'Urgent action' needed to improve inmate safety in youth offender institutions, warn council leaders

‘This situation would not be acceptable for any other public institution charged with the care of children, and it should not be acceptable for prisons,’ says Local Government Association

A report from the HM Inspector of Prisons in July found that not a single establishment inspected in England and Wales was safe to hold children and young people (PA)

Action must urgently be taken to improve safety in youth offending institutions, council leaders have warned.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, is urging ministers to publish a clear action plan to improve conditions in youth custody, following alarming evidence that institutions are dangerously unsafe for young people.

A damning report from the HM Inspector of Prisons in July found that not a single establishment inspected in England and Wales was safe to hold children and young people.

It revealed that in just five years, the number of children and young people self-harming had more than doubled, with self-harm rates running at nine incidents per 100 children, compared with four in 2011. Assault rates had also soared, standing at 19 per 100 children, compared with 10 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”.

Local 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.

The LGA urged that while youth offending teams work hard to support children and young people in custody and help them to move on with their lives in a positive way upon their release, it is “vital” that young people are also able to take part in education and rehabilitation while in custody.

It is now calling on the Government to take “urgent action” to ensure children are safe in prisons, urging that it would not be acceptable for any other public institution charged with the care of children.

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’, 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.”

The Government has acknowledged that the safety and wellbeing of these young people is a priority, but Mr Watts expressed concern at the fact that more than two months on from the inspector’s damning report, there was still “no clear idea” of what action would be taken.

“Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) 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,” he said.

“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. Urgent action needs to be taken to ensure that young people are safe in custody.”

In September, responsibility for youth offending institutions was transferred from the Youth Justice Board to a new Youth Custody Service, based with HMPPS.

Experts and campaigners who have long been urging the Government to end the detention of children and young people in “failing prisons” have welcomed the LGA’s call, saying there has so far been only a “cosmetic reboot of the management” of the youth penal system.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “We welcome this call from the LGA and hope the Government is listening. Sadly we see little meaningful commitment to action on the ground from the Ministry of Justice, beyond a cosmetic reboot of the management of youth custody.

“At what point do the courts and local safeguarding boards step in and refuse to countenance any more children being placed in these failing prisons?”

Responding to the LGA’s call, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: “The safety and welfare of every young person in custody is our absolute priority and we are clear that more needs to be done to achieve this.

“But we also want custody to improve the life chances of children in our care and to deliver improvements to education and health services within youth custody.

“That’s why we have created a new Youth Custody Service, with an executive director for the first time in the department’s history – to make sure this vital area is given the priority and weight it deserves.

“The new director will lead the implementation of reforms to the running of the youth estate, including boosting the number of frontline staff by 20 per cent – all of whom will be specially trained to work in the youth estate.”