HMYOI Feltham A

What we found

Although inspectors identified some progress at the YOI, fundamental weaknesses remained and there was insufficient or no meaningful progress in six of the nine concerns reviewed from the last inspection in March. The establishment was locked in a vicious cycle of high levels of staff sickness (some of which was the result of serious incidents of violence), leading to children having less than three hours a day out of cell, and sometimes less than two. This created frustration which then led to more staff assaults, further affecting staff and children.

The closure of HMYOI Cookham Wood in May 2024 had compounded the problems by dramatically increasing the number of new arrivals and the proportion of children on remand, as well as Feltham’s overall population by nearly 50%. Children’s attendance at education and work had consequently been severely curtailed, and they were unable to make any kind of meaningful progress.