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Outcomes remain worryingly poor for children in custody

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An annual review of survey responses from children in custody has revealed that many continue to feel unsafe, are failing to get to education and feel uncared for by staff.

The review, which analysed HMI Prisons survey findings from children living in five young offender institutions (YOIs) in England and Wales and one secure training centre (Oakhill STC) between April 2024 and March 2025, found children were locked up for too long in most establishments, with many unable to take part in any productive activity during their time in custody.

Although the number of children held in YOIs and Oakhill STC had decreased since the last annual review, outcomes had not improved, despite improved child-to-staff ratios. Appalling findings at Cookham Wood in 2023 had led to its closure as a YOI in 2024, but this merely meant that children were moved to other struggling establishments.

Relationships between children – 65% of whom told the Inspectorate they had been in local authority care – and staff remained weak in most places. Too few children were motivated to behave well and only 26% felt the rewards and incentives schemes were fair. Violence was rife, with 43% saying they had felt unsafe at some point and 61% experiencing some form of bullying, violence or victimisation from other children, yet shockingly only 27% saying they would report this victimisation. In the absence of effective behaviour management schemes, staff resorted to keeping children apart from each other or separating them completely, and some children stayed in their cells because they were scared. This limited their ability to get to activities, with 39% at Feltham A saying they were not engaged in any education, work or training. Even when children did make it to activities, the quality of provision was frequently poor.

Only Parc YOI was bucking the trend across the establishments, with consistent daily routines which got children out of their cells, 85% saying they felt cared for by staff, and far fewer children feeling unsafe.

As with last year, outcomes in YOIs and the STC continue to be worryingly poor and, in some cases, children’s perceptions of their time in custody have got worse. This is because of the frequency of reckless and unpredictable violence from their peers. Indeed, when we inspected Oakhill with Ofsted three months after this review period, the situation at the centre had deteriorated so badly, and we had such serious concerns about safeguarding, that Ofsted issued an Urgent Notification for improvement.

Many of the children in custody are very challenging, and strong, supportive relationships are essential if they are to be rehabilitated. The Youth Custody Service must learn from the success of Parc and use it as a benchmark to measure improvements in the treatment of and conditions for children elsewhere.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor

Notes to editors

  1. The Children in custody 2024-25 report, published on 23 September 2025, can be found on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website at: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/  
  2. 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.
  3. Since 2001 HM Inspectorate of Prisons has carried out a ‘Children in custody’ report, providing an analysis of 12-18-year-olds’ perceptions of their experiences in secure training centres (STCs) and young offender institutions (YOIs) across England and Wales. The 2024-25 report draws from surveys of children and staff and inspections carried out in Cookham Wood, Wetherby and Keppel, Werrington, Parc and Feltham A YOIs and Oakhill STC, along with published statistics. Eighty-two per cent of children in the establishments responded to the survey.
  4. Ofsted issued an Urgent Notification for Oakhill STC on 30 July 2025, following a full inspection of the centre from 21–25 July. Read the Oakhill Urgent Notification.
  5. Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.