Lack of spaces at Parc YOI as it houses London offenders

One teenage offender from Torfaen even had to serve a custodial sentence in London as there was no space at the Parc Young Offenders Institution, for boys aged between 15 and 17, at Parc Prison near Bridgend. 

The situation was revealed to Torfaen Borough Council’s children and families scrutiny committee when it was briefed on the youth offending service. 

Adam Nash, operations manager for the Torfaen and Monmouthshire Youth Offending Service, said the child had been given a detention and training order after repeatedly breaching a “robust” community rehabilitation order, with an electronically monitored curfew, imposed by the Crown Court. 

Mr Nash said: “He was sent to a custodial facility in London. What we’ve found is the local detention centre, YOI, that we use, is Parc, and the Welsh Government have an ambition for all children to be (held) in Wales, which is what should happen. 

“Unfortunately lots of children have been placed in Parc from outside Wales, particularly London, and there is a scarcity then of placements for Welsh children.” 

He said the issue has regularly been on the agenda for meetings of youth justice managers in Wales. 

He added: “If a child is given a detention and training order, and they end up in a YOI, they could be further afield than Parc unfortunately. 

“It’s a slightly different picture if they are younger children because there are provisions in Neath and Bristol which we tend to use for those children but again that’s down to resources a child could be placed in Liverpool, it could be anywhere really.” 

It was stressed to councillors, who had asked if there is youth custody accommodation locally, it is rare for children to be given custodial sentences. Mr Nash said his recollection was the case he was referring to dated back to last year which he thought was the last time a Torfaen child had been sent to custody. 

According to a report by the chief inspector of prisons, published in January, following an unannounced inspection of Parc YOI, between October 9 and 19 last year, it has capacity for 46 boys, across two units, but when he visited just 28 were being held. 

Charlie Taylor found around a third were 18 but remained in the children’s facility “due to national population pressures in the adult estate”. 

The report found: “The YOI at Parc is the best in England and Wales, and something of a benchmark for the four others currently in operation.” 

The exercise yard at Parc YOI. Picture: HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.

It did however note: “Purposeful activity had deteriorated and was now not sufficiently good. However, the quality of outcomes in safety, care and resettlement had been sustained, and remained good, a significant achievement.” 

The three other YOI’s are all in England, at Feltham, in London, Werrington in Staffordshire and Wetherby in West Yorkshire. 

Education inspectors Estyn found a “limited curriculum and weaknesses in the quality of teaching” that meant education had declined to ‘adequate’ at Parc. Improvements are planned. 

Jason O’Brien, Torfaen’s director for children and families, said use of custodial sentences for children had “thankfully tightened up” since he worked in the youth offending service 10 or 15 years ago when up to 12 children from the borough could be held in custody.