Overview
- Dame Rachel de Souza says custody is being used as a holding space for vulnerable children and calls for a time‑bound phase‑out of YOIs and secure training centres.
- Official data show 62% of children remanded in 2023–24 did not receive a custodial sentence, with 168 cases dismissed entirely.
- Average time on remand rose 89% since 2013–14 to 125 nights in 2021–22, and 14% of cases exceeded 182 days despite custody time limits.
- Inspection findings cite serious safeguarding failures at Oakhill and severe violence at Feltham, which was temporarily closed in August 2025.
- Overall youth custody fell to a record low of 430 in the year to March 2024, yet minority children remain overrepresented on remand and foster placements have dropped from 13% to 5%, prompting calls to expand secure homes and specialist fostering.