According to the annual Youth Justice Statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice, there has been a rise in the use of restraint for the second successive year.
In total, 8,419 restraint incidents were recorded in 2011/12 across secure children’s homes, secure training centres and young offender institutions, an increase of 17 per cent on 2010/11 when there were 7,191 incidents.
The increase comes despite a government pledge to reduce its use, following an independent review in 2009, prompted by the death of two boys in separate restraint incidents.
The official figures also show there has been a sharp increase in the number of under-18s harming themselves in custody. Self-harm incidents rose 21 per cent from 1,424 in 2010/11, to 1,725 in 2011/12.
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