Improve youth offending institutions’ safety, say councils

The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the government to take action to ensure children and young people detained in youth offending institutions and secure training centres are safe.

Following alarming evidence in July that institutions are dangerously unsafe for young people, councils are calling for a clear action plan to improve conditions in youth custody.

Currently there are approximately 609 children held in youth offending institutions and 155 in secure training centres. According to the LGA, the number of children and young people self-harming has more than doubled in five years, with assault rates now at 18.9 per 100 children.

On 1 September, responsibility for youth offending institutions transferred from the Youth Justice Board to a new Youth Custody Service. The association is arguing that there are no clear plans outlining how establishments will be made safe for children in future.

Richard Watts, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils take their responsibility toward child safety extremely seriously, and work hard to ensure that children and young people are never put in situations that would put them at risk. There is no other situation in which children and young people would be placed into environments that are known to be unsafe, and youth custody should be no exception.

“Any local authority found to be running institutions where tragedy is ‘inevitable’ 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.

“Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service were made aware of these issues in July, yet we still have no clear idea of what action will be taken, and by when, to rectify the situation and make sure our young people are safe in custody. With inspectors also noting that the majority of previous recommendations relating to safety, respect, activity and resettlement had not been implemented, we can have little confidence that this latest report will be any different without a clear action plan in place. 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.”