The review, ‘Why Child Imprisonment is Beyond Reform: A Review of the Evidence’ examines 25 years of reform since the implementation of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
Targeted at government officials and policy makers the review concludes that efforts to reform child imprisonment have consistently failed and are beyond reform.
Over the past 25 years, the number of children in custody has significantly decreased from 3,000 at its high point in the early 2000s to under 450 today.
Whilst the decrease in the number of children in prisons is welcomed, most children remain detained in institutions whose history, culture and practices originate and replicate the confinement and punishment of adults, ultimately leading to children continuing to experience significant harm and neglect.
The review calls for the incumbent Labour government to end child imprisonment once and for all, offering five recommendations for urgent government action:
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Affirm the removal of children from the prison estate, closing all child prisons.
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Establish a wide-ranging independent review of the circumstances in which children may be deprived of their liberty – through criminal justice, health and social care routes – as a means of making it a genuine measure of last resort, for the shortest period of time, and consistent with the established national and international childcare and knowledge.
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Publish a national strategy with timetable for the expedited closure of child prisons (Young Offender Institutions for children and the remaining secure training centre), which focuses on supporting children and their families within their own communities and using only childcare establishments when deprivation of liberty is demonstrably the only possible means of avoiding serious and immediate harm to the child or others.
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Use the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill to introduce statutory provisions that restrict the criminal courts’ use of deprivation of liberty for children.
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Transfer ministerial and civil service responsibility for children deprived of their liberty through the criminal courts from the Ministry of Justice to the Department for Education. Completely move the Youth Custody Service out of HM Prisons and Probation Service, integrating it within teams responsible for secure children’s homes and other relevant children’s social care policy within the Department for Education.
Human rights charity INQUEST have long argued for a distinct approach to young adults going through the criminal justice process. INQUEST prepared a report documenting the deaths of 65 young people and children in prison between 2011 and 2024, which revealed an average of more than one young death each month.
In July 2024, it was reported that a 17-year-old boy had taken his own life at Polmont Young Offenders Institution, two years after the previous government pledged to stop sending under-18s to the facility.
Deborah Coles, the executive director of INQUEST, said: “Twenty years on from the deaths of Adam Rickwood and Gareth Myatt, child prisons have proved themselves incapable of reform and remain inherently dangerous and harmful. We need to close child prisons and invest in community support and services that protect and nurture children.”
A MoJ spokesperson said: “We are categorical that custody should be the last resort for children, reserved for those charged with the most serious offences. Frontline staff are working tirelessly to drive improvements and reduce violence, and we are committed to increasing the support these children need to turn their lives around.”
Whilst the MOJ pledge to improve, a 2017 report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons found that “There was not a single establishment that we inspected … in which it was safe to hold children and young people” and, in 2023, the Chief Inspector stated that prisons holding children are significantly more violent than those holding adult men, with most failing to deliver one meaningful conversation with a child each week.
At Farleys, we have experience of representing families of those whose loved ones have died in state custody at inquests. To discuss the possibility of legal representation at the inquest and the funding options available, please get in touch with Farleys’ inquest team 0845 287 0939, contact us through our online form, or use the chat button below.