Baroness Stern is to ask Her Majesty's government, following the report of 8 December from the Council of Europe's Committee on the Prevention of Torture, whether they propose to continue routine strip-searching and the use of restraint techniques involving the infliction of pain in prison establishments for those under 18.
The use of restraint techniques involving the infliction of pain to control young people in custody has been raised in Parliament many times, particularly by the MP for Northampton North, Sally Keeble.
The use of these techniques has also been roundly condemned in the House of Lords many times. In response to considerable pressure, the government eventually commissioned a review which recommended improvements, did not unequivocally reject the use of methods using pain infliction, but argued that its use should be a last resort. It said they [the government] "consider them inappropriate as the main response when young people need to be restrained, and wish to reduce reliance on them". Following the review, a large number of changes were announced.
In 2008 the Council of Europe Committee on the Prevention of Torture visited a Young Offenders Institution (YOI) holding boys under 18 and in its report heavily criticised the pain-infliction techniques in use. Huntercombe YOI, which the committee visited, had used force on juveniles 122 times in the third quarter of 2008. The young people who had been restrained complained to the committee about the pain-inflicting techniques employed. In particular they complained about the 'nose grip'. In the 'nose grip', the nose is pulled back and a finger rubbed hard across the base of the nostrils.
The report, and the government's response, have recently (8 December 2009) been published and the government's response to the committee is very disappointing. There seems no sense of urgency at all in making progress on the recommendations in the review.
Rather than stopping the use of pain to control young people, the government responded to the Council of Europe Committee that it is 'taking forward a number of work streams'.
The committee noted that not all staff had done the seven-day special training programme for working with juveniles. The government reply is that 'all staff working with young people will be trained', but they do not say when.
The committee recommended that staff should have more training in dealing with conflicts without the use of force, as the government review had also recommended.
The government response is tentative, saying that ministers have approved the introduction of conflict-resolution training for all officers working in young people's establishments, and the training 'may' last for eight days.
The committee endorsed the recommendation of the government review that working with young people in prison should be a specialist career. Apparently the government is 'considering how these requirements can be suitably achieved'.
The committee echoed a recommendation made in every inspection report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons: that routine strip-searching of juveniles should stop. This the government rejected out of hand.
The question on 13 January will enable peers to establish just what has changed in the treatment of under-18s in custody since the publication of the restraint review, and to make it clear once more that routine strip-searching and pain infliction as a method of dealing with some of society's most damaged young people is unacceptable and ineffective.
Article Comments
I had worked for many years in mental health with juveniles and adults, as well as in specialist units for deeply disturbed young people.The infliction of pain for restraint is totally unnecessary. I truly understand the need to sometimes restrain a young person and it is a totally exhausting experience.What I would suggest is that prison officers do not like to restrain in this way. I am left wondering why prison officers have been left in this vulnerable and horrendous position.There is a superb and painless form of restraint which is taught to psychiatric nurses. Prison officers would benefit from the course and feel a sense of professionalism and safety, while not having to resort to pain induction.I would like to say that some young people can be murderous in their attacks and trying to restrain and calm can go on for hours.Each restraint should be followed up by a one to one discussion with the boy's personal officer so as to see how the situation had developed - what was happening in the boys emotions.
13th Jan 2010 at 6:10 pm by Gerald Phillips
