Inspectors criticise Rainsbrook STC for locking up children 23 hours a day for two weeks on arrival
Fiona Simpson
Monday, December 7, 2020
Children who arrived at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre during the Covid-19 pandemic were locked in cells for more than 23 hours each day for their first two weeks, inspectors have found.
A joint assurance visit by Ofsted, HM Inspectors of Prisons (HMIP) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed that children as young as 15 years old were only allowed out of cells for half an hour a day for 14 days and banned from any “meaningful interaction” with other children.
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Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said: “This practice had been going on for seven months since the beginning of the lockdown and only stopped when it was pointed out by inspectors. It is extremely concerning that this was allowed to happen by Rainsbrook and the Youth Custody Service (YCS).”
Inspectors say in their report that despite it being in line with coronavirus self-isolation guidance there was “no rationale to support this practice” which they described as “tantamount to solitary confinement”.
It “is highly likely to be damaging to their emotional and physical well-being”, the report states.
Inspectors also noted a rise in abuse of children during the pandemic, adding that “this mostly relates to reported incidents of staff swearing at children or ‘taking banter too far’”.
A survey of 43 children currently living in the 87 bed STC found that 23 per cent “do not feel safe”.
“Not all staff are aware of the specific risk management or reduction strategies in place to help keep children safe,” the report adds.
Inspectors also criticised Rainsbrook for failing to implement recommendations made by HMIP inspectors in February this year in including:
Ensuring that the centre is adequately staffed so that children at risk of self-harm and suicide are always properly supervised.
Implementing effective measures to reduce levels of violence across the centre to provide children with a safe and supportive environment.
Improving the governance of the use of force to ensure that any potential safeguarding concerns are promptly identified and pursued.
Ensuring that all staff are aware of and have ready access to restraint-handling plans detailing children’s medical conditions, and fully understand how the use of force may impact on these conditions.
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Our visit identified serious concerns about the care and protection of children in Rainsbrook. This included newly admitted children, some as young as 15 years old, being locked in their bedrooms for 14 days, and only allowed out for 30 minutes each day, in order to comply with national Covid-19 self-isolation guidance. This is an excessive amount of time for children to be locked in - effectively solitary confinement.
“Following our assurance visit, chief inspector Amanda Spielman immediately wrote on behalf of Ofsted, HMIP and CQC to the Secretary of State for Justice to share our concerns about conditions at Rainsbrook. Feedback has been given to MTC, who run the STC, and along with our partner inspectorates, we also met urgently with the Ministry of Justice to discuss next steps. We will be carrying out a joint monitoring visit to Rainsbrook within eight weeks to make sure that the necessary improvements have been made to keep children safe.”
A separate report by Unicef UK, released today (8 December) finds that the UK’s youth justice system is failing children and risks breaching their human rights.
Key areas for concern identified within the A Rights-Based Analysis of Youth Justice in the United Kingdom report include the over representation of children from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, unsatisfactory conditions within youth detention, the wide-spread use of in-humane practices such as solitary confinement and the low ages of criminal responsibility across all four UK nations.
The charity is calling on the government to:
Raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years of age
Stop the use of in-humane practises on children
Commit to ensuring the anonymity of children who come into contact with the law and appear at court
Invest in research to better understand the true impact of diversion and how it relates to girls, BAME, school-excluded and care-experienced children
Anna Kettley, deputy executive director of programmes and advocacy at Unicef UK said: “Children who come into contact with the law are some of the most vulnerable and marginalised in society, often they have been in the care system, experienced neglect or abuse and may have been excluded from school.
“Our report finds that the youth justice system is failing in its duty to protect and uphold children’s human rights – to keep them safe and protect them from harm. We need a system that upholds their rights and gives every child who comes into contact with the law the opportunity to positively turn their life around.”