Official Statistics

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

Published 26 January 2023

Applies to England and Wales

Main Points

516 assault incidents Jul to Sep 2022, of which 59 were serious 352 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 418 in the 3 months July to September 2022, an increase of 4% compared to the same period last year. The number of individual children and young people involved in incidents as assailants or fighters decreased 6% in the 3 months July to September 2022 compared to the same period last year, from 373 to 352.

219 assault incidents on staff Jul to Sep 2022, of which 38 were serious

The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff per 100 children and young people per year was 177 in the 3 months July to September 2022, a decrease of 15% compared to the same period last year.

502 self-harm incidents Jul to Sep 2022 80 different children and young people self-harmed Jul to Sep 2022

The annualised rate of self-harm incidents per 100 children and young people per year was 406 in the 3 months July to September 2022, an increase of 46% compared to the same period last year. The number of individual children and young people self-harming decreased 18% in the 3 months July to September 2022 compared to the same period last year, from 97 to 80.

No deaths reported in the year to 30 Sep 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 September 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 September 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 September 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 STCs continue 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. In the 3 months July to September 2022, the assault rate was 380 per 100 CYP per year. The STC’s rate of assault was 975 per 100 CYP per year, this is a decrease of 11% in comparison to the same period the previous year. The SCH rate of assault incidents was 336 per 100 CYP per year, which amounts to a decrease of 28% in comparison to the same period last year and had the lowest rate of assault incidents.

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, 10 to 14 year-olds with an Asian ethnic group and Muslims had the higher rate of being a victim of an assault.

There has been an increase of 46% 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 July to September 2022 is in STCs, at 217 per 100 CYP per year. This is a decrease of 6% 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 50 per 100 CYP per year. This is an increase of 6% in comparison to the same period in the previous year. The remaining sector, SCHs, saw a decrease of 31% with a rate of 65 per 100 CYP per year when compared to the same period in the previous year. The rate of self-harm among girls across the whole Children and Young People Secure Estate in the 12 months ending 30th September 2022 was 5524 incidents per 100 CYP per year, compared to 166 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 September 2022

Assault incident rate increased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months July to September 2022, there were 516 assault incidents in the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) involving 352 different children and young people (CYP) as assailants or fighters. The annualised rate of assault incidents was 418 per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 4% compared to the same period in 2021 when the rate was 400 per 100 CYP per year.

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

In the 3 months July to September 2022, there were 219 incidents in the CYPSE where staff were assaulted. The annualised rate of assault incidents on staff was 177 per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 15% compared to the same period in 2021 when the rate was 208 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 September 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 July to September 2022, the rate of assault is 418 per 100 CYP per year which is an increase of 4% in comparison to the same period last year, the 3 months to 30th September 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 July to September 2022 there were 219 assault incidents on staff at a rate of 177 per 100 CYP per year, a 15% decrease compared to the same 3 months last year where the rate was 208.

The rate of serious assaults in the 3 months July to September 2022 was 48 per 100 CYP per year, which is an increase of 129% in comparison to the same period last year where the rate was 21.

During the 3 months July to September 2022 there were 352 unique assailants / fighters compared to 373 over the same period in 2021. Over the 12 months to 30th September 2022 there were 759 unique CYP involved in an incident as either an assailant or fighter compared to 880 over the 12 months to 30th September 2021.

During the 3 months July to September 2022 there were 118 unique CYP victims compared to 125 over the same period in 2021. The number of unique victims among children and young people was 366 in the 12 months to 30th September 2022, up from 398 in the 12 months to 30th September 2021.

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

The rate of assault incidents during the 3 months July to September 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 July to September 2022 were recorded in SCHs. In the 3 months July to September 2022, the comparative rate of assaults across the sectors were 380 per 100 CYP per year in YOIs, which increased 28% compared to the same period last year; 975 per 100 CYP per year in STCs, a decrease of 11%; and 336 per 100 CYP per year in SCHs, reflecting a decrease of 28% on the same period last year.

The rate of assaults on staff in the 3 months July to September 2022 was highest within STCs at 629 per 100 CYP per year, a 13% decrease compared to the same period last year. For YOIs the rate is 145 per 100 CYP per year, a 26% increase compared to the same period last year. In YOIs the rate for the 3 months July to September 2022 is 119 per 100 CYP per year, a 26% 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 September 2022 were higher than other groups for girls at 814 per 100 CYP per year, for 10 to 14 year-olds at 947 per 100 CYP; for CYP from a black background at 847 per 100 CYP, and for Muslims at 747 per 100 CYP.

The groups with the highest rate of involvement as a victim were boys at 106 per 100 CYP per year, 10 to 14 year-olds, at 161 per 100 CYP per year, CYP from Asian ethnic groups at 141 per 100 CYP per year and for Muslims at 129 per 100 CYP per year.

Figure 4: Rate of assailant / fighters by protected characteristic – October 2021 to September 2022

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

Self-harm incidents increased compared to same period last year

In the 3 months July to September 2022 there were 502 incidents of self-harm involving 80 different CYP. The annualised rate was 406 incidents per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 46% 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 July to September 2022 has subsequently risen from this peak at 406 per 100 CYP per year has increased by 46% 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 80, compared to 97 individual children and young people who self-harmed in the 3 months ending 30th September 2021. Over the last 12 months ending 30th September 2022, the number of individuals self-harming was 227 compared to 274 for previous 12 months. The rate of individuals self-harming per 100 CYP was 46 for the 12 months to 30th September 2022 and 47 for the previous 12 months.

Figure 6: Rate of self-harm incidents per 100 CYP per year - July to September 2021 and July to September 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 July to September 2022 was 396 incidents per 100 CYP per year, this is a decrease of 4% in comparison to the same period last year. STCs had a rate of self-harm of 639 per 100 CYP per year, a decrease of 8% in comparison to the same period last year. YOIs rate of self-harm was 386 per 100 CYP per year, an increase of 93% 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 July to September 2022 was in STCs (20 different self-harmers from an average population of 37), followed by SCHs (12 different self-harmers from an average population of 73) and then YOIs (48 different self-harmers from an average population of 381).

Over the 12 months to 30th September 2022, a total of 356 self-harm incidents resulted in an injury requiring some treatment, 22% of the total, and 42 required hospital attendance, representing 3% of the total.

The number of girls in the CYPSE is low (an average of 14 out of a total population of 494 over the 12 months to 30th September 2022). The rate of self-harm among girls was 5524 incidents per 100 per year, compared to 166 per 100 boys per year. Each of the girls who self-harmed did so on average 32 times per year.

Within protected characteristic groupings, self-harming was most common over the 12 months to 30th September 2022 among 10 to 14 year-olds (778 incidents per 100 CYP per year), white children (571 per 100 CYP per year), and those identified as those with no religion (586 per 100 CYP per year) in comparison to others in the group.

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

4. Deaths: April 2014 to September 2022

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

Deaths of children and young people are fortunately rare and there were no deaths in the 12 months ending 30th September 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 April 2023

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

© Crown copyright. Produced by the Ministry of Justice.

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