Joint MoJ/DfE policy for children in custody
IICSA · Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report · Issued 26 February 2019 · Addressed to: Ministry of Justice
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, D
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.
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 stated that joint policy responsibility was being progressed through cross-departmental working arrangements (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
- No published formal shared policy responsibility framework between the Ministry of Justice and Department for Education for custodial institutions has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 23 July 2019, the Ministry of Justice stated that it has joint working relationships with the Department for Education on secure children's homes, safeguarding and establishing secure schools. It stated that it aims to replace all young offender institutions and secure training centres with secure children's homes and secure schools.
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.