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Human rights apply equally to people in detention. Detained children and young people are especially vulnerable. British law and practice call into question the Government’s The Secure Training Centre (Amendment) Rules, which amended the Secure Training In this Report the Committee considers their compatibility with the UK’s human rights obligations (paragraphs 5-18). Restraint allowed in STCs is known as Physical Control in Care (PCC) and comprises a range of restraint holds and so-called “distraction techniques”. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has stated that the deliberate infliction of pain should not be used as a form of control. The Minister told the Committee that PCC was “designed to avoid, as far as possible, the use of techniques that involve pain”, stating that “the Government does not sanction violence against children”. The Committee considers that this is the effect of current UK law and that violence against children should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Statistics suggest that restraint is used on average on ten occasions per child per year. The issue of restraint has arisen in inquests into the deaths of two young people detained in STCs (paragraphs 19-38). The Minister told us that the Amendment Rules were brought in to clarify the existing legal position and to respond to the comments of the coroner who conducted the inquest into Adam Rickwood’s death. In the Committee’s view, the Amendment Rules have created more confusion and widened the scope for use of force in an unacceptable manner. The Committee recommends new Amendment Rules, following consultation with interested parties and medical advice, to make clear that physical restraint is not permissible for the purposes of good order and discipline. It also recommends careful monitoring of the effect of the Amendment Rules and that the Government regularly reports to Parliament on the number of restraint incidents (paragraphs 39-74). The Committee welcomes the creation of the Youth Justice Unit, the current review of restraint and the re-establishment of the Medical Review Panel. It welcomes the Government’s suspension of two restraint techniques in December 2007 and recommends abolition of all distraction techniques without delay. It suggests a series of specific measures to ensure compliance by STCs with human rights standards, including amendments to their contracts, monitoring of their local operating instructions, staff training and provision of information on restraint to detained children and their families. It also recommends that the PCC training manual, which should be published in full and disseminated to all staff who use restraint, be regularly revised to ensure that staff are absolutely clear about when restraint is permitted (paragraphs 75-118). Further information
commitment to recognising the dignity and worth of children in detention. The Committee has previously drawn attention to physical assault on and restraint of children in detention which it saw as unacceptable contraventions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (paragraphs 1-4).
Centre Rules 1998, came into force in July 2007, without parliamentary debate. They amend the existing Rules to permit Secure Training Centres (STCs) to use force against detained children and young people to “ensure good order and discipline”. The Amendment Rules were criticised for widening the scope for restraint in STCs. The Government promised a review of restraint in juvenile settings. In a judicial review of the Amendment Rules, the High Court held that they represented a “significant change in policy”.
Owner: House of Lords, House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rightspdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Joint_Committee_restraint_trainingcentre.pdf