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First secure school facing further delays due to charitable status wrangle

3 mins read Youth Justice
Plans to open England’s first “secure school” face further delays amid questions over whether a charity is able to run such a facility.
The school is planned on the site of Medway STC. Picture: Oasis Charitable Trust
The school is planned on the site of Medway STC. Picture: Oasis Charitable Trust

The pilot project, which will be established on the site of Medway Secure Training Centre (STC) in Kent, had been due to launch this autumn when announced in October 2018.

The project, which has already been hit by delays, is currently contracted to be run by the Oasis Charitable Trust.

However, correspondence between The Howard League for Penal Reform and the Charity Commission reveals question marks over a charitable trust's eligibility to run a youth justice facility.

In a letter to Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League, the commission states: “We do not think the operation of a secure school can be exclusively charitable.”

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