Delivering the best for girls in custody

End the use of Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for girls with immediate effect.

End the use of Secure Training Centres (STCs) for girls by the end of the contract with Oakhill STC in 2029

Government policy should move to a position where all girls on remand or sentenced should be placed in Secure Children's Homes (SCHs) or the Secure School, as that is the most appropriate placement for them.

To achieve this, the Youth Custody Service (YCS), working with the Department for Education (DfE) and the National Health Service England (NHSE) should work with a small, dedicated group of SCHs and the Secure School to create a 'Girls Consortia' who are supported and resourced to work together, in a coordinated way, to provide placements for all girls. The consortia should be run as a pilot period initiative initially, with evaluation throughout. It should include work with the placements team to test new ways of improving processes. Based on the insights gained, it can then transition into standard practice. This could be formalised through a protocol and / or contractual arrangements. Additional funding should be identified to provide resources to the consortia to support them with girls with very complex needs.

A national pathway for girls should be developed in line with the evidence base, which defines the gender-responsive, trauma-informed services that girls in secure accommodation need and the commissioning required across departments to meet those needs. This should include justice and welfare girls in secure accommodation, given that many of them are the same group. The pathway should include the training and support requirements needed by professionals working with girls in secure environments. It can link with the wider work being taken forward through the YCS Critical Care Pathway. The girl's pathway will provide professionals, settings and commissioners with clear, national guidance on meeting the needs of girls in secure settings.

Building on national research and guidance, the YCS and NHSE should work with the girls' consortia to ensure greater consistency of good practice in responding to girls who self-harm, so staff in secure settings are clear on when and how to intervene and de-escalate and are supported and trained to do so. This should include work to ensure restraint is used safely and adequately when responding to self-harm, with appropriate monitoring in place centrally to review this.

Wales: Girls from Wales should be placed in the Wales SCH wherever possible. If provision is not available, the wider girls' consortia should assist. In the longer term, provision for girls should be addressed through the Wales Youth Justice (YJ) Blueprint. Wales Government has stated that they want to see youth justice devolved and work to a place where no children are in custody.

A Girls Justice Strategic Board should be established to oversee the development and delivery of a strategy for girls across the youth justice system, including girls in the community and in the secure estate. This should link closely with the new Women's Justice Board. The terms of reference for the Girls Justice Board should be published.

A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) strategic lead should be appointed, working with DfE, DHSC, NHSE, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and across government departments and wider partners, to drive forward the work with girls in the Youth Justice System (YJS), including the development of the consortia and the girls pathway, ensuring that there is strategic buy-in, and that momentum is maintained.

An action plan responding to the recommendations from this review should be published within 6 months of this report being published. This should include timescales for action.

The MoJ, DfE and DHSC should use the opportunities presented by the new Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to develop new 'community secure' provision, which could deliver a system change for welfare and justice girls – and indeed all children in secure settings. Once introduced, the Bill will provide a statutory framework to place children in new types of accommodation, including developing and testing more flexible provision that is better able to respond to children's needs. MoJ should work closely with DfE, DHSC, NHSE, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and local authorities as the bill progresses, to ensure that the new legislation delivers the step change needed for girls in justice and welfare secure settings.

Linked to the above, the Government should consider designating alternative provision (i.e. multi-dimensional, intensive fostering placements) as approved places of detention for girls. This already exists in legislation but is rarely if ever used. This could be an effective and cost-effective means to provide a safe, supportive and diversionary (away from custody) environment for some girls.

To ensure that custody is only used as a last resort for girls, MoJ should work with YJB, DfE, DHSC, NHSE and local authorities to develop wider supported accommodation provision in the community as alternatives for girls. This could build on learning from existing pilots and models such as the London Accommodation Pathfinder (LAP) and the Hope Street women's hub. Funding could be secured through channels including the remand budget, with the potential for additional investment from philanthropic bodies and charitable trusts.