Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to provide rehabilitation support to children who have lived in care who are (a) in police custody and (b) serving custodial sentences.

The latest data for the year ending March 2023 shows that 2% of children in care aged 10 to 17 were convicted or subject to youth cautions or youth conditional cautions during the year, down from 3% in 2019. This compares to 1% of all children aged 10 to 17 in the general population. Latest data also shows that 3% of care leavers were in custody, which is the same as in 2019. Surveys estimate that around 25% of the adult prison population was in care at some point during their childhoods.

In 2019, the department, along with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, published a joint national protocol on reducing the criminalisation of children in care, which can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765082/The_national_protocol_on_reducing_unnecessary_criminalisation_of_looked-after_children_and_care_.pdf. The protocol is designed to prevent unnecessarily criminalising already highly vulnerable children and young people where possible. It sets out best practice for avoiding the criminalisation of looked-after children and care leavers up to the age of 25.

Furthermore, NHS England commission liaison and diversion services in custody suites across all English police forces to identify people of all ages who have mental health issues, learning disabilities, substance misuse or other vulnerabilities when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system. These services then support these individuals to access appropriate health and social care services.

In police custody, appropriate adults play an important role in safeguarding the rights, entitlements and welfare of detained children. This includes providing support, advice and assistance to the detainee, observing whether the police are acting properly and fairly, assisting detained children when communicating with the police and helping them to understand their rights and ensuring that those rights are respected and protected.

In the Youth Custody Service, all children in custody are supported via the evidence-based Framework for Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) and Constructive Resettlement.

The evidence-based Framework for Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) introduced trauma-informed ways of working that emphasise the importance of positive relationships between staff and children as a way of supporting their care, wellbeing and potential for change.

Constructive Resettlement complements the Framework for Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) by providing personalised support, such as by recognising the effects of traumatic experiences on the child, to underpin the structural support provided, for instance, through the provision of a place to live. Staff also support effective resettlement in the community by taking a strengths-based approach and acknowledging that the child may need a variety of support and interventions to keep them and other people safe and enable them to successfully integrate in their communities.