Section one Context Wood Secure College (which houses young men aged between 18 and 24) and Ash House (Northern Ireland’s only establishment housing women) carried out in May 2016 found that outcomes had significantly improved since the previous inspection. As in England and Wales, staff and those detained in both institutions reported that NPS were easily available and inspectors noted that further work needed to be done to tackle drug and alcohol dependency. Further work was also needed at both institutions to improve support for prisoners with mental health issues.11 At Hydebank Wood, as at Maghaberry, inspectors raised concerns that Ombudsman’s recommendations in relation to suicide and self-harm prevention were not being sufficiently implemented.12 The total prison population in England and Wales as at 31 March 2017 was 84,652 (80,674 men and 3,978 women), relatively similar to the figure for the same time in the previous year:13 The population in Scotland’s prisons at the end of March 2017 was 7,436, which represented a reduction of approximately 2% from the year before.14 The population in Northern Ireland also decreased, with the average daily population across the year reducing 7.5% to 1,472 (from 1,592 in the previous year).15 Children in detention NPM members welcomed the continued fall in the number of children held in custody across the UK.16 However, while the overall population has fallen, data from England and Wales shows that the over-representation of children from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds has increased: for the year ending March 2016, the proportion of 11. Criminal Justice Inspectorate Northern Ireland, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Education Training Inspectorate, Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, 2016, Report on an unannounced inspection of Hydebank Wood Secure College, 9–19 May 2016, http://www.cjini.org/getattachment/deb7ee5a-50c8-4b01-8586-c0abf5a523a8/picture.aspx, [accessed 09/10/2017] and Report on an unannounced inspection of Ash House Women’s Prison Hydebank Wood, 9–19 May 2016, http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/ef/efa315e4-3288-47e1-85f6-2de9186916fc.pdf [accessed 09/10/2017]. 12. Criminal Justice Inspectorate Northern Ireland, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Education Training Inspectorate, Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, 2016, Report on an unannounced inspection of Hydebank Wood Secure College, 9–19 May 2016, http://www.cjini.org/getattachment/deb7ee5a-50c8-4b01-8586-c0abf5a523a8/picture.aspx [accessed 09/10/2017]. 13. Ministry of Justice, National Offender Management Service, HM Prison Service, and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, Population Bulletin: Weekly 31 March 2017, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-populationfigures-2017 [accessed 22/08/17]. These figures do not include those in HMPPS-operated immigration removal centres or the home detention curfew caseload. 14. Scottish Prison Service, SPS Prison Population, available at: http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Information/SPSPopulation. aspx [accessed 06/10/2017]. These figures exclude those released on home detention curfew. 15. Department of Justice Northern Ireland, 2017, Analytical Services Group, The Northern Ireland Prison Population 2016 and 2016/17 Research and Statistical Bulletin 27/2017, https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/justice/ northern-ireland-prison-population-2016-2016-17.pdf [accessed 09/10/2017]. 16. In England and Wales, the average number of children held in custody for the year ending March 2017 was 869, decreasing from 959 in the previous year and from 2,915 for the year ending March 2007 (at the time of access, figures for the year ending March 2017 were provisional). Provisional data available at the time of writing showed this trend was reversed in the first quarter of 2017–18. Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, 2017, Monthly Youth Custody Report, June 2017, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-custody-data [accessed 22/08/17]. In Scotland, the prison population under 18 as at 1 April 2016 was 70, and the population as at 31 March 2017 was 52. Scottish Prison Service, SPS Prison Population, http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Information/SPSPopulation.aspx [accessed 06/10/2017]. In Northern Ireland, the average daily child population in custody during the 2016–17 year was 23, down from 26 in 2015–16. The total number of children in custody during the year was 139, down 15% from the previous year. Youth Justice Agency, 2017, Analytical Services Group, Youth Justice Agency Annual Workload Statistics 2016/17: YJA Statistical Bulletin 28/2017, https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/justice/yja-workload-stats-201617-edited02102017.pdf [accessed 10/10/2017]. 15