Ensuring custody as a last resort
The AYJ is working alongside its members and children and young people, aiming to ensure that custody is used as a last resort for children in England and Wales, and for the shortest appropriate period of time.
What’s the problem?
The children’s secure estate is in crisis, characterised by incredibly volatile establishments and failing regimes, where children have very limited time out of cell and very poor access to education and purposeful activity. Longstanding failures to meet children’s needs and uphold their rights have been exacerbated by the pandemic and by the government response to the adult prison capacity crisis, making it more obvious than ever that children must be kept out of custody wherever possible.
Since reaching a peak in the early 2000s, the number of children in custody has fallen significantly and is currently at a historic low. However, custody continues to be used not solely as a last resort, nor is it only being used for the shortest appropriate period of time, as prescribed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Custody numbers have fallen in line with overall reductions in numbers of children coming into the youth justice system. Without a clear, long-term vision and changes to legislation and practice, the door is wide open for a reversal of this downward trend.
There is no evidence that harsher custodial sentences contribute towards rehabilitation or promoting positive outcomes for children, and there is no evidence that the threat of harsher custodial sentences deters children from offending. Meanwhile, there is abundant evidence that imprisonment is extremely harmful to children and disrupts their healthy long-term development.
What needs to change?
The impressive reduction in the number of children in custody in recent years can lead to a false complacency regarding the need for action, and a misplaced assumption that custody is currently used as a last resort. More awareness is needed among policymakers that this is not the case. While the current population is relatively small for England and Wales, there is so much more that must be done to further reduce the number of children sentenced or remanded to custody.
An ambitious, strategic vision for children is needed, ensuring the children’s estate is no longer sidelined in a system focussed on adults. Primary legislation is one of the most powerful tools with the potential to minimise the use of custody. A review of sentencing legislation with a view to creating a clear framework restricting the use of custody for children in all circumstances would guard against any future rises.
Why now?
With the number of children in custody being at a low, this presents a key opportunity to think radically about keeping children out of the estate. Yet the lack of action and punitive attitudes across government risk wasting this opportunity. Alarm bells are ringing about how an estate already on its knees will be drawn further into deep crisis without care and attention.
Why the AYJ?
The AYJ and our members have proposed new legislative thresholds for sentencing and remanding children to custody, and were successful in securing parts of this in the new remand threshold in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. We are well placed to continue developing this work. AYJ members work within custody and in courts, support the End Child Imprisonment campaign, and we have strong links with the Youth Custody Service and Ministry of Justice.
Read more about our concerns about children in the secure estate here.
