Official Statistics

Safety in the Children and Young People Secure Estate: Update to June 2022

Published 27 October 2022

Applies to England and Wales

Main Points

502 assault incidents Apr to Jun 2022, of which 36 were serious 364 different children and young people involved as assailants or fighters

The annualised rate of assault incidents per 100 children and young people per year was 410 in the 3 months April to June 2022, a decrease of 12% compared to the same period last year. The number of individual children and young people involved in incidents as assailants or fighters decreased 8% in the 3 months April to June 2022 compared to the same period last year, from 395 to 364.

213 assault incidents on staff Apr to Jun 2022, of which 24 were serious

The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff per 100 children and young people per year was 174 in the 3 months April to June 2022, a decrease of 32% compared to the same period last year.

455 self-harm incidents Apr to Jun 2022 79 different children and young people self-harmed Apr to Jun 2022

The annualised rate of self-harm incidents per 100 children and young people per year was 371 in the 3 months April to June 2022, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year. The number of individual children and young people self-harming decreased 24% in the 3 months April to June 2022 compared to the same period last year, from 104 to 79.

No deaths reported in the year to 30 Jun 2022

The last death in the Children and Young People Secure Estate was in June 2019.

The Safety in the Children and Young People Secure Estate Bulletin reports assault and self-harm incidents and deaths from April 2014 to 30th June 2022. The information covers the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, which must be considered and accounted for in every aspect of the information presented and when comparing time periods.

1. Statistician’s Comment

These statistics present data up until 30th June 2022 on incidents of assault, self-harm and death across each sector of the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE).

Throughout these statistics, the latest reporting quarter is annualised and compared to the same annualised period from the previous year.

The CYPSE has seen an overall decrease in the rate of assaults when compared to the quarter ending June 2021. When looking at individual sectors, there have been increases in the Youth Offender Institutions (YOI) sector, decreases in the Secure Training Centre (STC) sector, and decreases in the Secure Children’s Home (SCH) sector. The STC continues to have the highest rate of incidents of assaults when compared to the other sectors.

YOIs hold the majority of the children and young people in the CYPSE and had the lowest rate of assault incidents. In the 3 months April to June 2022, the assault rate was 393 per 100 CYP per year. The STC’s rate of assault was 568 per 100 CYP per, this is a decrease of 59% in comparison to the same period the previous year. The SCH rate of assault incidents was 418 per 100 CYP per year, which amounts to a decrease of 18% in comparison to the same period last year.

It is shown that the following groups have a higher rate of involvement in assaults over the previous 12 months as an assailant or a fighter; girls, 10 to 14 year-olds, black ethnic groups and Muslims, whereas boys, 16 year-olds with a black ethnic group and Muslims had the higher rate of being a victim of an assault.

There has been an increase of 8% in the rate of self-harm in comparison to the same period in the previous year. The rate of self-harm differs across the sectors and is typically influenced by a smaller number of individuals self-harming multiple times.

The highest rate of individual children and young people self-harming for the 3 months to 30th June 2022 is in STCs, at 234 per 100 CYP per year. This is an increase of 8% in comparison to the same period in the previous year. The YOIs is the sector with the lowest rate of individual children and young people self-harming for this period where the rate is 51 per 100 CYP per year. This is an increase of 19% in comparison to the same period in the previous year. The remaining sector, SCHs, saw a decrease of 60% with a rate of 52 per 100 CYP per year when compared to the same period in the previous year. The increase in self-harm within YOIs should be taken in the context of girls being placed there since July 2021. The rate of self-harm among girls across the whole Children and Young People Secure Estate in the 12 months ending 30th June 2022 was 3805 incidents per 100 CYP per year, compared to 180 incidents per 100 CYP per year for boys.

It is shown that the following groups have a high rate of self-harm: girls, 10 to 14 year-olds, white ethnic groups and those with no religion.

No deaths of Children and Young People have been reported since June 2019. This includes any deaths that may have been COVID-19 related.

