AYJ Comment: Setback for secure schools reinforces call for custody as a last resort

Children will be removed from Oasis Restore, England’s first secure school, just one year after it opened. The decision follows serious safety concerns raised by Ofsted about internal doors that “can’t withstand somebody trying to barge their way through them”. These faults, affecting over 150 doors, have left some children feeling unsafe, with inspectors reporting that makeshift weapons were fashioned from broken wood.

Oasis Restore was conceived as part of a Ministry of Justice pilot to replace outdated custodial models with “schools with security”; environments centred on education, wellbeing, and therapeutic care. First recommended by the 2016 Taylor Review, secure schools were intended to offer a rehabilitative alternative to Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) and Secure Training Centres (STCs), where serious concerns about safety and welfare persist.

However, the project has faced significant challenges. Oasis Restore opened four years later than planned and £35 million over budget, and now issues with the built environment have left it unsafe. While removing children from unsafe conditions is essential, there is a risk that those leaving Oasis Restore will now be placed in YOIs or the last remaining STC. These settings are already subject to repeated inspection reports raising concerns about safety and wellbeing - just two weeks ago the Urgent Notification process was invoked for Oakhill Secure Training Centre and a deeply concerning report on YOI Werrington was published.

These developments reinforce our longstanding position: custody should only be used for children as a last resort. To meet the needs of children for whom custody is deemed necessary, all children must be held in small, welfare-based and rights-respecting establishments close to their home. The most suitable provision currently available is Secure Children’s Homes.

 Jess Mullen, Chief Executive of the Alliance for Youth Justice, said: 

“Secure schools were intended to mark a step change in how we care for children in custody, creating safe, therapeutic environments that prioritise education and wellbeing. The closure of Oasis Restore just a year after opening is deeply concerning. While no child should be held in an unsafe environment, we cannot accept the alternative being transfer to YOIs or STCs, where conditions are already unacceptable. This must be a wake-up call for government to ensure that custody is truly a last resort, and that when it is used, it is in small, local, child-focused settings with high standards of care and safety.”