Review mixed justice/welfare placement risk
IICSA · Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report · Issued 26 February 2019 · Addressed to: Department for Education
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, D
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 secure children's homes 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.
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 this recommendation had been completed (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 7 May 2021, the Department for Education published its review of placement practices in secure children's homes. It concluded that the practice of placing children in mixed justice and welfare homes does not create or exacerbate systemic risk of child sexual abuse. In light of the review, the Department for Education stated that it did not propose exploring alternative models as recommended by the Inquiry.
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.