To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people aged 18 and over are being held in young offender institutions for people under the age of 18.

Young people who begin their sentences in the youth custodial estate, because they are under 18 at the time of sentencing, do not automatically transfer to the adult estate on reaching their eighteenth birthday. As of June 2023, 148 young people aged 18 were being accommodated in young offender institutions.

Custody should always be a last resort for children. We have made great strides to reduce the numbers of children in the youth justice system. The most recent publication of Youth Justice Statistics showed the 20/21 population fell by 19% compared to the previous year and was 77% lower than the population for the year ending March 2012.