New rules for children in prison “perilous” says Howard League
New rules governing the treatment of children in prisons fail to give children adequate protection, according to the Howard League for Penal Reform.
It warns that new guidance will allow children to be routinely strip-searched, as well as allow the usage of physical restraint methods it claims will cause children pain.
The new guidelines for the treatment of children in prison, estimated by the charity to number around 2800, will be introduced as a Prison Service Order to governors in September.
They had to be rewritten following a successful judicial review forced by the Howard League which found that the Home Secretary acted unlawfully in refusing to apply the protection of the Children Act to juveniles in prison.
However, the Howard League claims that the rewrite is not an improvement and has failed to undergo any form of consultation.
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League, said: “The Prison Service construes the need for child protection almost entirely around historical abuse the children experienced prior to custody but excludes abuse they may suffer inside prison.
“The Howard League for Penal Reform research and case studies show that children experience physical abuse in prison when restrained, held in solitary confinement and forcibly stripped. A comprehensive child protection policy should also protect children from bullying and violence by other teenagers.”
In an open letter to the Home Secretary Ms Crook sets out detailed concerns about the new regulations. She is concerned that there is no longer any special provision for girls in custody and that the proposed rules “allow for routine strip-searching of children, which includes inspection of the genital area by adult staff, despite the fact that many children in prison have been sexually abused.”
The letter goes on to say that under new guidelines the provision for education is “diluted” and the requirement for children under the school leaving age to receive a minimum of 15 hours of education has been removed. The League warns that children “could languish for long hours alone in cells with little or no education and no exercise.”
Exception is also taken with the failure of the new Order to mention the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child despite the fact that this places the UK government under an obligation to be guided by the best interests of the child. It contends that this should form the preamble to any regulations on the treatment of children by the state.
Mr Crooks says she is “disappointed not to have been consulted when this PSO was being drafted as we consider that many of the mistakes could have been rectified at an earlier stage, particularly since the re-drafting resulting from our successful judicial review on the application of the Children Act.”
She is now calling on the Home Secretary to amend the Order in line with its recommendations.
