Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of HM Inspectorate of Prisons' report entitled Separation of children in young offender institutions – review of progress, published on 1 October 2024.

Where there is a clear risk of harm, separation is used to prevent harm to the child or young person who is being separated, or to others. Separation should be a last resort when managing behaviour, but it can be critical to reducing the risk of harm in difficult situations.

The separation of children and young people is rightly an area for scrutiny. The Youth Custody Service (YCS) has clear oversight at a national level of every child and young person who is separated, including the length of time for which they have been separated, and their access to regime. It should be noted that there are some children and young people who are subject to separation who have elected not to associate with their peers.

The increase in use of separation should be seen in the context of the change over time in the level of risk. In 2023-24, on average, 68% of children and young people were in custody for offences of violence against the person, compared with 33% in 2015-16. In Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), approximately 40% of the population are on remand, which adds to high number of new admissions and consequent instability. Unlike other parts of the Children and Young People Secure Estate, YOIs are required to accept any child or young person placed with them.

Our YOIs are working hard to reduce the use of separation and non-association, which is often necessary to manage risk and safeguarding concerns. The YCS has taken a range of actions to improve use of separation in the youth estate, including providing additional resources to ensure effective management and to improve national and local oversight. It is working hard to improve regime and time-out-of-room for all children.