The trial of a tough new inspection regime for England's three secure training centres (STC) is to take place this autumn in response to growing concerns around violence and the safety of young people.
If successful, the strengthened regime will come into force from April 2019, according to the three inspectorates involved - Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons.
Recent inspection reports for the three STCs - Oakhill, Rainsbrook and Medway - which are for children aged between 12 and 18, are critical of the conditions young people are living in (see box).
At Oakhill in Milton Keynes, inspectors found that violence "has not reduced and remains high".
A least one member of staff and two young people required hospital treatment due to violence between March 2016 and August 2017 at Rainsbrook.
Meanwhile, Medway has been the subject of a high-profile scandal involving "unnecessary use of force" by staff employed by private firm G4S before the facility was transferred to the government's National Offender Management Services (NOMS) in 2016.
Robust response
A major change being proposed by the three inspectorates is to strengthen their response to "inadequate" rated STCs.
Those receiving this grading will be subject to a monitoring or full inspection within eight weeks, with a focus on child safety. Currently, the Ministry of Justice may commission extra visits, but the inspectorates say this rarely happens.
This tougher stance is widely backed by child protection and youth justice experts.
"It is difficult to imagine a school, children's home or even a hospital being described in such terms and continue to operate unchallenged," the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) states in its response to a consultation on the plans.
The ADCS welcomes more visits to failing STCs, but wants the inspectorates to ensure that representatives from the host council can be involved in meetings given their statutory responsibilities around safeguarding and education.
The Howard League for Penal Reform says beefed-up inspections are necessary, as STCs have repeatedly failed to "provide an adequate standard of care for children". "The inspection regime has to date failed to prevent this failure," its response adds.
The response from the Standing Committee for Youth Justice (SCYJ), which also represents the Prison Reform Trust's view, backs "a more robust and consistent response" to failing STCs.
But it urges inspectors to ensure decisions on whether follow-up visits are a full inspection or closer monitoring are "transparent and open to external scrutiny".
The inspectorates also plan to boost the importance of child protection by making it a limiting judgment, whereby an "inadequate" rating for this means overall performance will automatically be judged inadequate.
Streamlining areas
Judgments should also be clearer, say the inspectorates, who propose to streamline eight areas to four covering child protection, quality of education, quality of healthcare and the effectiveness of leadership.
Making child protection a limiting judgment "sends the right signal to all concerned about the priority areas of focus", says the ADCS, but the Howard League says the measures should focus more on the experiences of children.
"For example, measuring ‘the quality of healthcare' is very different from measuring the ‘health of children'," says the Howard League's response.
"The service can appear adequate if one looks at how it deals with the matters brought to it. But that does not necessarily translate into healthy children within the institution."
The Howard League is concerned that resettlement is not a specific criteria under the new measures. It adds that it has received calls from children in STC who are due to be released without suitable accommodation in place.
However, the SCYJ says it has been assured by inspectors that resettlement, along with other areas no longer with their own specific criteria in inspections, will still be scrutinised and will not be down-played during visits.
The notice period for inspections is to reduce from four to three days.
The ADCS backs this as "we do not believe systemic failing can be covered up in this time".
Another proposal is for surveys of children's views to be carried out ahead of an inspection rather than during a visit. The Howard League urges inspectors to ensure that rights are a focus when gathering children's views.
As outlined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, these include the rights to express their views, be "treated with dignity and worth", and reintegrated into society, says the Howard League.
YOT INSPECTION OVERHAUL
- The inspection of youth offending teams is being shaken up
- From September, YOTs will be handed grades of "outstanding", "good", "requires improvement" or "inadequate" for the first time
- The move by HM Inspectorate of Probation brings the inspection of YOTs into line with school and children's services inspections
- In guidance, the inspectorate warns YOTs that they risk being rated as inadequate if they are "solely reactive, defensive and blaming, characterised by division and conflict, unresponsive and inward-looking"
- This new system will apply to YOTs inspected solely by HMI Probation, as well as joint inspections