Youth custody standards remain “woeful” as children report violence and isolation

Standards across the youth custody estate remain poor, with children continuing to experience violence, lengthy periods locked in cells and inadequate access to education, according to HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ latest annual review.

The Children in custody 2025–26 report analysed inspection evidence, survey findings and interviews with children held in four young offender institutions (YOIs) in England and Wales and Oakhill Secure Training Centre between April 2025 and March 2026. It found that, despite some improvements at individual establishments, outcomes remained unacceptable in most settings.

Children at every establishment apart from Parc YOI and Oakhill STC spent too much time behind their doors, with boys at Feltham and Werrington unlocked for less than four hours a day on average. Education provision was inadequate at every YOI except Parc, while 16% of children across the estate said they were not participating in any education, work or offending behaviour interventions.

Violence also remained a regular feature of daily life. Thirty-nine per cent of children said they had felt unsafe at some point during their time in custody, while 14% said they felt unsafe at the time they completed the survey. Only 26% said they would report bullying or victimisation by other young people.

Children described an unpredictable environment in which fights, group assaults and weapons were common, with many reporting that staff did not do enough to keep them safe.

Relationships between children and staff were also identified as a concern. Only 51% of children said they felt cared for by most staff, while one in three said they had no member of staff they could turn to for help with a problem. The report found that inconsistent approaches to behaviour management further undermined trust, with children describing rules as unclear, unfairly applied and poorly explained.

Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “Although there have been some signs of progress at individual establishments, standards across the youth estate remain woeful. Children continue to be exposed to high levels of violence, spend too much time locked in their cells and are frequently unable to access the education and support they need to turn their lives around.”

The report identified some examples of progress. At Werrington, leaders had reduced the use of weapons and improved safety arrangements, while Wetherby had introduced new work and vocational opportunities enabling some children to spend more time outside their cells.

Parc was highlighted as a notable exception, achieving good outcomes across all four healthy prison tests, alongside good-quality education and strong relationships between staff and children. By contrast, serious weaknesses in leadership, safeguarding and healthcare at Oakhill led the Chief Inspectors of HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to issue an Urgent Notification to the Secretary of State for Justice.

Taylor said the contrast between establishments demonstrated that improvement was possible, adding: “Parc continues to demonstrate what can be achieved when children have positive relationships with staff, and are given clear boundaries, high-quality education and consistent care. The Youth Custody Service should learn from the success of Parc and use it as a benchmark for improving standards across the rest of the estate.”

The Youth Justice Board (YJB), responding to the report on 25 September, said that the findings showed the youth custody system remained too far from consistently providing safe and supportive environments for children.

Steph Roberts-Bibby, Chief Executive of the YJB, said: “Every child in custody should be safe, supported to learn and given the opportunity to build a positive future. The persistent challenges highlighted by HM Inspectorate of Prisons show that, despite significant investment and historically low numbers of children in custody, we remain too far from consistently achieving that.”

The YJB said lessons from the wider youth justice system, including its Child First approach, could be applied to custody. Roberts-Bibby said youth custody had not yet benefited from the same consistently applied evidence-based model for working with children, and argued that greater clarity of purpose was needed across the system.

She also highlighted the need to reduce the number of children entering custody where safe alternatives are available, pointing to the London Accommodation Pathfinder as an example of a community-based approach.

“The evidence shows us that the current secure estate is not fit for purpose: Poor outcomes are systemic, not simply isolated operational failures. Large, prison-like institutions, staffing pressures and restricted regimes are limiting safety and rehabilitation. What is required is a clear, time-bound transition towards smaller, child-centred provision - with a specialist and stable workforce and an unpinning evidence-based theory of change,” Roberts-Bibby said.

Children’s charity Article 39 also called for the government’s planned Youth Custody Transformation Plan to translate its commitments to reform into concrete action.

The charity highlighted concerns around restraint alongside the findings on violence, isolation and education, arguing that children continued to experience harm within institutions intended to keep them safe. Article 39 also pointed to recent findings from inspections of Oasis Secure School and Oakhill STC, as well as figures published by the Howard League for Penal Reform concerning the use of PAVA spray against children.

Article 39 said the forthcoming transformation plan should include a clear, time-bound programme to move away from large YOIs and the remaining secure training centre, alongside greater development of small, therapeutic provision across health, social care and criminal justice.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ review is based on surveys completed by children and staff, inspection findings from Feltham, Parc, Werrington and Wetherby YOIs and Oakhill STC, and published statistics. Eighty-six per cent of children offered a questionnaire completed it.