Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to ensure adequate care and safeguarding of young people at Medway Secure Training Centre in response to findings of the Ofsted report of 8 August 2016 on that centre.

Dr Phillip Lee

The allegations of abuse at Medway and the findings of the most recent Ofsted led inspection in June are shocking and decisive action has already been taken.

Since the period covered in the report, G4S have been removed from the running of Medway and the centre has been brought under the leadership of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).

The new governor has a strong track record of working with children in secure care and has already put in place a robust action plan to improve safeguarding, reduce violence and create a positive environment where children have the opportunity to learn and develop.

The safety and rehabilitation of young offenders is extremely important. We will be responding to the Charlie Taylor review with our plans for reform of the youth justice system shortly.