An annual review of survey responses from children in custody has
revealed that many continue to feel unsafe, are failing to get to
education and feel uncared for by staff. The review, which
analysed HMI Prisons survey findings from children living in five
young offender institutions (YOIs) in England and Wales and one
secure training centre (Oakhill STC) between April 2024 and March
2025, found children were locked up for too long in most
establishments, with many unable to take part in any productive
activity during their time in custody.
Although the number of children held in YOIs and Oakhill STC had
decreased since the last annual review, outcomes had not
improved, despite improved child-to-staff ratios. Appalling
findings at Cookham Wood in 2023 had led to its closure as a YOI
in 2024, but this merely meant that children were moved to other
struggling establishments.
Relationships between children – 65% of whom told the
Inspectorate they had been in local authority care – and staff
remained weak in most places. Too few children were motivated to
behave well and only 26% felt the rewards and incentives schemes
were fair. Violence was rife, with 43% saying they had felt
unsafe at some point and 61% experiencing some form of bullying,
violence or victimisation from other children, yet shockingly
only 27% saying they would report this victimisation. In the
absence of effective behaviour management schemes, staff resorted
to keeping children apart from each other or separating them
completely, and some children stayed in their cells because they
were scared. This limited their ability to get to activities,
with 39% at Feltham A saying they were not engaged in any
education, work or training. Even when children did make it to
activities, the quality of provision was frequently poor.
Only Parc YOI was bucking the trend across the establishments,
with consistent daily routines which got children out of their
cells, 85% saying they felt cared for by staff, and far fewer
children feeling unsafe.
Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor said:
“As with last year, outcomes in YOIs and the STC continue to be
worryingly poor and, in some cases, children's perceptions of
their time in custody have got worse. This is because of the
frequency of reckless and unpredictable violence from their
peers. Indeed, when we inspected Oakhill with Ofsted three months
after this review period, the situation at the centre had
deteriorated so badly, and we had such serious concerns about
safeguarding, that Ofsted issued an Urgent Notification for
improvement.
“Many of the children in custody are very challenging, and
strong, supportive relationships are essential if they are to be
rehabilitated. The Youth Custody Service must learn from the
success of Parc and use it as a benchmark to measure improvements
in the treatment of and conditions for children elsewhere.”
Notes to editors
