MoJ plans to change legislation to allow charity to run first secure school

The school, planned to be run by the Oasis Charitable Trust on the site of the former Medway Secure Training Centre, is now set to open in 2022, Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland has confirmed in the government's new white paper A Smarter Approach to Sentencing.

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The paper, which proposes reforms to aspects of youth sentencing including detention and training orders, response to serious crimes and addressing disproportionality across the youth custody service, states: “We are proposing legislative change to clarify that operating a secure school could be a charitable activity.”

“In secure schools we want to engage visionary, not-for-profit, child-focused providers and trust them to deliver the best outcomes for children including on reoffending, education and health. A high proportion of the organisations that are not-for-profit and meet the criteria we are looking for in secure school providers are charities,” it adds.

The proposed legislative change comes weeks after correspondence between The Howard League for Penal Reform and the Charity Commission revealed question marks over a charitable trust's eligibility to run a youth justice facility.

In a letter to Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League, the commission states: “We do not think the operation of a secure school can be exclusively charitable.”

However, following a publication of the white paper, a commission spokesperson said: "We have worked closely with the Ministry of Justice as it has considered how to implement this new policy. This new form of institution is not currently capable of being charitable, but charity law evolves in line with changing needs and conditions of society, and it is open to parliament to change the definition of a charity.

“It is important that the provisions of the legislation are specific and limited, and do not allow for a wider change to the meaning of charity, or give rise to any unintended consequences. We look forward to working closely with the Ministry of Justice on the drafting of the legislation to achieve these aims.”

The white paper also gives greater detail of plans behind the secure school, which was originally due to open this autumn following its announcement in 2018.

It states that: “Secure schools will be schools with security rather than prisons with education. They will have education, healthcare and physical activity at their heart and will be run by child-focused providers who will create a therapeutic environment in a secure setting. Evidence suggests that reoffending can be better reduced through well-implemented therapeutic interventions than punitive or surveillance-based programmes.”

It admits that the current youth custody estate “was not designed with such therapeutic approaches in mind” and adds that “secure children’s homes (SCH) come closest to delivering the principles of best practice in youth custody” due to their smaller intake than young offender institutions and delivery of “a therapeutic environment”. 

“We want to establish secure schools using both SCH and 16–19 academy legislation to combine the best ethos and practice from the SCH and academy sectors,” Buckland says.

Latest Department for Education figures show that on 29 February 2020, 184 children were placed in SCHs compared with 179 on the same date last year. Some 252 places had been approved for use, down seven places from last year. Of these places, 107 were contracted to the MoJ and 80 children were accommodated in these places by the Youth Custody Service.

Commenting on the white paper, Lucy Frazer, youth justice minister, said: “The number of children entering the criminal justice system has fallen by 85 per cent since 2009 - a completely unsung success story for the teachers, police officers, youth offending teams, health professionals and social workers who helped make it happen. 

“But those who remain are now more likely than ever to have committed the gravest of crimes with over half of those in custody there for violent offences. They also tend to have a far more complex mix of problems than ever before, everything from a poor education to mental health issues to having been in and out of care most of their young lives or having learning disabilities. And the rate at which they reoffend once released is stubbornly high.

“That is why the government’s plan to trial secure schools – a radical new form of youth custody - is so important. We will not turn teenagers’ lives around without a system that has education and health at its heart and Oasis Charitable Trust has exciting plans for our first secure school in Kent.

“Like any innovative venture, the project has faced some hurdles but at every step we’ve found equally innovative solutions, and I am fully committed to this important reform. This government believes there is potential in every child and secure schools will be vital to unlocking it in some of society’s most vulnerable.”

Jenny Coles, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, added: “For those who end up in custody, better support during their sentence as well as ongoing support to help them resettle into their communities and break the cycle of reoffending is key. Education is absolutely critical to this - it opens the door to positive opportunities such as long-term employment and training – so too is meeting children’s health and care needs.  This is recognised in the White Paper, as it was in Charlie Taylor’s review several years ago, we need to see the pace of change increase, rapidly rising rates of violence and self-harm across the youth custodial estate underline the need for change."

Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Charitable Trust, said: “We are thrilled to be a central part of the secure school initiative, which will be the first of its kind in the UK. This is the biggest reform to youth justice in history and will have the potential to vastly improve the life chances of young offenders.

“Secure schools are an alternative to young offenders’ prisons which place child-focused education, health and resettlement at the very heart of the youth secure estate. We will use a therapeutic approach designed to build on individual strengths and develop life and social skills that support children’s transition back into community. We are so pleased to see that the government is ensuring this important commitment is met.”