Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the police on ensuring that children and young people who are at risk to themselves and others are placed in specialist units.

Children may be placed in police cells for several reasons, on which we do not hold data. However, the police, children’s social care, legal advisers, Crown Prosecution Service, and the youth justice system should work together to ensure that the time a child spends in police cells is reduced to the minimum.

Police custody is governed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice, which makes it clear that children and young people are a protected group with specific vulnerabilities. The local authority has a duty (discharged by its youth justice services) to provide all under 18-year-olds with an appropriate adult. In addition to protection under domestic law, their treatment in detention is governed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child, which the UK has signed and ratified.

The department’s statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) sets out a framework for the three local safeguarding partners (including the police) to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and meet their needs. This guidance is clear that children who are offenders (or alleged offenders) are entitled to the same safeguarding as other children and due regard should be always given to their welfare. The full guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2

The fact that a child has been taken into police custody may indicate a wider safeguarding risk in their life which requires input from other agencies. The police’s Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme, funded by the Home Office, identifies, and shares best practice across forces in responding to incidents involving vulnerable children.

The ideal situation is to prevent children coming into the justice system. Turnaround is a new £60m youth early intervention programme led by the Ministry of Justice. Building on the success of the Government’s Supporting Families programme, Turnaround will provide funding for youth justice teams to intervene earlier, working with children to address their needs and build on their strengths and help them access support to turn their lives around.

Where accommodating a child or young person in a specialist unit is appropriate, this should be actioned as soon as possible. Legislation introduced in 2017 banned the use of police cells as a place of safety for children in mental health crisis under the Mental Health Act 1983.