Remand in Custody: Children
(asked on 15th October 2019) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of children remanded in custody in 2018 (a) received a custodial sentence, (b) were acquitted and (c) were charged with a violent offence.
In response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse report, we committed to undertake further work to consider the use of youth custodial remand in greater detail. Within the next year, we aim to identify options to reduce the numbers of children remanded to custody where appropriate, while ensuring victims and the public are protected.
The Ministry of Justice has published information on individuals who were remanded in custody during court proceedings. Information on the age of those prosecuted, the type of crimes and the outcome of prosecution can be found by using the Remands: Magistrates’ Court data tool available here:
and the Remands: Crown Court data tool available here:
Individuals may have different remand status at different courts (e.g. at magistrates’ and Crown courts), the status given in these tools relates only to the remand status at that specific court. As a result, court totals should not be combined. With this in mind, the answers to questions a, b and c should be considered independently in each data tool.
Note that we have answered question (c) based on the number of prosecutions as MoJ do not hold data on charges and interpreted ‘children’ as being juveniles, therefore aged 10-17 years old.
In the Magistrates’ Court data tool:
Use the ‘Age Group’ filter and select juveniles. Use ‘the Row Labels’ option on row 28 to select ’03: Custody’. Use the ‘Outcome’ filter to de-select ’01: FTA’, ’06: Committed for trail’ and ’07: Committed for sentence’
- To select the number of individuals who (a) received a custodial sentence filter ‘outcome’ to ’08: immediate custody’. This number can be used to calculate the proportion of juveniles remanded in custody who received a custodial sentence at the Magistrates’ Court.
- To select the number of individuals who (b) were acquitted filter ‘outcome’ to include ’02: Proceeding discontinued’, ’03: Discharged Sec 6’, ’04: Withdrawn’ and ’05: Dismissed’. The total number can be used to calculate the proportion of juveniles remanded in custody who were acquitted at the Magistrates’ Court.
- To select the number of individuals who (c) were prosecuted for a violent crime, filter ‘Offence Group’ to select ’01: Violence against the person. The total number can be used to calculate the proportion of juveniles remanded in custody prosecuted for a violent crime at the Magistrates’ Court.
In the Crown Court data tool:
Use the ‘Age Group’ filter and select juveniles. Use ‘the Row Labels’ option on row 29 to select ’03: Custody’. Use the ‘Outcome’ filter to de-select ’01: FTA’.
- To select the number of individuals who (a) received a custodial sentence filter ‘outcome’ to ’04: immediate custody’. This number can be used to calculate the proportion of juveniles remanded in custody who received a custodial sentence at the Crown Court.
- To select the number of individuals who (b) were acquitted filter ‘outcome’ to include ’02: Not tried Crown Court’ and ’03: Acquitted Crown Court’. The total number can be used to calculate the proportion of juveniles remanded in custody who were acquitted at the Crown Court.
- To select the number of individuals who (c) were prosecuted for a violent crime filter ‘Offence Group’ to select ’01: Violence against the person. The total number can be used to calculate the proportion of juveniles remanded in custody prosecuted for a violent crime at the Crown Court
Please note: Children classified as remanded in custody may include individuals who were remanded to local authority accommodation rather than youth detention accommodation.