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Youth Justice Board takes action to safeguard children at secure training centres (14 January 2016)

Date: 14/01/2016
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Youth Justice Board takes action to safeguard children at secure training centres

Action has been taken by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales to safeguard young people at secure training centres, as a result of BBC Panorama investigation raising concerns about the safety of children at secure training centres.

All three secure training centres at Medway, Rainsbrook and Oakhill are run by G4S. Rainsbrook will be run by MTC Novo from May 2016.

Youth Justice Board (YJB) Chief Executive, Lin Hinnigan, said:

“We are shocked and very concerned about the allegations against staff at Medway STC – the safety of the children at secure establishments is of paramount importance to the YJB.

“We are taking action to ensure the children at Medway – as well as those at Rainsbrook and Oakhill STCs – are safe and supported. We will take further action if required.”

The YJB has been in contact with the Youth Offending Teams responsible for all the young people currently at Medway STC – and has asked them to let the YJB know if they have any concerns at all about young people in their care.

Ms Hinnigan added:

“We will consider on a case-by-case basis any specific action which needs to be taken to meet the particular needs of each individual young person, including, where appropriate, reviewing their placement.”

The action being taken by the YJB includes enhancing the availability of the independent advocacy service provided by Barnardo’s for young people at all three STCs – action taken in advance of the Panorama programme.

YJB said this ensured there were independent staff on hand to support the young people before, during and after the programme aired.

Ms Hinnigan added:

“We will commission an independent review of young people’s perceptions of safety at Medway STC. This work will follow on as soon as possible from the visit of a joint Inspection team – HMIP and Ofsted – which are in Medway today to make an assessment of safety and safeguarding at the centre. We will act on their recommendations.

Further enhancements to the system of monitoring at Medway STC include increasing the time the YJB’s monitor is spending with young people at the centre.

“The enhanced monitoring will focus on increased sampling of CCTV records – beyond the restraint incidents which are already reviewed – and testing levels of supervision and assurance around standards of staff behaviour,” said Ms Hinnigan.

There will also be a review of safeguarding arrangements at Oakhill and Rainsbrook STCs, carried out in partnership with other agencies.

“Work on this is likely to begin next week – and will give the YJB a clear view of young people’s perceptions of safety as well the systems in place at all three STCs,” she added.

The YJB will also seek funding to extend CCTV coverage across all three STC sites – and has also asked G4S to extend a pilot programme for body worn cameras to Medway and Oakhill STCs. Body cameras are already in use already at Rainsbrook STC.

The YJB said it is co-operating fully with the police investigation and once this has concluded, it will conduct its own investigation into staff conduct and the culture at STCs.

Anyone with concerns or further questions can contact the YJB enquiries line on Tel: 020 3334 5300.

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