Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which custodial institutions and on what dates a child has sustained a fracture or broken bone in an incident involving (a) physical restraint by staff and (b) an assault by other children in the last five years.

As the Justice Secretary said last month, the safety and welfare of all those in custody is vital.

Although youth crime is down, reoffending rates are far too high and the care and supervision of young people in custody is not good enough. Restraint should only be used as a last resort, when young people are putting their own safety and the safety of others at risk.

In 2012, we introduced the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR). Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons has welcomed the significant improvements that MMPR has brought.

The number of minor and serious injuries requiring medical treatment resulting from RPIs is published in Chapter 8 of the Youth Justice Annual Statistics :

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-annual-statistics-2014-to2015

We are investigating the accuracy of all restraint injury data from Medway Secure Training Centre.

The table below provides the dates and custodial institutions where these injuries resulted in fractures or broken bones from March 2013. Before the roll out of MMPR across Secure Training Centres and Young Offender Institutions and prior to March 2013, this information was not collected centrally.

*The above information was collected by Managing and Minimising Physical Restraint (MMPR) National team (NOMS)

*The information presented relates to MMPR serious injuries and warning signs incidents

* This information was provided on 25 January 2016.