Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Government response to recommendation 5, of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in May 2023, CP 844, what assessment he has made of the (a) comparative effectiveness and (b) traumatic impact of restraint techniques that (i) do and (ii) do not inflict pain; for what reasons restraint techniques that do not inflict pain are not considered sufficient for the purposes of behaviour management and restraint in the youth justice system; and if he will make a statement.

All restraint techniques, including those that are pain inducing, have been assessed within the Risk of Injury/Harm Matrix that sits within the medical section of the current Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) syllabus. Techniques are scored on the likelihood of an injury occurring and the consequence of any subsequent injury. This assessment is carried out by an independent medical advisor.

The emotional and psychological impact of restraint is assessed through de-briefs carried out with children following each incident of restraint. Revised guidance in this critical area of work has recently been published by the Youth Justice Service and allows the child to de-brief with a member of staff that they choose and to be supported by the advocacy service should they wish. It allows the child to talk through the lead up to the incident, the incident itself and what support they may need in the future to prevent re-occurrence. In addition to this the Independent Restraint Review Panel seeks the views of children on the issues of restraint during each visit that it makes to an establishment.

The effectiveness of restraint techniques (both those that do and do not inflict pain) are manually reviewed every 12 months. Additionally, effectiveness will be dependent on factors such as the comparative size, strength of both the young person and staff and the levels of aggression being displayed, all of which may inform how robust a technique is required.

Significant changes have been made to the MMPR training delivered to staff in the youth estate. The new syllabus focuses on positive behaviour management towards children and seeks to reinforce good behaviours and enhance the ability of staff to manage and de-escalate behaviour, wherever possible, in a child-centred manner to keep restraint to low levels. Physical restraint techniques that do not inflict pain are a sufficient response in most cases.

Restraints which involve the use of pain inducing techniques will only be applied in exceptional circumstances. As the Charlie Taylor Review into Pain Inducing Techniques acknowledged, it is essential that staff are trained for every aspect of their role, including where they may need to intervene to prevent serious physical harm to a child or adult. In recognition of this, staff will continue to be trained in the safe use of pain-inducing techniques as part of an intentionally separate package of emergency interventions which are reserved for scenarios where they may need to prevent serious physical harm.