CYP Now - More needs to be done to avoid children being held on remand, says report

Nearly a third of all children in custody are still being placed there on remand prompting calls to find alternatives to this form of detention, a report says.

The proportion of children held on remand has increased, figures show. Picture: Adobe Stock - Adobe Stock

Latest figures from the Youth Justice Board’s annual report for 2020/21 show that despite a year-on-year decrease of nine per cent in the youth custody population, the average number of children held on remand has remained about the same.

It says this drop in the overall youth custodial population has resulted in an increase in the proportion of children on remand to 31 per cent, up from 28 per cent recorded for 2018/19.

The report also highlights a fall in the number of children in the youth justice system across all ethnic groups - for the first time children from a white background accounted for less than half of the custodial population - but says some ethnicities are still over-represented.

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