Joint secure training centre inspections to focus on restraint

Secure training centres will only achieve an “adequate” rating if restraint is used as a last resort to protect young people from serious harm, under plans for a joint inspection regime between Ofsted and the prisons inspectorate.

A consultation on proposals for the revised inspection framework, published today (3 April), adds that this will be a minimum requirement and to qualify as “good” or “outstanding”, standards in centres will have to be set much higher.

The joint framework has been developed following the independent review of restraint in juvenile secure settings by Peter Smallridge and Andrew Williamson in 2008, which recommended that Ofsted and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons should consider establishing a joint unit that specialises in the inspection of restraint regimes and practices.
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Under the planned revised framework, inspection teams will be led by one inspector of social care from Ofsted, and will include other Ofsted inspectors with expertise in social care and education, plus inspectors from the prisons inspectorate and the Care Quality Commission.

John Goldup, Ofsted’s deputy chief inspector, said: “Secure training centres work with young people who have committed sometimes serious criminal offences, but they are also very vulnerable children, some of them not even teenagers, who require high levels of care and support.  

“The development of joint inspection teams, supported by the Care Quality Commission, will bring together the complementary skills and expertise of the different inspectorates in a new partnership which will ensure that inspection focuses on improving outcomes for young people. The new framework will have a rigorous focus on ensuring that the safeguarding and welfare of young people is safeguarded and promoted.”

Secure training centres hold young offenders between the ages of 10 and 17, but generally provide for those aged between 12 and 15.

Under proposals inspectors will make judgements on how well young people in the centre are kept safe, on how well behaviour is managed, the promotion of their health, wellbeing, and education, and on the effectiveness of planning for their resettlement when they leave.

The framework states that there will be a strong focus on seeking young people’s views and following up the views of young people who have been discharged.

Meanwhile, inspectors will have to scrutinise the safety of young people at risk of self-harm or suicide, ensuring that they are identified at an early stage and provided with individual care. They will also look at the achievements of young people that will help them to progress to further education, training or employment on release.

Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons said: “We are very pleased to be extending our work with Ofsted into this important area. The consultation process is an important part of making sure we get the inspection process right and so we are looking forward to receiving the views of children and young people themselves, providers and others who care about what happens to children and young people in custody.”

The consultation will be open for 12 weeks until 26 June.