2. Assaults: April 2014 to 30th June 2022

Assault incident rate decreased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months April to June 2022, there were 502 assault incidents in the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) involving 364 different children and young people (CYP) as assailants or fighters. The annualised rate of assault incidents was 410 per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 12% compared to the same period in 2021 when the rate was 464 per 100 CYP per year.

Assault incidents on staff rate decreased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months April to June 2022, there were 213 incidents in the CYPSE where staff were assaulted. The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff was 174 per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 32% compared to the same period in 2021 when the rate was 254 per 100 CYP per year.

Figure 1: Rate of assaults and fights by quarter - April 14 to March 18

Figure 2: Rate of assault incidents per 100 CYP per year April 19 to June 2022

The definition and counting rules of assaults changed from April 2019 (April 2018 for Young Offender Institutions (YOI)) and hence no long-term trends are available and there was no estate-wide figure in 2018/19. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the trends before and after the break respectively.

The rate of assault incidents fell substantially at the outset the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last full quarter prior to the pandemic, the 3 months to 31 December 2019 (October to December), the assault rate per 100 CYP per year was 466. During the 3 months to 30 June 2020 incidents fell to their lowest since the current assaults’ definition was introduced, down to 204 per 100 CYP per year. For the most recent quarter, the 3 months to 30th June 2022, the rate of assault is 410 per 100 CYP per year which is a decrease of 12% in comparison to the same period last year, the 3 months to 30th June 2021.

The rate of incidents involving a staff assault also fell during the early months of the pandemic, reaching a low of 139 per 100 CYP per year, but this began to rise in the following quarters to the 3 months ending 30th June 2021. In the latest 3 months to 30th June 2022 there were 213 assault incidents on staff at a rate of 174 per 100 CYP per year, a 32% decrease compared to the same 3 months last year where the rate was 254.

The rate of serious assaults in the 3 months to 30th June 2022 was 29 per 100 CYP per year, which is a decrease of 6% in comparison to the same period last year where the rate was 31.

During the 3 months to 30th June 2022 there were 364 unique assailants / fighters compared to 395 over the same period in 2021. Over the 12 months to 30th June 2022 there were 792 unique CYP involved in an incident as either an assailant or fighter compared to 907 over the 12 months to 30th June 2021.

During the 3 months to 30th June 2022 there were 118 unique CYP victims compared to 111 over the same period in 2021. The number of unique victims among children and young people was 378 in the 12 months to 30th June 2022, up from 398 in the 12 months to 30th June 2021.

Figure 3: Rate of assault incidents per 100 CYP per year – April to June 2021 and April to June 2022

The rate of assault incidents during the 3 months to 30th June 2022 increased in the YOI sector, decreased in the STC sector, and decreased in the SCH sector when compared to the same period last year.

The lowest assault rates in the 3 months to 30th June 2022 were recorded in YOIs. In the 3 months to 30th June 2022, the comparative rate of assaults across the sectors were 393 per 100 CYP per year in YOIs, which increased 39% compared to the same period last year; 568 per 100 CYP per year in STCs, a decrease of 59%; and 418 per 100 CYP per year in SCHs, reflecting a decrease of 18% on the same period last year.

The rate of assaults on staff in the 3 months to 30th June 2022 was highest within STCs at 212 per 100 CYP per year, a 79% decrease compared to the same period last year. For YOIs the rate is 172 per 100 CYP per year, a 110% increase compared to the same period last year. In YOIs the rate for the 3 months to 30th June 2022 is 165 per 100 CYP per year, a 110% increase on the same period last year.

In terms of protected characteristics, the rates of involvement as an assailant or fighter over the 12 months to 30th June 2022 were higher than other groups for girls at 926 per 100 CYP per year, for 10 to 14 year-olds at 1053 per 100 CYP; for CYP from a black background at 860 per 100 CYP, and for Muslims at 713 per 100 CYP.

The groups with the highest rate of involvement as a victim were boys at 106 per 100 CYP per year, 16 year-olds, at 125 per 100 CYP per year, CYP from black ethnic groups at 113 per 100 CYP per year and for Muslims at 116 per 100 CYP per year.

