Youth Custody Service chief to step down
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Helga Swidenbank is set to leave the Youth Custody Service (YCS), where she has been its executive director for the last four years.
Prior to joining the service in September 2018 she spent three years as director of probation at London Community Rehabilitation Company, part of a national network of offender management companies working with the National Probation Service.
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The Service has already begun its search to replace her, with applicants for the role asked to apply before September 18.
John Drew, former Youth Justice Board (YJB) and senior associate at the Prison Reform Trust, said her time at the service had involved several challenges, including tackling low morale of staff, failures at secure training centres and supporting children amid the Covid pandemic.
“She has led the YCS with charm and fortitude, but it has been a very tough three years,” he said.
“The YCS struggles at times to look after the children in their care decently. Covid has not helped but the problems run much deeper.
“There have been galloping failures in each of the secure training centres (STCs). There appears to be a huge workforce crisis born of high turnover and low morale.”
Meanwhile, YJB chair Keith Fraser said that Swidenbank had “strived to deliver the best possible services for children in the secure estate” despite “the acute operational challenges”.
“We hope her successor will bring the same integrity and passion to the role and work closely with us to realise Helga’s vision of moving the YCS from a custodial service for children to a true children’s service,” he added.
Among challenges during her tenure at the YCS has been Oakhill Secure Training Centre receiving an urgent notification of improvement last year due to “unlawful” levels of force being used by staff on children. Inspectors also rated its support as “inadequate” and said it “barely met minimum standards of human decency”.
While inspectors this year welcomed improvements at Oakhill they also warned “it is too soon” to measure their impact.
In addition, Rainsbrook STC closed last year following damning inspection reports criticising failures to protect children and staff. MTC, the private firm responsible for running the site had its contract terminated in December 2021.
The UK’s first secure school is set to be opened, on the site of the former Medway STC, with the aim of improving support for young offenders in custody.
However, the project has been beset with delays. It was due to first open in autumn 2020 but it is now expected to launch in February 2024.
The House of Commons public accounts committee criticised the delays, as well as “spiralling costs” in launching the school, from an initial estimate of £4.9m to £40m.
“The main beacon of hope lies with the much-postponed opening of a first Secure School, consistently championed by Helga but this is still 15 months away,” added Drew.
Amy Rees, director general (chief executive) of the Prison and Probation Service, said: “We are grateful for Helga’s four years of outstanding leadership in the Youth Custody Service.
“During this time she has helped countless young people towards a crime-free future, steered the service through the extraordinary challenge of the pandemic, and laid the groundwork for the first Secure School which will transform our approach to youth custody.”