Recommendations
To Ministers
1 Overall policies and responsibility for all children, including those in custody, should rest with the Children’s Minister
To the Inspectorates
2 Unannounced inspections should be carried out in all establishments at least once a year in addition to scheduled inspections
Resolving conflict and reducing violence
To the Youth Justice Board
3 There should be consistent standards of care, rules and conditions across all establishments
4 Staff should be models of good behaviour to the young people
5 Staff education and training needs to be consistent and of the highest standard and staff coming into the service should normally be educated to degree standard
6 Staff should be trained in core competencies before they start work with children
7 All staff working with children in custody should have training in child protection
8 More sophisticated and intensive conflict resolution training is needed so that best practices are embedded in daily practice
9 Staff ratios to children should be consistent across the secure estate
10 Children must be encouraged to go outside every day and participate in outdoor exercise for at least one hour five times a week
11 There must be structures to engage and empower children in decision making
12 Conflict resolution should be based on restorative principles and techniques
13 A staff peer review system should be introduced mirroring that in operation in mental health institutions so that attitudes and actions are questioned daily
14 Monitoring of the use of punishments on children from minority ethnic groups needs to be improved
15 All children should have easy and confidential access to information, advice and support from appropriate outside agencies
16 Staff should not be in uniform
Restraint
To the Youth Justice Board
17 The policy that restraint should never be used as a punishment must be made clear
18 Restraint should never be used primarily to secure compliance
19 Restraint should never be premeditated, as it is then becomes a punishment not an intervention to ensure safety
20 One certified physical intervention technique that is safe for children should be developed as a matter of urgency and be used across the secure estate
21 The Youth Justice Board should oversee the use of the disciplinary system so that it is rigorously applied when an allegation is made against a member of staff
To the establishments
22 The resort to restraint should be viewed as a failure to de-escalate conflict 23 Pain compliance and the infliction of pain is not acceptable and may be unlawful
23 Pain compliance and the infliction of pain is not acceptable and may be unlawful
24 Handcuffs should not be used
25 Establishments should not introduce their own methods of physical or mechanical restraints
26 Violence reduction and dispute resolution should be afforded much higher priority
27 Appropriate and regular training should be given to all staff working in the secure estate
28 Promptly after each incident involving physical intervention there should be a dispute resolution conference, based on restorative justice principles, where the participants, including the child with an appropriate advocate, should be able to discuss the incident
29 There should be some immediate external and independent scrutiny of every incident of restraint. An incident of physical restraint should be seen as such a serious breakdown that it should be immediately reported and scrutinised by an appropriate independent child care agency
30 Record keeping and monitoring should be improved and data published to show the number of incidents, injuries to children and staff, broken down by race, age, gender and disability
31 So many of the young people have suffered serious violence and abuse in the past and are not used to making complaints; they must be helped to understand that they may make complaints and that there will be no reprisals
To the Police and Crown Prosecution Service
32 Should be more willing to consider charging and prosecuting members of staff for assaulting children where there is a prima facie case
The Carlile Inquiry The Howard League for Penal Reform 13
33 Should be more willing to consider charging and prosecuting the companies running penal institutions holding children
To Local Authorities
34 Local authority child protection committees should give priority to referrals from penal institutions
Strip searching
To the Youth Justice Board
35 Policy, practice and procedure should be the same in all the establishments holding children
36 Strip searching is not necessary for good order and safety
37 Searches should be conducted based on the good practice the
Inquiry found in local authority secure children’s homes
38 Searches could be reduced by at least 50% by applying a more evidence based approach, without risk to security or safety being significantly increased
Segregation
To the Youth Justice Board
39 Policy should be developed for ‘time out’ practices so it is used, monitored and recorded consistently
40 Prison segregation units should not be used for children
To the establishments
41 ‘Time out’ could be a useful technique for easing tension but should never be for more than a few minutes
42 It should always be recorded, even if it is elective
43 Solitary confinement should never be used as a punishment
44 The child should have access to an advocate
45 A child’s belongings should only ever be removed from their room if they pose a demonstrable risk to the child or others
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