To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the function is of the Youth Justice Board monitors placed in each secure training centre; what qualifications are required of Youth Justice Board monitors; and how many times a Youth Justice Board monitor has raised a concern in writing relating to the safety or well-being of a child in a secure training centre in each of the last five years. (241847)

Each secure training centre has a Youth Justice Board (YJB) monitor. All monitors are educated to NVQ Level 4 and have at least two years’ experience of the criminal justice system before appointment. The monitor’s function is to ensure that the YJB’s objectives for the centre are being met, in compliance with the contract. Monitors have an important part to play in ensuring that safeguarding and child protection arrangements are working effectively. Responsibility for such arrangements, however, and for individual cases, lies with local authority children’s services departments.