Delay to restraint report blamed on 'significant gap' in evidence

The review was due to be published by 4 April but justice minister David Hanson announced last week it has now been put back to 20 June.

Hanson said the two chairs of the independent review, Andrew Williamson and Peter Smallridge, had found what they considered to be a "significant remaining gap" in the evidence base for their report concerning the use of restraint in secure children's homes.

Hanson said the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) had commissioned the National Children's Bureau to carry out research on restraint in secure children's homes to find any knowledge gaps in January, but said the research would not be ready in time for the original deadline. "Without this research, the chairs believe, the review may be a missed opportunity to examine restraint properly in all three secure settings and to make well-founded recommendations for its future regulation," he said.