Committee publication · Correspondence · 19 May 2026
Correspondence from Alison Clarke, Executive Director of the Youth Custody Service (HMPPS), dated 14 May 2026: Follow-up to the oral evidence session held on 21 April 2026
From: Justice Committee
Summary
Alison Clarke, Executive Director of the Youth Custody Service, provides follow-up information to the Justice Committee's 21 April 2026 oral evidence session on children in the secure estate. The letter addresses data on family contact, secure children's home placements, violence rates, use of force, PAVA deployments, staff training, and mental health needs, alongside clarifications on policy changes and facility operations.
Key findings
- Secure Children's Homes declined only 3% of placements (26 children) in the past 12 months; 50% were subsequently placed in STCs and 38% in alternative SCHs, showing non-YOI alternatives remained available.
- Violence at Wetherby YOI: absolute incidents fell 50 year-on-year, but the assault rate per 100 children increased in January–March 2026 due to lower population.
- PAVA was drawn 20 times from August 2025 to March 2026 and deployed 12 times across eight incidents; this is internal management information not yet in the public domain.
- Staff MMPR training compliance stands at 84% (Wetherby) and 86% (Oakhill); shortfalls attributed to leave and sickness.
- Youth reoffending rate for custody sentences fell to 61.7% in the year ending March 2024, a 4.4 percentage point decrease; children in custody are overrepresented in mental health and neurodiversity needs.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
youth-justicesafeguardingmental-healthcustodial-facilitiesrestraint-force
Key actors
Alison Clarke, Andy Slaughter MP, Mark Scott, Phil Wragg, Rachel Ashurst, Youth Custody Service (HMPPS), HMYOI Wetherby, Oakhill Secure Training Centre
Notable line
“… the vast majority were then placed in a non-YOI setting.”
Key Quotes
“"incidents of violence" at Wetherby YOI had reduced to significantly lower levels than they were 12 months ago”
“… for the last three months January - March 2026, our monitoring shows that the rate of incidents for assaults has increased”
“… in which PAVA was drawn. PAVA was deployed 12 times across eight of these incidents as some incidents involved …”
“Children placed in the children's secure estate are overrepresented in terms of mental health and neurodiversity needs compared with the wider cohort of children in England”
“Over the last two years, 3 children were transferred from custody to a hospital under the Mental Health Act”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