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Child custody restraint rethink Child custody restraint rethink
(about 2 hours later)
The government has promised a £4.9m "overhaul" of the way restraint techniques are used on children in custody in England and Wales.The government has promised a £4.9m "overhaul" of the way restraint techniques are used on children in custody in England and Wales.
But force may still be used in "exceptional circumstances", it says.But force may still be used in "exceptional circumstances", it says.
Most of the recommendations in a report by two independent experts are to be implemented, ministers say. Ministers acted after independent experts described reports by inmates of unauthorised violent methods, that amounted to "assault" by staff.
The review was set up after criticism at the inquests in 2004 on teenagers Gareth Myatt and Adam Rickwood, who died in secure training centres. Their review was set up after criticism at the inquests of two teenagers who died at secure centres.
The report, by social services professionals Peter Smallridge and Andrew Williamson, found six children needed hospital treatment for serious injuries last year after being restrained.
It said centres had not been held "sufficiently accountable" for their use of violent restraint techniques.
Earlier this year, MPs and peers on the Joint Human Rights Committee demanded an end to the use of painful restraint methods on youngsters.Earlier this year, MPs and peers on the Joint Human Rights Committee demanded an end to the use of painful restraint methods on youngsters.
They had suggested some permitted techniques also contravened the UN guideline stating that restraint "should not involve the deliberate infliction of pain as a form of control". Occasionally it is necessary to use restraint as a last resort to protect other young people and staff Children's Minister Beverley HughesThey had suggested some permitted techniques also contravened the UN guideline stating that restraint "should not involve the deliberate infliction of pain as a form of control". Occasionally it is necessary to use restraint as a last resort to protect other young people and staff Children's Minister Beverley Hughes
But the review found "widespread acceptance that it is sometimes necessary to use force to restrain young people in the secure estate, particularly when failing to do so would place a young person or others in danger," the Ministry of Justice said.But the review found "widespread acceptance that it is sometimes necessary to use force to restrain young people in the secure estate, particularly when failing to do so would place a young person or others in danger," the Ministry of Justice said.
Key findings and recommendations of the review, conducted by social services professionals Peter Smallridge and Andrew Williamson, included: Key findings and recommendations of the review included:
In exceptional circumstances, it may be appropriate to use "pain compliance" restraint techniques to ensure staff and children's safety.
  • All staff should have consistent and comprehensive training in the awareness of risk factors in restraint, the monitoring of warning signs in young people and the need to take action quickly.
  • Certain restraint techniques, including the "double basket" hold, should be permanently banned.
In exceptional circumstances, it may be appropriate to use "pain compliance" restraint techniques to ensure staff and children's safety.
  • All staff should have consistent and comprehensive training in the awareness of risk factors in restraint, the monitoring of warning signs in young people and the need to take action quickly.
  • Certain restraint techniques, including the "double basket" hold, should be permanently banned.
Use of this technique, which involves holding someone with their arms crossed behind their back, was suspended last year along with a jab to the septum under the child's nose.Use of this technique, which involves holding someone with their arms crossed behind their back, was suspended last year along with a jab to the septum under the child's nose.
It followed the inquest into the death of Adam Rickwood, 14, who killed himself shortly after the latter method was used on him. It followed the inquest into the death of Adam Rickwood, 14, who killed himself shortly after the latter method was used on him in 2004.
Gareth Myatt, 15, died after three officers held him in another type of restraint method known as a "seated double embrace".Gareth Myatt, 15, died after three officers held him in another type of restraint method known as a "seated double embrace".
In response to the experts' review, the government is to undertake a two-year programme to "address concerns, remedy problems, and introduce greater consistency". The government is implement most of the recommendations in the experts' report.
It will also undertake a two-year programme to "address concerns, remedy problems, and introduce greater consistency" at Young Offender Institutions, secure training centres and secure care homes.
'Last resort''Last resort'
Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said: "Our priority is to ensure rigorous safeguarding for young people in custody.Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said: "Our priority is to ensure rigorous safeguarding for young people in custody.
"The independent chairs of the review have balanced the need for appropriate safeguards and monitoring with an acceptance that occasionally it is necessary to use restraint as a last resort to protect other young people and staff.""The independent chairs of the review have balanced the need for appropriate safeguards and monitoring with an acceptance that occasionally it is necessary to use restraint as a last resort to protect other young people and staff."
In March, the Joint Human Rights Committee had found that four detention facilities for children aged between 12 and 17 in England had used restraint techniques about 3,000 times a year - equivalent to 10 times per child. In Northern Ireland, government recommendations are likely to remain "broadly in step" with those in England and Wales. However, the Scottish government says pain compliance is "not an acceptable practice" and that restraint is only used as a last resort.
The Ministry of Justice said this figure referred to techniques which were not intended to cause pain and could be as mild as putting an arm around someone to hold them back. Martin Narey, chief executive of Barnardo's, said more needed to be done to avoid the need to use restraints and that the government should aim to have fewer children in custody.
More severe "distraction techniques", which are intended to inflict pain, can involve bending an offender's thumb back or jabbing them in the lower ribs. "There is an over-reliance on the use of physical control in the secure estate and we believe that the strategies for reducing its use could and should be more robust, with clear targets to ensure that it is only used as a measure of last resort," he added.
They had been used 169 times between February 2006 and March 2007 and only when an offender was being violent.