Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Inquiry was told that children should only be placed in custody as a last resort. However, it was concerned to hear evidence that some children are remanded in custody because of a lack of appropriate community provision. Given that the proportion of children in custody on remand is so high, this is an issue of significant concern. The Chair and Panel recommend that the Youth Custody Service commissions research into why the child remand population is as high as it is. If the reason is a lack of appropriate community provision (nationally or in certain areas), or otherwise unrelated to a genuine need for those children to be remanded in custody, the Chair and Panel recommend that the Youth Custody Service, with appropriate partner agencies, puts an action plan in place to address this.

The Inquiry asked the Youth Custody Service to research why child remand is high. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a Ministry of Justice response of July 2019 on a web page archived in October 2022, recorded that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 received Royal Assent in April 2022, with section 157 tightening legal tests for remanding children to custody (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). In January 2022, the department published its review of custodial remand for children, which examined factors behind the rising remand proportion, highlighted the "ethnic disproportionality of remand", and committed to considering greater use of bail and local authority provision (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).

The Chair and Panel recommend that the Department for Education and the Youth Custody Service conduct a full review of the practice of placing children for justice and welfare reasons together in SCHs to establish whether it increases the risk of sexual abuse to children. If so, appropriate action should be taken, including consideration of alternative models. The review should be completed within three months, and an action plan should be published within six months.

The Inquiry recommended reviewing mixed justice and welfare placements in secure children's homes. In May 2021, HM Government stated in a response published by the Department for Education that it had commissioned research and internal data analysis to review placement practice, finding no substantial evidence that mixed placements increase risk (Department for Education, May 2021). It concluded that "we do not believe the evidence supports the need to change placement practice at this time", while planning to keep the issue under review (Department for Education response, May 2021). The response described reviewing practice through internal research, but did not mention an action plan or alternative placement models (Department for Education response, May 2021; Department for Education, May 2021). The record holds nothing dated later than the response of May 2021 (Department for Education response, May 2021).

The Chair and Panel consider that the use of pain compliance techniques should be seen as a form of child abuse, and that it is likely to contribute to a culture of violence, which may increase the risk of child sexual abuse. The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice prohibits the use of pain compliance techniques by withdrawing all policy permitting its use, and setting out that this practice is prohibited by way of regulation.

The recommendation asks the Ministry of Justice to prohibit pain compliance techniques. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a response of July 2019 on a web page archived in October 2022, recorded that the department confirmed in April 2021 that the Youth Custody Service had established the Independent Restraint and Behaviour Panel (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It noted that in June 2020 the department published the Charlie Taylor Review alongside a response stating it would remove pain-inducing techniques from the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) syllabus (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). However, the review recommended that staff may still use pain-inducing techniques to prevent serious physical harm, and the sources do not mention prohibition by regulation (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).

The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education share policy responsibility for managing and safeguarding children in custodial institutions. This is to ensure that standards applied in relation to children in custody are jointly focussed on discipline and securing child welfare.

The recommendation asks the Ministry of Justice to share policy responsibility for children in custody. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a response of July 2019 on a web page archived in October 2022, reported that the department accepted the principle behind the recommendation (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). According to the Inquiry, the department stated its ambition was to replace all Youth Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres with secure schools and Secure Children’s Homes, for which the Department for Education has policy responsibility, while interim work was being conducted to ensure a child-focused ethos (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).

The Chair and Panel recommend that the Youth Custody Service takes steps to ensure that its training provides staff with an appropriate understanding of safeguarding in the context of the secure estate, and that this is regularly reviewed and updated.

The recommendation asks the Youth Custody Service to regularly review and update staff safeguarding training. In October 2022, The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recorded that the Ministry of Justice stated in May 2022 that the service was drafting guidance to complement mandatory safeguarding training for new staff, subject to targeted public consultation (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The department also stated in May 2022 that the service intended to publish a Safeguarding Strategy outlining longer term training plans (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). In its October 2022 record, the inquiry noted that the service had published a national safeguarding review in October 2019 recommending localized training to address emerging sector needs (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).

As the Inquiry set out in its Interim Report, professional registration of the workforce in settings responsible for the care of vulnerable children complements regulation of institutions by a separate, independent regulator. The Government has agreed in principle that professional regulation of staff in children's homes in England could provide an effective additional means of protecting children. It has indicated that it will be conducting an evidence-gathering exercise to inform further action. The Chair and Panel now recommend that the Ministry of Justice introduces arrangements for the professional registration of staff in roles responsible for the care of children in YOIs and STCs. The Interim Report recommendation already applies to staff working with children in SCHs.

The recommendation asks the Ministry of Justice to introduce professional registration for custodial care staff. In an update archived in October 2022, The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported that the department stated in May 2022 that it was considering the review (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The department had stated in November 2021 that it had concluded its review of evidence gathered through targeted stakeholder consultation across youth justice, and committed to notify the Inquiry of the outcome as soon as possible (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).

The Chair and Panel note that Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 08/2012, which sets out the mandatory actions for YOIs and STCs for 'maintaining a safe and secure environment', has expired. The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice revises and publishes this PSI to provide clear guidance on how custodial institutions must respond to allegations of child sexual abuse. This should include a requirement for all allegations to be referred to a child protection professional who is independent of the institution. The Chair and Panel also recommend that all institutions, including those which are privately run, publish their safeguarding local procedures in full as well as regular reports about their use, to aid scrutiny and increase transparency.

The recommendation asks for expired Prison Service safeguarding guidance to be revised and published. In an account archived in October 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recorded that the Ministry of Justice stated in May 2022 that early work had started on producing the Care and Management of Young People framework to replace Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 08/2012 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The department also confirmed that the Youth Custody Service was drafting "Keeping Children Safe in Secure Settings" guidance (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The account did not mention independent referrals of abuse allegations or requirements for institutions to publish safeguarding procedures and regular reports (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).