A review of the management of young prisoners who have committed the most serious crimes has raised key concerns about children's welfare and rehabilitation.
The review, conducted by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, focused on female and young prisoners with restricted status (see box).
Worryingly, it found measures for managing this small group of offenders were too strict and getting in the way of efforts to address their offending and reduce risk.
A key concern was the fact many children with restricted status found it difficult to access activities – including education and family contact – that would help them progress.
Meanwhile, children were being subjected to draconian measures such as regular strip searches and cell moves that affected their mental health and ability to settle.
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said many of the overly-rigid measures simply did not make sense or take account of higher staffing ratios in young offender institutions (YOIs).
“These arrangements apply to a very small number of women and children but they are indicative of a lack of common sense and proportion that we see too often,” he said.
“The restrictions were developed by those with expertise in managing category A, adult male prisoners with no input from leaders of the youth custody or women's estates, and it shows.”
Application and assessment
The inspectors found the criteria for restricted status was applied robustly and it was not widely used.
At the time of the review only nine children out of a total of 434 young prisoners had restricted status.
In the year leading up to the inspection visits, 50 young people had been referred for assessment with 12 designated as requiring restricted status.
However, the inspection team raised concerns at a lack of in-depth risk assessment to determine whether a young person had the motivation, capability or resources to escape.
They found most restricted status prisoners were subject to the same measures despite posing different risks.
Some children who moved from secure settings where restricted status does not apply faced a stark difference in security arrangements.
“We met children who had transferred to YOIs from secure children's homes or training centres where they had been living successfully with no additional restrictions at all but were now unable to see their family more than once a month – itself key to rehabilitation – or take part in education,” said Taylor.
“The priority must be that the public are protected but that is not achieved through a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Public protection measures
The review found children were being strip-searched every month – with their cell also searched – despite no evidence to suggest this was necessary. Inspectors only found this to be justified in one out of the 21 cases they reviewed.
Only two out of 37 cell searches resulted in finds and none of these items suggested an increased risk of escape. In one case a child said he had been strip searched four times every day when travelling from prison to court and back.
“While most children understood the need for searches to take place when they were leaving the prison to go to court, they felt that other occasions, such as routine searching of them and their cell, were distressing,” said the report.
Children also said monthly cell moves made it difficult for them to feel settled.
Arrangements for escorting children when moving around the prison were not based on risk. Children with restricted status were always escorted by at least two officers with a radio and body-cam.
When outside the prison, inspectors found some children travelled for up to six hours in handcuffs with about five members of staff. “When I came here at 15, I was still being treated as if I was an adult – there was so much security,” said one young offender.
Access to services and support
Restricted status children undergo a 28-day assessment when they arrive in custody and some spend all of that time on one unit.
“We found spending almost a month on one unit impacted negatively on children's ability to maintain contact with family and friends, delayed their access to education and also affected their wellbeing,” said the report.
Most restricted status children spend long periods locked in their cells even after the assessment period is over, which also has a negative impact on their wellbeing and mental health.
Children experienced delays in contacting family and friends and social visits were restricted. In one case it took about six weeks for a visitor to be approved.
There were also delays in sorting out education for restricted status children when they arrived in custody. Three out of nine children were not engaged in education while others were getting education that did not meet their needs.
“Children shared that they valued education and felt frustrated when it was cancelled, sometimes due to a lack of staff to escort them to classes,” said the report.
Risk reduction and reviews
In four out of nine cases, inspectors found it was not clear what children needed to do to reduce their level of risk.
All restricted status prisoners are entitled to regular reviews of their security status but the report also raised concerns about this process. In one review there was no information from key professionals who had been working with the child.
“Perhaps the main consequence of individuals being held under restricted status is that many found it difficult to access important interventions to help them progress – such as education and offending behaviour work – which were critical to the reduction of their risks,” wrote Taylor in the introduction to the report.
“The irony is that they were denied such access because they were deemed too risky.”
The Ministry of Justice said it would look at the report's findings as part of a policy review. It said the Youth Custody Service would go on to consider how restricted status children could be managed safely but also “progress through their sentences effectively”.
“Restricted status protects the public from the highest risk offenders and we are confident it fulfils this primary concern,” said a Ministry of Justice spokesperson.
“We regularly review what improvements can be made and will consider the findings of this report as part of this process.”
WHAT IS RESTRICTED STATUS?
None of the prisons that cater for women or young people in England and Wales are high-security prisons so additional measures – under the heading restricted status – are applied to those prisoners believed to pose the greatest risk of harm to the public should they escape.
Restricted status is used sparingly and only applies to a small number of women and children serving sentences or on remand who have committed particularly serious or “category A” crimes.
The system was introduced by HM Prison and Probation Service in 2010. Decisions on whether or not to apply restricted status are made by a central category A board, which also manages adult male prisoners who have committed the most serious offences.
Restricted status is assigned to young people who offend on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the type of offence they committed and the circumstances.
For example, restricted status may apply to the rape or murder of an unknown victim or a particularly sadistic attack.
Restricted status measures can include monthly searches of a young person and their cell, monthly cell moves, special arrangements for escorting a young prisoner and logging their movements, restricted access to some areas and activities, and the monitoring of communications.
Young people can only be held under restricted status in young offender institutions, not in secure training centres or secure children's homes.
Restricted status children are currently held at two young offender institutions – Wetherby in West Yorkshire and Feltham A in Greater London.
INSPECTION SHORTS
SCHOOLS
Ofsted has announced a series of changes to school inspections, including a revised complaints procedure. The measures follow concerns about the impact of school inspections and come with extra government funding to support the mental health and wellbeing of school leaders. Schools will get more information about the timing of inspections and inspectors will return more quickly to those rated “inadequate” overall due to ineffective safeguarding. The regulator launched a consultation on an updated complaints procedure designed to boost transparency and ensure complaints are resolved more quickly. The consultation runs until 15 September.
YOUTH JUSTICE
Staff at HM Inspectorate of Probation will now be able to achieve a recognised qualification in inspection practice. The Inspection Skills Certificate is a one-year, on-the-job training programme for HM inspectors and assistant inspectors and is designed to equip them with the skills and experience to carry out high-quality inspections. Seven inspectors and 14 assistant inspectors are currently enrolled for the qualification.
EARLY YEARS
Nearly 3,000 practitioners have so far attended a series of Ofsted roadshows intended to show how the Education Inspection Framework applies in early years settings. Ofsted said the events, which focused on language and communication, had been positively received with settings making changes such as providing extra training for staff. Further roadshows will take place in Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Maidstone, Bristol and Swindon this summer term.
HEALTH
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has called for urgent action to address safety and staffing concerns following inspections of maternity services at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. The overall rating for maternity services at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital was downgraded from “requires improvement” to “inadequate” while the rating for services at Good Hope Hospital went from “good” to “requires improvement”. The trust – which has a newly appointed director of midwifery – said it was working to address issues raised by the CQC including improving staffing levels.
EARLY YEARS
Inspectors who report on the performance of childminder agencies will get specific training, Ofsted has confirmed. Childminder agencies vary in size and inspection teams can range from three to 15 inspectors. Inspection guidance was recently updated to show all will get training on inspecting childminder agencies before carrying out inspection visits.
