Concerns remain at Cookham Wood

Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons, found there had been some improvements but warned that while the Kent YOI "may be off the critical list, it should remain in intensive care".

Among concerns was continuing violence at the YOI, including three serious assaults on staff shortly before the inspection.

Efforts had been made to combat bullying but this was still an issue and relationships between staff and young people were poor.

Resettlement and maintaining links with families also continue to pose problems. This work relies on efforts of individual staff and inspectors were concerned that a significant number of young people did not receive any visits.

But they did find significant improvements in healthcare for young offenders and vocational training workshops were found to be successfully engaging young people.  

Hardwick said: "The establishment is safer than it was when we carried out our last inspection, but staff and management need support and stability to build on that to deliver consistently effective relationships with young people."

Inspectors were left appalled when they last inspected the site in 2009, just a year after it was converted into a YOI from a former women’s prison.

They described it as a "frightening and unsafe" place and found young people hiding in their cells and the building blighted by vandalism.

Cookham also has one of the worst records in the country in terms of injuries caused by the use of restraint techniques, according to latest figure released in parliament last year.

Between 2009 and 2010 there were 24 minor injuries and three serious injuries following the use of such techniques at the YOI.

Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, described this latest report as "very worrying".

She said: "There is a systematic failure to protect children for whom prison is an extension of the abusive and neglectful homes in which they grew up. The state should not be perpetuating the cycle of abuse by sending children to prisons that are dangerous, inappropriate and unsafe."