To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authority social services departments provide secure accommodation for young people which can he used as an alternative to prison.

Local authority social services departments provide a range of facilities and services which may be used as an alternative to a custodial sentence or a prison department remand. This includes a national network of approved secure accommodation, currently provided by 27 social services departments in England in 34 individual secure units, to which all local authorities have access.