Government extends strip-search pilot
Joe Lepper
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
The government has moved a step closer to phasing out the routine strip-searching of young offenders when they enter custody.
The move follows lobbying by the Howard League for Penal Reform that argues the practice is unnecessary and degrading to children.
A pilot to halt routine strip searches for new inmates at Werrington and Parc YOIs took place this summer, and latest research has showed it did not lead to an increase in contraband being brought in to the secure estate.
A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesman confirmed to CYP Now that the pilot has been extended, with the Howard League adding that it had been told by senior MoJ officials that the National Offender Management Service is to extend the pilot to a further two YOIs, Wetherby and Hindley.
The Howard League’s chief executive Frances Crook understands that if similar successes are shown in these YOIs a halt to routine strip searching of young offenders across England and Wales could start early next year.
Crook added: “This is a welcome success in bringing to an end such an unnecessary, degrading and barbaric practice.”
Prison’s minister Jeremy Wright said: “We have recently extended a pilot for under-18 young offender institutions where full searches are only conducted when a potential risk has been identified, rather than as a matter of routine. We will consider the outcome of this pilot before making any further decisions."
He did add though that full searches could still be necessary to “ensure the safety and security of young people in custody, which is an absolute priority”.
The most high-profile recent criticism of routine strip searches of young offenders came from the HM Inspectorate of Prisons in its annual report, which was published last month.
This said that routine strip searches were “pointless” and “worse than useless” at some YOIs. It was particularly critical of figures from Cookham Wood YOI that showed just two discoveries of contraband from 729 strip searches.
In addition, Lord Carlile in his 2006 inquiry into children’s prisons said the practice was a “manifestation of power relations” by prison staff, adding that “forcing a person to strip takes all control away and can be demeaning and dehumanising”.
