We believe their approach is largely very successful, and we congratulate HMIP on this. There are, however, both some gaps in the document and also some weaknesses in adopting a mainly outcome driven focus that we believe could be easily accommodated within this overall framework, and we would urge HMIP to consider doing this.

Read our full response here.

“Children in custody are punished by the loss of their liberty. They should not be further punished by being held in such bad conditions. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, describes parts of the regime at Feltham as ‘deeply troubling’. I would go further and say that the rise in violence, the use of unsanctioned control and restraint techniques on children, and the increasing habit of locking children away in their cells for very long periods of time are evidence of a national scandal. This requires urgent and immediate action from the government.”