Official Statistics

Safety in the Children and Young People Secure Estate: Update to December 2024

Published 24 April 2025

Applies to England and Wales

Main Points

534 assault incidents Oct to Dec 2024, of which 42 were serious 375 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 408.5 in the 3 months October to December 2024, a 23% increase when compared to the same period last year. The number of unique children and young people involved in incidents as assailants or fighters decreased by 2% in the 3 months October to December 2024 compared to the same period last year, from 382 to 375.

248 assault incidents on staff Oct to Dec 2024, of which 14 were serious

The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff per 100 children and young people per year was 189.7 in the 3 months October to December 2024, an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year.

350 self-harm incidents Oct to Dec 2024 83 different children and young people self-harmed Oct to Dec 2024

The annualised rate of self-harm incidents per 100 children and young people per year was 267.7 in the 3 months October to December 2024, a decrease of 21% compared to the same period last year. The number of unique children and young people self-harming remained stable in the 3 months October to December 2024 compared to the same period last year, from 85 to 83.

No deaths reported in the year to Dec 2024

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

This Safety in the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) Bulletin publishes statistics across all CYPSE sectors for assaults, self-harm, and deaths from April 2014 to December 2024. Oasis Restore Secure School are not included in the accompanying tables nor overarching statistics.

Assaults, self-harm incidents and deaths are refreshed quarterly, with use of force incidents and separations in all sectors being refreshed annually in July.

Where the presented statistics cover the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, it must be considered and accounted for when comparing time periods.

1. Statistician’s Comment

These statistics present data up until December 2024 across each sector of the CYPSE. Throughout these statistics, the latest reporting quarter is annualised and compared to the same annualised period from the previous year.

The CYPSE is built up of distinct sectors; Young Offender Institutions, a Secure Training Centre, Secure Children’s Homes and a Secure School, which had its first placement in August 2024.

Each sector is operated under different models which are governed by different rules. Caution should be taken when comparing sectors to each other. More information can be found in the accompanying guide to the bulletin.

Due to Oasis Restore Secure School accepting its first child or young person part-way through this reporting year and the small number of incidents occurring, it has been excluded from the accompanying tables in this publication and all the quoted statistics in this document unless explicitly stated otherwise. Small numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with data protection principles. See the section on Disclosure in the accompanying guide for more information.

Given the CYPSE’s small population size, individual children and young people (CYP) can significantly impact statistics. This is particularly apparent within Secure Children’s Homes where site populations are the lowest within the CYPSE, however it can also be seen across the larger sites.

Girls can be placed in Secure Children’s Homes and at Oakhill STC since November 2022 and Oasis Restore Secure School since August 2024. The impact of these placements can often be seen clearly within these statistics.

There have been no girls in the YOI sector since November 2024, which is within this reporting period. The decision to no longer place girls in the YOI Sector was made permanent in March 2025.

The average number of girls within the CYPSE was below 10 for the 12 months to December 2024, no rates have been calculated for girls throughout these statistics, and it is not possible to draw comparisons on rates between sexes of children and young people.

It is shown that there has been an increase in both the volume and the rate of assault incidents and assaults on staff across the CYPSE in the 3 months October to December 2024 when compared to the 3 months October to December 2023 across all three sectors, with the highest increases being seen in the Secure Training Centre sector. In that sector, CYP on CYP assaults have increased in volume by 152% and rate per 100 CYP per year by 114% in the same period.

It is also shown that self-harm incidents decreased in all sectors in the 3 months October to December 2024 when compared to the 3 months October to December 2023, particularly in the Secure Training Centre sector where the rate of self-harm incidents decreased by 46%.

In addition to the statistics in this document Oasis Restore Secure School had an average population of 10.0 children and young people, 25 assault incidents and 48 self-harm incidents in the 3 months October to December 2024.

2. Assaults: April 2014 to December 2024

Assault incident rate increased when compared to same period last year

In the 3 months October to December 2024, there were 534 assault incidents in the CYPSE involving 375 different Children and Young People (CYP) as assailants or fighters. The annualised rate of assault incidents was 408.5 per 100 CYP per year, increasing compared to the same period in 2023 when the rate was 333.1 incidents per 100 CYP per year.

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

In the 3 months October to December 2024, there were 248 incidents in the CYPSE where staff were assaulted. The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff was 189.7 per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 24% compared to the same period in 2023 when the rate was 152.9 incidents per 100 CYP per year.

Figure 1: Rate of assaults and fights by quarter from April 2014 to March 2018 and assault incidents from April 2019 to December 2024

The definition and counting rules of assaults changed from April 2019 (April 2018 for YOIs) and hence no long-term trends are available and there was no estate-wide figure in 2018/19. Figure 1 illustrates the trends before and after the break.

The rate of assault incidents fell substantially at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last full quarter prior to the pandemic, the 3 months October to December 2019, the assault rate per 100 CYP per year was 466.4.

For the most recent quarter, the 3 months October to December 2024, the rate of assault was 408.5 incidents per 100 CYP per year which increased by 23% in comparison to the same period last year, the 3 months October to December 2023.

In the latest 3 months October to December 2024 there were 248 assault incidents on staff at a rate of 189.7 incidents per 100 CYP per year, a 24% increase compared to the same 3 months last year where the rate was 152.9 incidents per 100 CYP per year with 224 assault incidents on staff.

The rate of serious assaults in the 3 months to December 2024 was 32.1 incidents per 100 CYP per year, which is an increase of 21% in comparison to the same period last year where the rate was 26.6 incidents per 100 CYP per year.

