Official Statistics

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

Published 27 April 2023

Applies to England and Wales

Main Points

459 assault incidents Oct to Dec 2022, of which 47 were serious 346 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 384 in the 3 months October to December 2022, an increase of 11% compared to the same period last year. The number of individual children and young people involved in incidents as assailants or fighters increased 3% in the 3 months October to December 2022 compared to the same period last year, from 336 to 346.

232 assault incidents on staff Oct to Dec 2022, of which 23 were serious

The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff per 100 children and young people per year was 194 in the 3 months October to December 2022, an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year.

719 self-harm incidents Oct to Dec 2022 66 different children and young people self-harmed Oct to Dec 2022

The annualised rate of self-harm incidents per 100 children and young people per year was 602 in the 3 months October to December 2022, an increase of 176% compared to the same period last year. The number of individual children and young people self-harming decreased 12% in the 3 months October to December 2022 compared to the same period last year, from 75 to 66.

No deaths reported in the year to 31 Dec 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 31st December 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 31st December 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 increase in the rate of assaults when compared to the quarter ending December 2021. When looking at individual sectors, there have been increases in the Young Offender Institutions (YOI) sector, decreases in the Secure Training Centre (STC) sector, and little change in the Secure Children’s Home (SCH) sector. The STC sector 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 (CYP) in the CYPSE. In the 3 months October to December 2022, the YOI assault rate was 371 per 100 CYP per year, this is an increase of 25% in comparison to the same period the previous year. The STC’s rate of assault was 572 per 100 CYP per year, this is a decrease of 36% in comparison to the same period the previous year. The SCH rate of assault incidents was the lowest of the three sectors at 361 per 100 CYP per year, which amounts to little change in comparison to the same period of the previous year.

The following groups that have a higher rate of involvement in assaults over the previous 12 months are 10 to 14 year-olds and Muslims, with girls and Black ethnic groups being more likely to be an assailant or a fighter and boys and those of an Asian ethnic group having a higher rate of being a victim of an assault.

The CYPSE has seen an overall increase in the rate of self-harm when compared to the quarter ending December 2021. There has been an increase of 176% in the rate of self-harm in comparison to the 3 months October to December 2021 and an increase of 138% compared to the 3 months July to September 2022. When looking at individual sectors, there have been increases at YOIs and decreases at STC and SCHs. The rate of self-harm is typically influenced by a very smaller number of individuals self-harming multiple times.

The STC sector has the highest rate of individual CYP self-harming for the 3 months October to December 2022, at 135 per 100 CYP per year. This is a decrease of 49% in comparison to the same period in the previous year. The YOI sector has the lowest rate of individual CYP self-harming for this period where the rate is 46 per 100 CYP per year. This is an increase of 36% in comparison to the same period in the previous year. SCHs had a rate of 64 individual CYP self-harming per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 37% when compared to the same period in the previous year.

The following groups have a high rate of self-harm: girls, 15 year-olds, white ethnic groups and those with no religion. The rate of self-harm among girls across the whole Children and Young People Secure Estate in the 12 months ending 31st December 2022 was 9,156 incidents per 100 CYP per year, compared to 169 incidents per 100 CYP per year for boys.

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 31st December 2022

Assault incident rate increased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months October to December 2022, there were 459 assault incidents in the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) involving 346 different children and young people (CYP) as assailants or fighters. The annualised rate of assault incidents was 384 per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 11% compared to the same period in 2021 when the rate was 347 per 100 CYP per year.

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

In the 3 months October to December 2022, there were 232 incidents in the CYPSE where staff were assaulted. The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff was 194 per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 12% compared to the same period in 2021 when the rate was 174 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 December 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 October to December 2022, the rate of assault is 384 per 100 CYP per year which is an increase of 11% in comparison to the same period last year, the 3 months October to December 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 October to December 2022 there were 232 assault incidents on staff at a rate of 194 per 100 CYP per year, a 12% increase compared to the same 3 months last year where the rate was 174.

