– Secure Schools

30. The Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education and the Welsh government should work together to create Secure Schools in England and Wales which:

 are created within schools legislation, and set up, run, governed and inspected as schools. In England they should be commissioned in a similar way to alternative provision free schools; (paragraph 141)

 accommodate up to 60-70 children and are located in the regions that they serve; (paragraph 141)

 provide head teachers with the autonomy and flexibility to recruit and train their own staff, to commission vital support services (including a stronger role in commissioning health services such as mental health and speech therapy), to establish the approach to managing behaviour and rewarding success and, as a result, to create a productive and therapeutic culture which will raise attainment, improve behaviour and promote rehabilitation; (paragraph 142)

 provide children with a bespoke package of support and an education that will address their difficulties and their offending behaviour, as well as giving them the skills, knowledge and qualifications that will help them to succeed when they are released;

 deliver an improved and better integrated health offer; (paragraph 143)

 put behaviour management in the hands of skilful, well trained education, health and welfare support workers. (Paragraph 144)

31. Local authorities should always aim to retain the same social worker during a child’s time in custody. (Paragraph 151)

32. Local authorities should make sure that all children should know where they are going to live at least two weeks before they leave custody, and if they are in care or will be living away from the family home they should have the opportunity to visit the accommodation, see their room and meet the staff who will look after them.

(Paragraph 153)

33. The law should be amended so that only children who are already looked after retain this status when they are remanded or sentenced to custody. (Paragraph 157) 34. Secure Schools in England should be inspected by Ofsted, with support as

necessary from the Care Quality Commission, and held to the same standards as alternative provision schools in the community. In Wales, Secure Schools should be inspected by Estyn, with support from the CSSIW and the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales. (Paragraph 158)

Chapter 6 – The role of central government

35. The Ministry of Justice should create an Office of the Youth Justice Commissioner, a specific directorate within the department which replaces the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) and brings together in a single place responsibility for policy and delivery of youth justice. The Youth Justice Commissioner would have the responsibilities set out in paragraph 169. (Paragraph 169)

36. The Ministry of Justice should establish a new expert committee in order that the government receives independent advice and challenge on its approach to youth justice and the operation of the system across England and Wales. (Paragraph 171)

Acknowledgements

I am hugely grateful to the very many people who have contributed to this review, and for all the time they have been prepared to give to my team and I. My greatest thanks go to governors, directors, managers and staff from across the secure estate, and youth offending team and local authority leaders and staff whom I have met all over the UK. In particular I would like to thank Mary Gibson from Wandsworth, Ben Byrne from Surrey, Stewart Carlton from Lincolnshire, Gill Eshelby from County Durham, Chris Spencer from Harrow, Nigel Richardson from Leeds, Martin Pratt from Camden, Gareth Jones from the Association of YOT Managers, Alan Wood formerly of Hackney and Natalie Atkinson from Lambeth, Graham Robb from the Campus Educational Trust, Steve Harte from Edinburgh City Council, Robert Marshall and David Cottrell from the Scottish Government, and Malcolm Schaffer from Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and Michael Heaney from the Northern Ireland Department of Justice. I am especially grateful to all the children I have met during the review who have shared their experiences with me.

In addition I would like to thank all the third sector organisations that have given so much information and advice to the review, including Juliet Lyon from the Prison Reform Trust, Penelope Gibbs from the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, Richard White and Chris Stanley from the Michael Seiff Foundation, Baillie Aaron from Spark Inside, Frances Crook from the Howard League for Penal Reform, Rose Dowling and the young people from Leaders Unlocked, Nick Corrigan from Media Academy Cardiff, David McGuire from the Diagrama Foundation, Chris Bath from the National Appropriate Adult Network, Chris Stacey from Unlock, Frances Lawrence, and Simon Vivian prison visitor at HMP Isis.

Further thanks goes to Dominic Goble JP, James Scobie QC, Catherine Oborne, Russell Fraser, HH Judge David Fletcher, District Judge Emma Arbuthnot, Frances Searle, Kate Aubrey-Johnson from Just For Kids Law, the family of Alfie Stone, Tim Bateman from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, Lord Carlile CBE QC, Lord Ramsbotham GCB CBE, Seamus Oates of TBAP, John D’Abbro of the New Rush Hall group, Roy Sefa-Attakora, Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney, Caroline Adams from Sussex police, and Sir Martin Narey. I am also grateful to the Rt. Hon. Sir Brian Leveson, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, and to the Hon. Mr Justice William Davis.

I am also grateful to NHS England, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Public Defender Service, to officials in the Department for Education and the Welsh government, to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London, and to Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Prisons and HM Inspectorate of Probation for their contributions to the review.

Thank you especially to all the staff at the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, and in particular Karl Mittelstadt, Dusty Kennedy, Lin Hinnigan and Lord McNally.

I have been extremely lucky to have been supported by the outstanding Youth Justice Policy team at the Ministry of Justice, and in particular I am hugely grateful to my brilliant team Jonathan Childs, Amy Taylor, Loretta D’Costa, Meena Bhatti and Sunil Patel.