Older children need safeguarding too

He says: "The information is neither sought because the journalist is curious to know, nor given to bestow knowledge on 'the people'. It's used as a weapon." He goes on: "Without the confidentiality, people are inhibited and the consideration of options is limited in a way that isn't conducive to good decision-making." Blair may have a point in some instances but not all.

Our FoI request on serious incidents in the youth justice system is absolutely in the public interest. It should be used as a weapon against no-one, but a wake-up call to everyone. The fact, in particular, that there were 96 deaths, suicides and attempted suicides among young people subject to youth offending team (YOT) supervision in the first eight months of this year alone, compared to nine in the whole of 2006, is appalling. The Youth Justice Board attributes the rise to more robust reporting of incidents since it issued guidance to YOTs. That being the case, the 96 might in fact be the tip of the iceberg as reporting quality continues to vary between YOTs across the country.