Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accepted
The Ministry and HMPPS do not know what works in terms of early intervention and...
Conclusion
The Ministry and HMPPS do not know what works in terms of early intervention and custodial provision for children. The Ministry wants to focus on intervening earlier to deliver better outcomes for children. But it does not yet understand the most effective ways to divert children away from entering the youth justice system, such as through community resolutions. Meanwhile, it plans to conduct an evaluation of the first secure school as a ‘pathfinder’, to feed into scoping a second secure school in
Government Response Summary
The government will review the model of care for the Keppel Unit and develop an evaluation strategy for secure schools. This includes a process evaluation of the implementation and delivery of the secure school, as well as determining options for assessing the impact of the school on key outcome measures.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. of Prisons inspection of the Keppel Unit (March to August 2022). The review seeks to consider the model of care for the Keppel Unit and how this meets the needs of the children on the unit as well as the wider YCS estate. The review has included a needs analysis across the YCS and specifically in Keppel. The final report will be submitted to the YCS in August 2022. The findings of the Keppel review will inform the ongoing operation of the unit and its future in the context of the needs of the wider population and current and future provision. An evaluation team is currently being recruited to develop an evaluation strategy for secure schools which will consider the potential approaches to monitoring and evaluation. This will include a process evaluation of the implementation and delivery of the secure school, as well as determining options for assessing the impact of the school on key outcome measures such as reducing reoffending. This evaluation strategy will be in place at least six months before opening. Other outcomes assessed will include safety in custody and the indicators that contribute to reduced reoffending, for example, progress in education, intervention delivery and the quality of staff-student relationships. The initial findings of these assessments will be used to inform delivery plans for the potential second secure school.