Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to tackle the impact of restraint during transportation on the (a) mental and (b) physical health of children in care.

Responsibility for the welfare of children while transported is noted under Regulation 12 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015. The registered person and the local authority overall have a responsibility to ensure that children are kept safe and their welfare is promoted.

Restraint should only be used in very limited circumstances and, under the Children’s Home Regulations (2015), all incidents of restraint when a young person is cared for by a children’s home must be recorded. When transport is arranged by the children’s home, regulation 20(1) states that the only purposes for which restraint can be used in a children's home are to prevent injury to any person (including the child who is being restrained) or to prevent serious damage to the property of any person. In addition, restraint may be used on a child in a secure children's home for the purpose of preventing a child from absconding from the home.

If this was arranged by the local authority which had responsibility for the child, then the care of the child would fall to them.

When restraint involves the use of force, it must not be more than is necessary and should be applied in a way that is proportionate (i.e. the minimum amount of force required to avert injury or serious damage to property for the shortest possible time).

Ofsted regularly inspect all children’s homes in England to ensure they are complying with their legal duties, which include detailing incidents of restraint. Should anyone breach these rules the department would expect Ofsted to take swift action.