Research high child remand population
IICSA · Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report · Issued 26 February 2019 · Addressed to: Youth Custody Service
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, D
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.
IICSA, Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report · 26 Feb 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- In May 2023, the government confirmed that it had implemented this recommendation (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 26 January 2022, the Ministry of Justice published its Review of Custodial Remand for Children. The review's findings challenged the narrative that remand is overused and highlighted several factors that have impacted the increase in the proportion of children on remand over the past 10 years. It noted the ongoing issue with the number of short remand episodes that do not result in custodial sentences and the 'ethnic disproportionality of remand'. The review reiterated the UK government's commitment to legislate changes, through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, to tighten the legal tests courts must satisfy to impose custodial remand on a child. It also committed to strengthen operational delivery and frontline practices, and consider greater use of bail and local authority provision as an alternative to custody. On 28 April 2022, the Bill received Royal Assent and section 157 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 reflects the above-mentioned change.
UK Government · 22 May 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.