February 17

February 17, 2006: Carlile Inquiry Reports

Lord Carlile’s Inquiry into the treatment of children in penal custody recommends severely restricting physical intervention, stopping the strip searching of children and an end to prison segregation. Carlile's report on his year long independent Inquiry into the use of physical restraints, strip searching and segregation of children in penal custody is published today. The report says that the Children’s Minister should assume overall responsibility for children in custody and that more effort should be made to resolve conflict and reduce violence inside institutions.

The full report can be purchased via the Howard League for Penal Reform website. The 107 page report has 45 recommendations, including:

Mechanical restraints like handcuffs should never be used
The use of physical interventions must be severely restricted
Physical force should never be used to secure compliance or as punishment
Stripping children during searches should end
Prison segregation units should not be used for children
The report gives positive suggestions for improving relationships, regimes and management systems
It stresses the importance of consistency throughout the penal estate and inside establishments.

Lord Carlile said today:

“The rule of law and protection of human rights should apply to all children equally, regardless of whether they are detained in custody or in the community. We found that some of the treatment children in custody experience would in another setting be considered abusive and could trigger a child protection investigation. If children in custody are expected to learn to behave well, they have to be treated well and the staff and various authorities have to set the very highest standards. My team of expert advisers shared my shock at some of the practices we witnessed.”

“I did see examples of good practice during my visits and commend staff who work in very challenging circumstances. However, I am concerned that we did not see appropriate facilities or playing fields for outdoor exercise in any of the institutions we visited. The lack of exercise and daylight would seem to me to contribute to depression and conflict amongst adolescents."

“This report must be taken seriously by the government and the recommendations implemented forthwith if we are to avoid any further tragic injuries.”

Evidence supplied to the Inquiry by the Youth Justice Board showed that physical restraint was used 5,133 times on children in prisons between January 2004 and September 2005; in secure training centres it was used 7,020 times on children; and 8 local authority units used restraint 3,359 times. The Inquiry found considerable variation in the definition of restraint and the techniques used.

The Inquiry was given evidence that injuries to both children and staff were not uncommon but that the anger and resentment generated was counter-productive.

It was of particular concern that the Inquiry could elicit no information about the use of restraint against black and minority ethnic children in any of the institutions and no evidence was provided that it was being monitored.

Lord Carlile was provided with no convincing evidence that stripping children during searches helped with security. The Inquiry was told by children that they had been stripped naked in contravention of institutional policies.

The Inquiry found significant variation in practice in the use of separating children that ranged from holding children for weeks in a bare stone cell to telling them to go to their own room for a few minutes. The Inquiry found that “time out” could be a useful technique for diffusing tension and recommended that it should be for no more than a few minutes, should be consistently applied and monitored, and that prisons should no longer use segregation cells for holding children.

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