Demoralised and hesitant staff failing to keep children safe at Kent YOI
An inspection of a Kent young offender institution (YOI), HMYOI Cookham Wood, found an establishment that was deteriorating fast, with weapon-making and violence rife and boys held in solitary confinement for extended periods. Some staff members seemed to have ‘given up’ and no longer even bothered to wear the correct uniform to work.
Cookham Wood held only 77 boys at the time of inspection, whose care was being overseen by around 360 staff, including 24 senior leaders. Nearly a quarter of the boys in the YOI said that they felt unsafe; this was perhaps unsurprising in view of the levels of violence and the more than 200 weapons found in the months leading up to the inspection.
Rather than engaging in conflict resolution, leaders had introduced extensive instructions on which boys were known to be in conflict and needed to be kept apart from each other. At the time of the inspection, 90% of boys were being kept apart from other prisoners, resulting in nearly 600 separate instructions. This undermined the provision of any meaningful regime, with access to education and other activities determined by which children could safely mix, rather than their individual needs or abilities.
Despite this, levels of violence remained high and some boys spent days on end languishing in their cells in response to incidents. During that time, most had hardly any meaningful human interaction. Other children were separated for their own protection, and inspectors met two boys who had been subjected to solitary confinement for more than 100 days because staff could not guarantee their safety.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor said:
Cookham Wood holds some of the most challenging yet vulnerable children in the criminal justice system. Staff should be supporting them in learning how to manage their behaviour and deal with conflict so that violence is reduced within the YOI, and they are less likely to reoffend on release. Instead, we found boys locked in their cells overseen by demoralised, frightened staff while leaders stayed out of sight in their offices. Perhaps unsurprisingly, staff spoke openly of how little confidence they had in the leadership. We were surprised and concerned to hear that, since the new governor had been appointed, no senior leader from the Youth Custody Service had been to see for themselves the failings at Cookham Wood.”
Evidence of the deterioration of Cookham Wood was also apparent in the physical conditions of the YOI. Living units were dirty, important equipment was broken and graffiti was rife. Significantly, standards in staff facilities, such as offices, were also not good enough. No one it seemed, had challenged any of this deterioration.
These findings would be deeply troubling in any prison, but given that Cookham Wood holds children, they were completely unacceptable. As a result, I had no choice but to write to the Secretary of State immediately after the inspection and invoke the Urgent Notification process.”
The report, published today, notes that there will need to be urgent, concerted and long-term commitment from leaders at the YOI and from the Youth Custody Service to improve standards at Cookham Wood and make it an acceptable place to hold children.
Notes to editors
- Read the HMYOI Cookham Wood report, published on 18 July 2023.
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
- HMYOI Cookham Wood is a young offender institution in Kent for boys aged 15-18.
- The inspection took place between 4 and 20 April 2023. Immediately after the inspection, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons issued an Urgent Notification for improvement. An Urgent Notification is not an inspection, but is a process that may occur if we are particularly concerned about outcomes for detainees. Read the Urgent Notification for HMYOI Cookham Wood, and the Secretary of State’s response.
- Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.