The rate of serious assaults in the 3 months October to December 2022 was 39 per 100 CYP per year, which is an increase of 63% in comparison to the same period last year where the rate was 24.

During the 3 months October to December 2022 there were 346 unique assailants / fighters compared to 336 over the same period in 2021.

During the 3 months October to December 2022 there were 117 unique CYP victims compared to 92 over the same period in 2021.

Figure 3: Rate of assault incidents per 100 CYP per year - October to December 2021 and October to December 2022

The rate of assault incidents during the 3 months October to December 2022 increased in the YOI sector, decreased in the STC sector, and was broadly similar in the SCH sector when compared to the same period last year.

The lowest assault rates in the 3 months October to December 2022 were recorded in SCHs. In the 3 months October to December 2022, the comparative rate of assaults across the sectors were 371 per 100 CYP per year in YOIs, which increased 24% compared to the same period last year; 572 per 100 CYP per year in STCs, a decrease of 36%; and 361 per 100 CYP per year in SCHs, reflecting only a small change on the same period last year.

The rate of assaults on staff in the 3 months October to December 2022 was highest within STCs at 370 per 100 CYP per year, a 39% decrease compared to the same period last year. For SCHs the rate is 244 per 100 CYP per year, a 14% decrease compared to the same period last year. In YOIs the rate for the 3 months October to December 2022 is 168 per 100 CYP per year, a 45% 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 31st December 2022 were higher than other groups for girls at 914 per 100 CYP per year, for 10 to 14 year-olds at 864 per 100 CYP; for CYP from a black background at 842 per 100 CYP, and for Muslims at 725 per 100 CYP.

The groups with the highest rate of involvement as a victim were boys at 114 per 100 CYP per year, 10 to 14 year-olds, at 173 per 100 CYP per year, CYP from Asian ethnic groups at 157 per 100 CYP per year and for Muslims at 155 per 100 CYP per year.

Figure 4: Rate of assailant / fighters by protected characteristic – January 2022 to December 2022

3. Self-Harm: April 2014 to 31st December 2022

Self-harm incidents increased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months October to December 2022 there were 719 incidents of self-harm involving 66 different CYP. The annualised rate was 602 incidents per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 176% 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 October to December 2022 has subsequently risen from this peak at 602 per 100 CYP per year and has increased by 176% 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 66, compared to 75 individual children and young people who self-harmed in the 3 months October to December 2021.

Figure 6: Rate of self-harm incidents per 100 CYP per year - October to December 2021 and October to December 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 October to December 2022 was 1146 incidents per 100 CYP per year, this is an increase of 88% in comparison to the same period last year. STCs had a rate of self-harm of 247 per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 68% in comparison to the same period last year. YOIs rate of self-harm was 535 per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 456% in comparison to the same period last year.

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 October to December 2022 was in STCs (12 different self-harmers from an average population of 35), followed by SCHs (11 different self-harmers from an average population of 68) and then YOIs (43 different self-harmers from an average population of 371).

Over the 12 months to 31st December 2022, a total of 397 self-harm incidents resulted in an injury requiring some treatment, 19% of the total, and 46 required hospital attendance, representing 2% of the total.

The number of girls in the CYPSE is low (an average of 13 out of a total population of 485 over the 12 months to 31st December 2022). The rate of self-harm among girls was 9156 incidents per 100 per year, compared to 169 per 100 boys per year. Each of the girls who self-harmed did so on average 54 times per year.

Within protected characteristic groupings, self-harming was most common over the 12 months to 31st December 2022 among 15 year-olds (748 incidents per 100 CYP per year), white children (760 per 100 CYP per year), and those identified as those with no religion (597 per 100 CYP per year) in comparison to others in the group.

Figure 7: Rate of self-harm incidents by protected characteristics – January 2022 to December 2022

4. Deaths: April 2014 to 31st December 2022

No deaths were reported in the Youth Children and Young People Secure Estate in the 12 months ending 31st December 2022

Deaths of children and young people are fortunately rare and there were no deaths in the 12 months ending 31st December 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: 27th July 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