Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many safeguarding referrals have been made from each (a) young offender institution and (b) secure training centre in each of the last five years.

The available data are set out in the tables below:

i) Allegations of (a) physical abuse at Young Offender Institutions:

Allegations of (b) sexual abuse at Young Offender Institutions:

Please note that multiple categories of concern may be recorded per safeguarding referral. The above breakdown details the volume of all safeguarding referrals with (a) physical abuse or (b) sexual abuse recorded as an element of the referral though these may not be the primary reason for the referral.

i) Volume of safeguarding referrals across Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres.

(a) Young Offender Institutions:

(b) Secure Training Centres:

*Rainsbrook closed in December 2021.

When a safeguarding case is opened, the detail of the case may not be known. We conduct a thorough investigation of every case to understand the details and the severity of the concern and ensure that any necessary actions are taken to protect the children in our custody. The referrals could be about matters in the community or whilst in custody.

It is not the case that an increase in safeguarding cases should always be a matter of concern: this would be dependent on the nature of the case. An increased number of cases may represent increased confidence on the part of staff in reporting concerns or may indicate that children feel safe to disclose information to staff. It is by conducting a thorough investigation that we can understand the nature of each case and identify any trends that need to be addressed. Please note that not all referrals result in further action for example, HM YOI Werrington received 63 referrals within a 12-month period of which only two of these referrals were upheld.

The Youth Custody Service has responsibility for safeguarding strategy and practice across the youth estate. We have published a new policy framework ‘Safeguarding and Child Protection in the Youth Custody Service’ and each site’s operating procedures have been updated.