Registration in Young Offender Institutions
IICSA · The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · Issued 20 October 2022 · Addressed to: UK Government
Government responseUK Government: Accepted in part (May 2023)
DeliveryMinistry of Justice says in progress (Jan 2026)UK Government says in progress (Apr 2025)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, K.4
The Inquiry recommends (as originally stated in its Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report, dated February 2019) that the UK government introduces arrangements for the professional registration of staff in roles responsible for the care of children in young offender institutions and secure training centres.
IICSA, The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · 20 Oct 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
In January 2026, Jake Richards, Minister answering for the Ministry of Justice, stated that a planned decision on a youth custody registration framework had been deferred to allow a wider safeguarding review panel to report, with an official response to this recommendation now expected in autumn 2026 (Jake Richards, Jan 2026). HM Government had previously committed in April 2025 to assess framework options and announce a decision by March 2026, having accepted the recommendation in principle in May 2023 (Home Office response, May 2023; Home Office, Apr 2025).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.
Government response
●UK Government · Accepted in part · 22 May 2023
We accept the need for registration, noting that internal registration is most appropriate for the young offender institution and secure training centre workforce. We are exploring proposals for how it could operate.
Extract from: Government response to the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
Delivery
●Ministry of Justice says in progress · 21 Jan 2026
The Government has been undertaking work to determine the most suitable registration framework for the youth custody estate. A final decision on this had been planned, as set out in the Tackling Child Abuse Progress Update, for March 2026. Since the Progress Update was published in April 2025, I commissioned a wider review of safeguarding in youth custody to be undertaken by a panel, led by the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families. Ensuring the correct safeguards are in place and that staff are properly equipped to be working with children, is all within remit of the panel and it is right we let this conclude. The panel will finalise its recommendations by June 2026. We will respond to its recommendations and this IICSA recommendation in autumn 2026.
●UK Government says in progress · 9 Apr 2025
We also commit to an ongoing programme of work to determine the most suitable registration framework for the youth custody estate. This will involve consulting with key stakeholders and assessing current and future options and costs for implementing a registration framework. As part of this work we will explore the merits of external registration, and announce our decision by March 2026.
From: Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update (accessible version)
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The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.