During the 3 months October to December 2024 there were 375 unique assailants / fighters compared to 382 over the same period in 2023.

During the 3 months October to December 2024 there were 126 unique CYP victims which was the same as over the same period in 2023.

Figure 2: Rate of assault incidents per 100 CYP per year from October 2023 to December 2023 and from October 2024 to December 2024

The CYPSE-wide rate of assault incidents increased during the 3 months October to December 2024 and increased in all sectors when compared to the same period last year. The lowest assault rates in the 3 months October to December 2024 were recorded in SCHs.

In the 3 months October to December 2024, the comparative rate of assaults across the sectors were 365.8 incidents per 100 CYP per year in YOIs, an increase of 17%; 758.2 incidents per 100 CYP per year in the STC, an increase of 33%; and 317.8 incidents per 100 CYP per year in SCHs, an increase of 16% when compared to the same period last year.

The rate of assaults on staff in the 3 months October to December 2024 was highest within the STC at 426.5 incidents per 100 CYP per year, a 2% increase compared to the same period last year. For SCHs the rate was 170.4 incidents per 100 CYP per year, a 31% increase compared to the same period last year. In YOIs the rate for the 3 months October to December 2024 was 150.9 incidents per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 23% 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 December 2024 were higher than other groups for CYP aged 15, 16, or 17 at 690.1, 695.2 and 659.8 incidents per 100 CYP respectively, for CYP from a Black background at 789.5 incidents per 100 CYP, and for Muslims at 758.1 incidents per CYP per year (where a religion is known). Due to the low number of girls within the estate over the 12 months to December 2024, it is not possible to draw comparisons on rate between sexes.

The groups with the highest rate of involvement as a victim were CYP aged 15 to 16, at between 130.3 and 132.1 incidents per 100 CYP per year and for CYP who are Muslim at 128.9 incidents per 100 CYP per year. Due to the low number of girls within the estate over the 12 months to December 2024, it is not possible to draw comparisons on rate between sexes.

3. Self-Harm: April 2014 to December 2024

Self-harm incidents decreased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months October to December 2024 there were 350 incidents of self-harm involving 83 different CYP. The annualised rate was 267.7 incidents per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 21% compared to the same period last year.

Figure 3: Rate of self-harm incidents per 100 CYP per year from April 2014 to December 2024

The self-harm rate for the 3 months October to December 2024 was 267.7 incidents per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 21% compared to the same period last year.

The number of unique children and young people self-harming in the 3 months October to December 2024 was 83, compared to 85 unique children and young people who self-harmed in the 3 months October to December 2023.

Figure 4: Rate of self-harm incidents per 100 CYP per year from October 2023 to December 2023 and from October 2024 to December 2024

The rate of self-harm incidents during the 3 months October to December 2024 decreased overall, with a decrease in all sectors when compared to the same period last year. The lowest self-harm rates in the 3 months October to December 2024 were recorded in SCHs.

In the 3 months October to December 2024, the comparative rates of self-harm across the sectors were 284.4 incidents per 100 CYP per year in YOIs, a decrease of 10%; 325.8 incidents per 100 CYP per year in the STC, a decrease of 46%; and 152.0 incidents per 100 CYP per year in SCHs, a decrease of 45% when compared 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 2024 was in the STC sector (13 different self-harmers from an average population of 67.0), followed by the YOI sector (57 different self-harmers from an average population of 365.8) and the SCH sector (13 different self-harmers from an average population of 86.2).

The number of self-harm incidents that resulted in an injury requiring treatment in the 3 months October to December 2024 was 88, representing 25.1% of self-harm incidents which is a decrease from 26.8% when compared to the same period last year.

Despite making up around 1.9% of the total average population over the 12 months ending December 2024 (an average of 9.9 girls out of a total average population of 534.3), girls were responsible for almost half of all self-harm incidents (994 incidents out of a total 2,030). This should be taken into account when considering self-harm across other protected characteristic groupings.

Within protected characteristic groupings, self-harming was most common over the 12 months to December 2024 among 17-year-olds (506.0 incidents per 100 CYP per year) and white CYP (675.4 incidents per 100 CYP per year) in comparison to others in the group. Due to the low number of girls within the estate over the 12 months to December 2024, it is not possible to draw comparisons on rate between sex.

4. Deaths: April 2014 to December 2024

No deaths were reported in the CYPSE in the 12 months ending December 2024

Deaths of children and young people are fortunately rare and there were no deaths in the 12 months ending December 2024. 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 deaths were due to natural causes

5. Oasis Restore Secure School: October 2024 to December 2024

Oasis Restore Secure School accepted its first placement in August 2024

Due to Oasis Restore Secure School receiving their first placement part-way through this reporting year and the small number of incidents occurring, it has been excluded from the accompanying tables in this publication and all the quoted statistics in this document.

In the 3 months October to December 2024, the average population at Oasis Restore Secure School was 10.0 CYP.

There were 25 assault incidents, and 48 self-harm incidents reported in the three months October to December 2024.

Further breakdowns of the number of incidents are not possible due to small numbers. Small numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with data protection principles and hence further breakdown of these headline statistics is not possible. See the section on Disclosure in the accompanying guide for more information.

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

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: YCSInformationAndPerformance@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 31st July 2025 (assaults, self-harm, separations, use of force, deaths)

Next update: 30th October 2025 (assaults, self-harm, deaths)

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

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Produced by the Ministry of Justice.

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