Children are being held in solitary confinement for more than three months in a “serious indictment” of Britain’s youth custody regime, the prisons watchdog has warned.
Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, said children were not even allowed to leave their cells on some days, or reduced to exercising or schooling for no more than a few minutes a day.
Despite calling for a halt to the practice four years ago, Mr Taylor said it was “depressing” to find there were still some 480 children who had been placed in “separation”, away from their peers in youth offender institutions, on more than 1,000 occasions.
In 179 cases the young offenders, all aged under 18, were placed in “separation” for between 21 days and 100 days. Some 21 children were separated from their peers for more 100 days.
“It is a serious indictment of the Youth Custody Service that children continue to be held in what amounts to solitary confinement, four years after we published our thematic report,” said Mr Taylor.
“It is simply not acceptable that they are separated in the conditions we describe in this report, with the potential for long-term detrimental effects on their health, behaviour and learning.”
# Fear of being attacked
While some had been kept in isolation because they were violent, others had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being attacked, said the inspectors.
Throughout the past year they said young offender institutions had been dominated by high levels of violence and disorder.
“As a result, 479 children have been separated from their peers, either because they posed a risk to safety or elected to stay in their cells, mostly because they were concerned about being involved in violence or scared to venture out,” said the inspectorate.
“We found that many children continued to be subject to solitary confinement and unable to access the basics, including exercise.
“Leaders were unable to provide most separated children with adequate access to education and other interventions, which in some cases were limited to just a few minutes a day. In the worst cases, on some days, children did not leave their cell.”
The inspectors recommended that children who were separated should receive the same statutory entitlement of 15 hours a week of education as those who were not.
In one institution, 37 children had been separated for a total of 453 days in one month, which meant they received just 21 hours of education during this time, an average of fewer than three minutes per child each day.
“Children’s time in custody should provide a vital opportunity to turn their lives around to give them the best chance of leading lives free of crime on release. Sadly, this review finds separated children continue to spend nearly all of their time locked in their cells,” said Mr Taylor.
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***The Telegraph reports***:
Children are being held in solitary confinement for more than three months in a “serious indictment” of Britain’s youth custody regime, the prisons watchdog has warned.
Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, said children were not even allowed to leave their cells on some days, or reduced to exercising or schooling for no more than a few minutes a day.
Despite calling for a halt to the practice four years ago, Mr Taylor said it was “depressing” to find there were still some 480 children who had been placed in “separation”, away from their peers in youth offender institutions, on more than 1,000 occasions.
In 179 cases the young offenders, all aged under 18, were placed in “separation” for between 21 days and 100 days. Some 21 children were separated from their peers for more 100 days.
“It is a serious indictment of the Youth Custody Service that children continue to be held in what amounts to solitary confinement, four years after we published our thematic report,” said Mr Taylor.
“It is simply not acceptable that they are separated in the conditions we describe in this report, with the potential for long-term detrimental effects on their health, behaviour and learning.”
# Fear of being attacked
While some had been kept in isolation because they were violent, others had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being attacked, said the inspectors.
Throughout the past year they said young offender institutions had been dominated by high levels of violence and disorder.
“As a result, 479 children have been separated from their peers, either because they posed a risk to safety or elected to stay in their cells, mostly because they were concerned about being involved in violence or scared to venture out,” said the inspectorate.
“We found that many children continued to be subject to solitary confinement and unable to access the basics, including exercise.
“Leaders were unable to provide most separated children with adequate access to education and other interventions, which in some cases were limited to just a few minutes a day. In the worst cases, on some days, children did not leave their cell.”
The inspectors recommended that children who were separated should receive the same statutory entitlement of 15 hours a week of education as those who were not.
In one institution, 37 children had been separated for a total of 453 days in one month, which meant they received just 21 hours of education during this time, an average of fewer than three minutes per child each day.
“Children’s time in custody should provide a vital opportunity to turn their lives around to give them the best chance of leading lives free of crime on release. Sadly, this review finds separated children continue to spend nearly all of their time locked in their cells,” said Mr Taylor.
**Full story:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/01/children-solitary-confinement-three-months-prisons/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/01/children-solitary-confinement-three-months-prisons/)
What til you hear about isolation in academies.