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Loading …The government has authorised the use of a synthetic pepper spray on young people in England’s three young offender institutions (YOI) against the advice of its youth justice agency.
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) expressed its “extreme disappointment”, after justice secretary Shabana Mahmood announced today that a select group of specially trained staff would be authorised to use the pelargonic acid vanillylamide (PAVA) spray in Feltham A, Werrington and Wetherby for 12 months.
PAVA, which is permitted for use by trained staff in the adult male prisons estate as a last resort to protect officers or inmates from violence, is sprayed into the eyes and is designed to incapacitate people temporarily.
The YJB, which oversees the youth justice system and is sponsored by Mahmood’s department, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), said it had seen no evidence to justify the move and warned about children from minority groups or with additional needs being “unfairly targeted”.
‘Unacceptable’ levels of violence
In a written ministerial statement, Mahmood said the policy was designed to combat “unacceptable” levels of violence across the three YOIs, with a 25% increase in the rate of assaults by young people in custody on staff in the year to December 2024.
Mahmood said that, as a result, the assault rate was 14 times higher than in the adult prisons estate, with young people and staff sustaining “serious injuries including fractures, dislocations, puncture wounds and lacerations”, presenting “a high risk to life-changing injury”.
PAVA can be used currently in YOIs by national tactical response officers, in cases of serious incidents, but Mahmood said these could take up to an hour to deploy.
Justifying her decision to allow select staff in the YOIs themselves to use the spray, she added: “As altercations in YOIs arise rapidly, often with little warning, these officers can rarely, if ever, arrive on the scene in time to respond to active violence that is being experienced.”
Checks on use of pepper spray
She said PAVA would only be used when “necessary, proportionate and appropriate to reduce the risk of serious or life-threatening injury to a young person in custody or member of staff”, and would be subject to the following checks:
- A live evaluation of every incident in which it was used, to check whether usage is necessary, proportionate, appropriate and effective.
- A review by senior officials of every time in which PAVA is drawn or deployed.
- The reporting of every use to the local authority designated officer (LADO), with any unnecessary or inappropriate use investigated in line with safeguarding policies.
- A weekly report to ministers on usage, with ministers reviewing incidents and data on the drawing or deployment of PAVA on a monthly basis.
- The Independent Restraint Review Panel (IRRP), which assesses the safety of restraint in YOIs, providing oversight of every PAVA use and including this in its annual report to ministers, which is published.
- A ministerial review after 12 months to determine whether to continue with the policy.
Justice secretary acting against YJB advice
Mahmood said she took the decision after “considering the evidence carefully and listening closely to a range of views”.
However, YJB chair Keith Fraser confirmed that the decision had been made against the advice of the MoJ-sponsored youth justice agency and did not carry its support.
Keith Fraser, chair of the Youth Justice Board (credit: HM Government)
“Our advice to the government, based on robust evidence, is that PAVA spray is not effective in reducing violence or in preventing children offending or reoffending,” said the former senior police officer. “In fact, its use could be harmful.”
The board would be writing to ministers to express its “extreme disappointment” at the decision and voice specific concerns, he added.
“In particular, we are concerned that there is a significant risk that children from ethnic minority communities, particularly Black boys, children with speech, language, communication needs, and those who are neurodivergent will be unfairly targeted,” said Fraser. “We are concerned that the introduction will erode trust and relationships, undermining safety and rehabilitation efforts.”
Sector coalition condemns government decision
Fraser’s comments were echoed by a coalition of 37 organisations and individuals working in the youth justice or children’s sectors, including children’s rights charity Article 39, care charity Become and the Alliance for Youth Justice, which itself represents over 75 bodies in the sector.
In a joint statement, they said: “It represents a significant escalation in the use of force that is permitted against children. Far from keeping children and staff safe, normalising the use of violence in this way risks making conditions even worse for those living and working in prison.”
The signatories said the decision represented “a serious deterioration in the staffing and management of YOIs for children, and an abject failure in safeguarding those children held in custody”.
Young people in custody ‘have experienced significant trauma’
The Association of Directors of Children’s Services also joined the criticism, with president Rachael Wardell saying: “Children in youth custody belong to some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in our society. Many have experienced significant trauma and abuse in their short lives.
Rachael Wardell (photo supplied by ADCS)
“While we understand the need to protect the safety and welfare of staff, neither ADCS members, nor the available evidence, support the reactive use of PAVA in these settings. It risks creating fear and distrust and increasing tensions. Its use in adult prisons has not resulted in decreased violence and moreover, the use of violence to deal with violence could disproportionally impact marginalised children.”
Children’s Commissioner for England Rachel de Souza also condemned the move, saying “more pain inducing restraint” was not the answer to risks to staff safety and risked “normalising violence within these institutions”.
Youth justice leaders urge reform
Alliance for Youth Justice chief executive Jess Mullen said it was “no wonder that tensions run high” in YOIs given their “staffing shortages”, staff being insufficiently trauma-informed and children spending “most of their time locked in cells with limited access to education and support”.
She called for the abolition of YOIs and the last remaining secure training centre (STC), to increase capacity in “more appropriate provision” and ensure custody was only used as a last resort.
Fraser also called for reform: “We urge the government to instead invest in sustained reform, to include increased staff levels, improved staff training and retention, effective behaviour management strategies and evidence-based programmes to improve safety.
“In the longer-term, there should be a move towards smaller, locally-based units staffed by professionals who are specially trained to work with children with complex needs.”
Girls no longer placed in YOIs
In her statement, Mahmood pointed to the government’s decision to accept the findings of an independent review to not return to placing girls in YOIs, having not done so in several months.
She added: “In the longer-term, we intend to move away from the current estate based on the evidence of what works for young people in custody.”
This would be based on learning from the operation of the 14 secure children’s homes in England and Wales and the pilot of the country’s first secure school, an education-focused institution that is smaller than a YOI.
