offenders should take an individualised approach.

The flexible approach would mean young offenders convicted of serious crimes – such as rape – could be sent to a young offenders institute or prison, it said.

It would also mean a person with additional support needs who is aged 19 to 25 – and convicted of a less serious crime – could be sent to a secure care environment as an alternative to prison.

The committee, which is broadly supportive of the provisions in the Bill, also urged the Scottish Government to ensure there are sufficient staffing resources to house young people in secure units.

It comes as evidence heard by the committee suggested holding young people in secure care rather than prison contributed to significantly higher costs.

The committee also said staff must be well-trained, including experts in youth mental health and education, where appropriate.

Staff resources should also not be plucked from health or social care sectors which could reduce the quality of care, its report said.

Committee convener Audrey Nicoll said: “It’s clear there is strong support for the principle that young people aged 18 or under should be placed in a secure care environment rather than a young offender institute.

“Secure care units can both protect the public and offer better care and support to young people.

“However, evidence we received also pointed out that it costs about four times more to keep a young person in secure care than a prison and we are calling on the Scottish Government to ensure adequate resources are in place for any changes to be effectively implemented.

“Although the Scottish Government told the committee they do not currently have plans to allow for individualised assessments at sentencing, we believe this flexibility would be beneficial and is something they should review in the future.”

The committee is a secondary committee tasked with scrutiny and therefore cannot make official recommendations, however the convener has asked lead committee the Education, Children and Young People Committee to consider its concerns.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have no plans to consider expanding secure care up to age 25.”