New restraint system criticised by children's rights campaigners

The new restraint system, published on 10 July, focuses on so-called “de-escalation techniques” and the use of restorative justice, in order to deal more effectively with potential flashpoints in youth custody.

Both the Children’s Rights Alliance for England and the Howard League for Penal Reform have welcomed many of the changes but are concerned that “pain techniques” will still be permitted under the new system.

They are particularly unhappy that the “mandibular angle technique”, which involves applying upward pressure below the jaw, near the ear, will be permitted. The two charities have also criticised the fact that parts of the new restraint documentation have been redacted.

Paola Uccellari, director of the Children's Rights Alliance for England (Crae), said: “We are appalled that the new system of restraint authorises the deliberate infliction of pain on vulnerable children in custody, for whom such treatment can be particularly damaging.

"The use of such techniques has been consistently criticised by domestic and international bodies concerned with the protection of human rights. We are also disappointed that some sections of the new restraint system have been redacted, making it difficult for organisations such as ours to properly scrutnise its content."

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said that parents of children in custody and the wider public have a right to know what happens to young people in the youth secure estate.

“It’s time the Youth Justice Board (YJB) came clean on exactly what restraint techniques they’re training their staff to use against children.

“Pages of text blacked out with a marker pen isn’t good enough and people are rightly asking what they’ve got to hide. We are seriously concerned children’s prison staff are using unsafe, unnecessary and disproportional techniques to put children in pain."??

YJB chair Frances Done said: "The recommendations are the result of extensive research by medical experts into the best ways of ensuring the safety of both staff and young people should restraint be necessary.

"The emphasis for staff is on utilising alternative ways of coping and only using restraint as a last resort.”

The new restraint system will initially be adopted by Rainsbrook secure training centre (STC), near Rugby, before being rolled out across all STCs and young offender institutions (YOIs) over the coming two years, as staff are trained up.

The introduction of the new system is a response to an independent review of restraint, carried out in 2008 by Peter Smallridge and Andrew Williamson, which made a total of 58 recommendations, the majority of which were accepted by ministers.

The revised guidance has been approved by the Restraint Accreditation Board, a group of experts created to assess proposed new approaches.