Figure 4: Rate of assailant / fighters by protected characteristic – July 2021 to June 2022

3. Self-Harm: April 2014 to 30th June 2022

Self-harm incidents increased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months April to June 2022 there were 455 incidents of self-harm involving 79 different CYP. The annualised rate was 371 incidents per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year.

Figure 5: Annualised rate of self-harm incidents per 100 CYP in custody

The rate of self-harm incidents fell significantly during the first 9 months of the Covid-19 pandemic but increased sharply in the quarter April to June 2021, recording 345 per 100 CYP per year, the highest self-harm rate since 2014. The self-harm rate for the 3 months to 30th June 2022 has subsequently risen from this peak at 371 per 100 CYP per year has increased by 8% compared to the rate for the same period last year.

The number of individual children and young people self-harming in the latest 3 months was 79, compared to 104 individual children and young people who self-harmed in the 3 months ending 30th June 2021. Over the last 12 months ending 30th June 2022, the number of individuals self-harming was 240 compared to 263 for previous 12 months. The rate of individuals self-harming per 100 CYP was 47 for the 12 months to 30th June 2022 and 43 for the previous 12 months.

Figure 6: Rate of self-harm incidents per 100 CYP per year - April to June 2021 and April to June 2022

Rates of self-harm have shown different directions of travel across all three sectors of the CYPSE. The rate of self-harm at SCHs for the 3 months to 30th June 2022 was 315 incidents per 100 CYP per year, this is a decrease of 63% in comparison to the same period last year. STCs had a rate of self-harm of 635 per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 1% in comparison to the same period last year. YOIs rate of self-harm was 358 per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 75% in comparison to the same period last year, which has been influenced by the placement of girls into the YOI estate since July 2021.

The rate of self-harm incidents is influenced by small numbers of individuals self-harming multiple times, so it is important to consider the number of different individuals self-harming as well as the overall count of incidents. The highest rate of unique CYP self-harming over the 3 months to 30th June 2022 was in STCs (21 different self-harmers from an average population of 36), followed by SCHs (10 different self-harmers from an average population of 78) and then YOIs (48 different self-harmers from an average population of 378).

Over the 12 months to 30th June 2022, a total of 354 self-harm incidents resulted in an injury requiring some treatment, 24% of the total, and 44 required hospital attendance, representing 3% of the total.

The number of girls in the CYPSE is low (an average of 15 out of a total population of 507 over the 12 months to 30th June 2022). The rate of self-harm among girls was 3805 incidents per 100 per year, compared to 180 per 100 boys per year. Each of the girls who self-harmed did so on average 27 times per year.

Within protected characteristic groupings, self-harming was most common over the 12 months to 30th June 2022 among 10 to 14 year-olds (807 incidents per 100 CYP per year), white children (445 per 100 CYP per year), and those identified as those with no religion (552 per 100 CYP per year) in comparison to others in the group.

Figure 7: Rate of self-harm incidents by protected characteristics – July 2021 to June 2022

4. Deaths: April 2014 to June 2022

No deaths were reported in the Youth Children and Young People Secure Estate in the 12 months ending 30th June 2022

Deaths of children and young people are fortunately rare and there were no deaths in the 12 months ending 30th June 2022. Since April 2014 there have been three deaths of children and young people within the CYPSE.

• Two at Cookham Wood YOI, in July 2015 and June 2019

• One at Hillside SCH, in February 2017

• All of these deaths were due to natural causes

Further Information

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

• A guide providing further information on how the data are collected and processed, as well as an assessment of data quality. The revisions policy, other statistical issues and a glossary of terms used are also covered in the guide.

• A set of summary tables covering both the latest quarter and annual summaries of the data back to 2014/15.

Contact Points

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 020 3334 3536

Email: newsdesk@justice.gov.uk

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to:

Katherine Tatlock

Youth Custody Service

HM Prison and Probation Service

1 Ruskin Square

Ruskin Road

Croydon

CR0 2WF

Email: statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 26th January 2023

URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-statistics#youth-secure-estate-statistics

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Alternative formats are available on request from statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk