The prison industrial complex gathers pace...

Bearing in mind that Somalis comprise the largest BME group in Feltham YOI, the story below has serious implications:

Project Daedalus

Why Daedalus? Daedalus was a skilful architect and craftsman who built the labyrinth for the Ancient Greek King Minos that was used to imprison the mythical Minotaur. As builder of the labyrinth, only Daedalus knew the route out.

Daedalus is being delivered through a partnership of the Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency, the Youth Justice Board, National Offender Management Service and borough councils. The London Criminal Justice Partnership coordinates the work of the agencies.

To put Daedalus into effect, a separate unit has been set up at Feltham Young Offenders Institution for young people from the six Diamond District boroughs: Croydon, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham and Southwark. The unit provides an enhanced regime, with six additional prison officers, offering more structured activities and programmes to improve life skills and job readiness for young offenders. Young offenders on the Unit are able to gain work experience with local employers on day release, which is a first at Feltham YOI. The Mayor, along with Jack Straw MP, officially opened the unit on 5 November 2009.

Resettlement brokers have been appointed to work directly with the young people to support them towards their education, employment and training goals as well as offering pastoral support before and after release. Funded by the London Development Agency, the resettlement brokers work closely with youth offending teams and local authorities to ensure seamless resettlement and reduced re-offending rates.

To date 43 young people have been placed in the unit, with 24 of these released into the community. Though it is too early draw any firm conclusions on the success of the unit, initial signs have been very positive with security incidents in the unit being 90% lower than other units in Feltham, and for so far no boys have re-offended since release.

Under Project Daedalus we have developed a new approach for supporting motivated young people in custody. The project aims to break the cycle of youth re-offending (78 per cent re-offend within two years of release) by delivering intensive support, which begins inside custody and continues beyond the prison gate upon release into the community to improve the chances of successful resettlement.

Daedalus is being delivered through a partnership of the Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency, Youth Justice Board, National Offender Management Service and borough councils. The London Criminal Justice Partnership coordinates the work of the agencies.

To put Daedalus into effect, a separate unit has been set up at Feltham Young Offenders Institution for young people from the six Diamond District boroughs: Croydon, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham and Southwark. The unit provides an enhanced regime, with six additional prison officers, offering more structured activities and programmes to improve life skills and job readiness for young offenders. Young offenders on the Unit are able to gain work experience with local employers on day release, which is a first at Feltham YOI. The Mayor, along with Jack Straw MP, officially opened the unit on 5 November 2009.

Resettlement brokers have been appointed to work directly with the young people to support them towards their education, employment and training goals as well as offering pastoral support before and after release. Funded by the London Development Agency, the resettlement brokers work closely with youth offending teams and local authorities to ensure seamless resettlement and reduced re-offending rates.

To date 43 young people have been placed in the unit, with 24 of these released into the community. Though it is too early draw any firm conclusions on the success of the unit, initial signs have been very positive with security incidents in the unit being 90% lower than other units in Feltham, and for so far no boys have re-offended since release.