Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were subjected to the use of physical restraint in schools in each of the academic years (a) 2017-18, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2015-16.

The Department does not collect or record information about schools’ use of restraint or restrictive practices, and does not intend to introduce mandatory reporting at this time. We trust schools to use their judgement in recording incidents involving force and, when serious incidents occur, we would expect schools to record the incident and let the parents know.

Schools need to be safe and calm environments with effective behaviour management policies and approaches that meet the needs of all pupils, including those with mental health difficulties, special educational needs or disabilities.

At times, it may be necessary to use reasonable force to restrain a pupil – for example, to break up a fight in order to protect teachers and other pupils. Wherever possible, restraint and restrictive intervention should be avoided; and proactive, preventative, non-restrictive approaches adopted in respect of behaviour that challenges.

In June 2019, the Department for Health & Social Care and Department for Education jointly published non-statutory guidance on reducing restraint and restrictive intervention in health and social care services and special education settings. This guidance aims to help settings adopt a preventative approach to supporting children and young people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health difficulties.