Two reports obtained by Article 39 reveal there were 119 restraints in child prisons which compromised children’s breathing, or led to them being seriously injured, between 2013 and 2015. It took 11 months for the Ministry of Justice to hand over the 2014/15 report, which was first requested in May 2015. A version of the … Read more
April’s issue of Independent Monitor, the publication of the Association of Members of Independent Monitoring Boards, includes a review by Article 39’s Director of monitoring in child prisons, and the action taken in response to abuse allegations. The article includes some results from Article 39’s FOI research on abuse allegations in institutional settings, and local … Read more
As the government prepares its plans for secure schools, it must surely be considering the tremendous harm caused to children by imprisonment across the decades. One such indicator is the number of children who have died in prisons. Data recently released by the Ministry of Justice shows 52 children died in young offender institutions (and … 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
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