The joint committee on human rights, parliament’s scrutiny body on human rights, has concluded its inquiry on the UK’s compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It raises a number of concerns relevant to children living in institutional settings. The committee says the UK’s failure to accept the UN complaints mechanism … Read more
Leeds Local Safeguarding Children Board has published part of its serious case review into the death of 17 year-old Ryan Clark in Wetherby young offender institution. Ryan was on remand, which means he had not been convicted of the offence that led him to prison. He hanged himself after just 20 days. Serious case reviews … Read more
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) published a short report yesterday (10 March) giving the results of its survey of councils about the children’s social care complaints procedure. It includes five case studies where complaints were not investigated or resolved properly by local authorities. One of the complaints came from a 17 year-old girl who ran … Read more
Frances Crook, the Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, has today (12 February) written to the Cabinet Secretary seeking his assurance that no contracts for secure colleges will be signed this close to the general election. Crook lists some of the many organisations opposing the plans, noting ‘The Ministry of Justice has … Read more
The report of a child protection inspection of Nottinghamshire police, published today (11 February), reveals a 16 year-old girl was held in police cells for 52 hours before being taken to hospital. It was only after 44 hours had passed that police officers realised the child had been given no food or water. A paramedic … Read more