Daily roundup: Immigration detention, Scottish children's wards, and ‘peer courts'

The government has come in for criticism for reversing its decision not to use force against pregnant women and children in immigration detention. The Royal College of Midwives director for midwifery, Louise Silverton, said: “This is a key issue upholding the principle that a pregnant women in any environment within the criminal justice system should no longer be restrained or handcuffed, except in a situation where she poses a risk to herself, or her unborn child or if her life is clearly in danger. In such situations, the support and advice of a midwife or doctor is paramount and must be sought.”

A review of children’s wards in four Scottish hospitals should take place amid concerns about standards of care, a senior paediatrician has said. The Herald reports that Dr Peter Fowlie, Scotland officer for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, fears vacancies for paediatric staff are so high that it would be better for children to travel further, than rely on services closer to home. He said: “There just simply are not enough staff” to fill rotas and out-of-hours cover in all four paediatric units, as a result of “all the working-hours rules and regulations and the feminisation of the workforce and maternity leave”.

A radical idea that would see young people decide punishments for young offenders who commit a crime in their local area is under consideration in Hampshire. Police constable Mark Walsh, who works for the county’s youth offending team is conducting a six-week research trip in the USA to explore existing versions of the scheme with a view to trying the concept in Hampshire. Walsh said data from the US indicated that so-called peer courts lower re-offending rates.