The Local Government Association calls for urgent action to improve youth offending institutions

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LGA is calling on the Government to publish a clear action plan following alarming evidence that institutions are dangerously unsafe for young people.

In July, a damning report from the HM Inspector of Prisons found that not a single establishment inspected in England and Wales was safe to hold children and young people. In just five years, the number of children and young people self-harming had more than doubled, with self-harm rates running at 8.9 incidents per 100 children compared with 4.1 in 2011. Similarly, assault rates were 18.9 per 100 children, compared with 9.7 in 2011. The Chief Inspector described the speed of decline as “staggering” and issued the shocking warning that current conditions made a future tragedy “inevitable”.

Councils have a statutory duty to ensure all children and young people in their area are safe, but their powers are limited when children and young people enter custody. Responsibility for youth offending institutions transferred from the Youth Justice Board to a new Youth Custody Service, based with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), on 1 September. Whilst the Government has acknowledged that the safety and wellbeing of these young people is a priority, we are yet to see any clear plans outlining how establishments will be made safe for children in future. Now that HMPPS has taken on the important task of protecting our young people in custody, councils need to be assured that the responsibility is fulfilled.

Youth offending teams support children and young people in custody and help them to move on with their lives in a positive way upon their release. It’s vital that young people are also able to take part in education and rehabilitation whilst in custody. Most importantly, these institutions need to be safe spaces for children and young people, and Government urgently needs to outline precisely what action they intend to take to ensure this is the case. Moreover they need to be held to their promises for according to LGA inspectors say that the majority of previous recommendations relating to safety, respect, activity and resettlement had not been implemented.

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said “Any local authority found to be running institutions where tragedy is “inevitable”, to use the Chief Inspector’s recent description of the secure estate, would quite rightly be under intense pressure and would at the very least be required to produce a plan with clear timescales for action to ensure that improvements are made quickly and children are kept safe. This situation would not be acceptable for local authorities, schools or any other public institution charged with the care of children, and it should not be acceptable for HMPPS. Action needs to be taken to ensure that young people are safe in custody.”

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service were made aware of these issues in July 2017, yet we still have no clear idea of what action will be taken, and by when. 

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, Annual Report 2016 - 2017 

Youth Custody Improvement Board: findings and recommendations

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