Government sets out improvement plan for Oakhill STC

The plan announced by prisons minister Victoria Atkins includes appointing a new permanent director to strengthen leadership at the STC in Milton Keynes, having fewer children on site and more time spent out of cell.

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However, campaigners said the plan – developed in response to an urgent notification for improvement being issued by inspectors against Oakhill STC last month – “continues the long history of the government giving G4S unlimited chances to fulfil basic obligations”.

The urgent notification was issued by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and HM Inspectorate of Prisons after a joint inspection in early October found that vulnerable children faced frequent violence and “unjustifiable and in some cases unlawful” levels of force. Conditions were described as “dilapidated”, staff lacked skills to use restraint safely while systems for keeping children safe were in “disarray”.

The notification required Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to respond within 28 days. In his letter to Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, Raab said the inspection findings were “deeply troubling” and service standards “totally unacceptable”.

Raab said G4S would be introducing a revised behaviour management strategy aimed at de-escalating situations. An urgent review of the use of force is also being undertaken with the Youth Custody Service.

A backlog of safeguarding cases has been cleared and the safeguarding team at the STC has been expanded with staff undertaking refresher training, writes Raab. In addition, an experienced prison governor will oversee and monitor safeguarding improvements.

On leadership, Raab said a new permanent director of the STC will take up post at the end of the year. Routine referrals to Oakhill have been paused and additional staff brought in by G4S to allow higher staff-to-child ratios. There is currently 40 children living at the STC. 

Children are receiving more time out of their cells and education has been increased to 25 hours a week.

Atkins said: “The findings at Oakhill were completely unacceptable and we are considering all options.

“Action needs to be swift to ensure these vulnerable children are given the best chance to turn their lives around in a calm, safe and secure environment.

“The Youth Custody Service will continue to monitor performance and ensure further steps are taken to improve the care and wellbeing of children at the site.”

Charity Article 39, which raised concerns about safety at Oakhill prior to the October joint inspection, said the action plan won’t work.

Article 39’s director, Carolyne Willow, said: “Today’s action plan continues the long history of the government giving G4S unlimited chances to fulfil basic child protection obligations. The correspondence does not answer why government monitors, and the Youth Custody Service, did not themselves notice and then deal with chronic and severe failures to keep children safe, including the unlawful use of force and breach of safeguarding rules.

“It is our understanding that the October inspection only happened after we alerted the local authority and the inspectorates to very serious allegations brought to us by a whistleblower. A safeguarding review by a former director of children’s services will not get to the bottom of G4S’s actions and inactions over many years, which is why we are pushing for a judicial inquiry.

“We know from past experience that the prison service sending in one of their own prison governors to try and rescue a child prison is the first step to closure, though G4S will continue to receive significant public funds for every day and week Oakhill stays open. These penal institutions have the suffering of children built into the walls; they cannot be redeemed.”