Physical restraint in youth custody ‘last resort measure’
Physical restraint in youth custody should only be used as a last resort measure to ensure the safety of children and others, a report for the Ministry of Justice has said.
An independent review by Charlie Taylor found that restraint is a necessary option for preventing serious further harm. However, staff need to be trained on [...]
73% fall of children in custody
There has been a 73 per cent fall in the number of children in custody over the last 10 years, according to research.
There were 4,208 fewer custodial sentences handed out in 2018 than there was a decade ago – a fall of 73 per cent, the analysis by crime and justice specialists Crest has [...]
Youth custody staff rises by nearly 15%
The number of youth custody staff has risen by almost 15% in a year, according to official statistics.
There were 1,545 full-time equivalent youth custody staff employed by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service at 30 June 2018, representing 3.2% of all prison and probation staff.
The number of FTE youth custody staff rose by 198 staff [...]
Numbers of children in custody fall
The number of children in youth custody has fallen for the first time since March this year, statistics show.
Figures published by the Ministry of Justice reveal that there were 893 children in custody in August 2017, a fall of 31 children from the 924 incarcerated young people in July.
The MoJ data also shows that the [...]
Nowhere safe for children in secure estate warns prisons inspector
Tragedy is inevitable in youth custody given conditions faced by young people
The chief inspector of prisons has warned that the most ‘concerning’ findings throughout the past year were in establishments holding young people.
The outcome of inspections of Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres were ‘very troubling,’ chief inspector Peter Clarke has stated in his [...]
