The government has revealed the five companies which were invited to tender for the contracts to run Medway and Rainsbrook secure training centres. These are prisons for children aged 12 to 17 (sometimes 18 year-olds are placed there too). The five-year contracts were worth £236 million in total. In September 2015, the Youth Justice Board … Read more
An Ofsted inspection of Rainsbrook secure training centre, which detains children between the ages of 12 and 17, as well as some 18 year-olds, has concluded it “requires improvement”. The inspection of the G4S-run prison took place in September 2015, several months after inspectors rated its safety and overall effectiveness as “inadequate”. Although the safety … Read more
The Youth Justice Board has announced today that it plans to reduce by 15% the number of places it funds in secure children’s homes, from 138 to 117 places. This is a 47% reduction since 2009, when the Youth Justice Board contracted 220 places. In September 2015, 70% of detained children were held in young … Read more
The Goddard Inquiry has announced that the sexual abuse of children in custodial institutions, and the sexual abuse of children in residential schools, will form two of its first 12 investigations. The scope of the custodial investigation is summarised as follows: “The Inquiry will investigate the nature and extent of, and institutional responses to, the … Read more
Unless there are changes in law and/or government policy, the Ministry of Justice predicts there will be 700 boys incarcerated in young offender institutions every year between 2016 and 2020. Latest data shows there were 682 boys in young offender institutions in September 2015. The official predictions mean England will continue to be one of … Read more