Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of restraint against children in young offenders institutions there have been in each of the last three years, broken down by the role of the person who carried out the restraint technique.

The safety and welfare of young people held in custody is our highest priority. Restraint is only ever used as a last resort, where there is a risk of harm, and no other form of intervention is possible or appropriate. Every incident of restraint is reviewed by the establishment, this includes looking at whether any lessons can be learned for the future.

Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) has been specifically developed for use by staff working with young people in custody. MMPR provides a greater emphasis on managing challenging behaviour without resorting to restraint and also stresses the importance of accurate reporting to enable the ongoing analysis of its effectiveness. It also includes restraint techniques which have, for the first time, been assessed by an independent panel of medical and behaviour management experts, the Restraint Advisory Board.

MMPR has been rolled out in all the Secure Training Centres and under 18 Young Offender Institutions. There are no plans to implement this method of restraint in Secure Children’s Homes who have their own restraint procedures.

The table below shows data on the number of Incidents of Restrictive Physical Intervention (RPI) in each of the year since 2014 within the under 18 YOIs . RPI is defined as ‘’Any occasion when force is used with the intention of overpowering or to overpower a young person’’. Over power is defined as ‘’restricting movement or mobility.

We do not collect data on the role of staff carrying out the restraint technique.

No of RPI incidents per year in YOIs

Please note:

• Data on Restrictive Physical Interventions (RPI) are collected via summary level monthly returns. The data provided in this response has been derived from bespoke returns submitted to the Youth Justice Board by establishments.

• These data include some 18 year olds who remain in the under 18 YOIs.

• Data received from the establishments through monthly returns is validated through a reconciliation process on an annual basis.

• These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.