London: Tackling the use of custodial remand for young people

The Review of Custodial Remand for Children, conducted in 2022, found that as many as 45 per cent of children and young people in custody were held there on remand, despite repeated calls for remand to be used as a last resort for children. Many of those children on remand are acquitted or do not end up with a custodial sentence, meaning that time in custody could have been prevented.

The review found that only 6 per cent of bail hearings resulted in remands to the community and only 2 per cent in remands to local authority accommodation. Those interviewed as part of the review consistently mentioned that the lack of clarity over where the child would be placed if they were remanded to local authority accommodation and what would be available to them, contributed to a lack of confidence in the option and its low usage

In London specifically, children are more likely to be held in custody, with more than twice as many in custody as there as in other parts of England and Wales. Over three quarters of children held in custody are from a black or minority ethnic background and in London these young people account for 20 percent of the overall population of 10-17 year-olds but a disproportionate 37 per cent of children who receive cautions or convictions.

The 2022 Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Act made the tests to be applied by the courts in order to remand children and young people into custody over the community more rigorous; a robust solution to address the lack of options for community remand in London was required.

Funded by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and a collaboration between multiple councils and partners, the London Accommodation Pathfinder (LAP) is a partnership between the YJB a number of London councils and various other partners including charities and health partners.

When its first accommodation setting opens in spring 2023, the scheme will provide an alternative to custody for children through the provision of accommodation units which can be accessed via court remands into local authority accommodation, or as part of a Youth Rehabilitation Order with a residence requirement, as an alternative to a custodial sentence. The aim of the scheme is to reduce the number of young people going into custody.

The accommodation

The accommodation offers a more therapeutic, rehabilitation-focused living environment than a custodial setting. Each provision is a ‘psychologically informed environment’ which works to promote the development of meaningful transformative relationships between young people and staff. Sites are staffed 24 hours a day, with additional staff on site between 9am and 7pm delivering support.

The accommodation will be run by charity St Christopher’s Fellowship. Young people residing in any one of the accommodation settings can access mental health support, life skills, education and training and a range of other activities. A therapist will be on site one day per week and will be able to support with a range of issues including addressing trauma, emotional and behavioural needs, bereavement, low self-esteem, relationships, mood disorders and preventing self-harm and suicide.

Onsite key workers will provide life skills and education is provided by learning mentors attending weekly. Young people will be supported to participate in training placements, apprenticeships, tuition and gaining qualifications. Wellbeing support will be personalised and will aim to help young people to build their sense of identity, self-esteem and confidence through activities such as art, sport and gaming. A number of external organisations such as local sports providers and health services have been commissioned to bolster the wraparound package.

Each setting also utilises the resources of the relevant local authorities to provide support such as family group conferencing, multi systemic therapy and other wellbeing offers.

The scheme will build close links between staff and local police to manage wider safety and promote positive relationships with policing and the community, with police visiting the property regularly and  accommodation staff participating in local ward meetings.

Supporting the system

As part of their work to establish the provision, the team behind the London Accommodation Pathfinder identified the need to connect systems and people across London in order for the accommodation to have maximum impact when it launches. As such, they have used workforce development to bring together strategic leaders and practitioners from different directorates across the capital.

In recognition of a number of gaps in the systems that surround the young people who will access the accommodation, they have brought together staff from youth justice services, health services and the secure estate to receive training on issues such as bail, remand, constructive resettlement and adultification. This has served the dual purpose of addressing gaps in practice and bringing the system together in preparation for the fluid joint working that will enhance the London Accommodation Pathfinder provision following its launch.

Figure one: Hypothetical journey of a young person accessing the LAP in comparison with being remanded into custody.

Whilst the impact on young people will be seen when the provision launches in spring 2023, the establishment of the London Accommodation Pathfinder has necessitated inter-council partnership working as well as partnership working between councils and other providers on a new scale.

The pan-London legal and data sharing agreements necessary for this project, which have been signed by all participating local authorities and commissioned services, have concretely demonstrated the level of collaboration between multiple parties and give a blueprint for the ways in which new areas could come together to share the load of similar projects and approach resettlement in a new way.

The London Accommodation Pathfinder is currently funded by the YJB, with the first accommodation provision opening in spring. Its work will be shared and promoted across London and nationally to influence provision and practice and improve outcomes for children.

The approach was developed in collaboration with the directors of children’s services in the relevant local areas to ensure that partnership working and local sustainability was built into the project from its conception. Each accommodation region has a steering group held monthly which brings participating local authorities and partners together to plan, problem solve and sustain the work of the project.

A partnership approach is central to the London Accommodation Pathfinder being a success. This is both practically and legally complex and requires time and dedication to establish and maintain. In this project, the London Borough of Camden takes the role of the lead local authority, with each other participating local authority signing a legal agreement to participate. The importance of the steering group to maintain project momentum and build relationships between boroughs cannot be understated. The project team has also learned that the membership of this group needs to be wide ranging, including representatives from commissioning, looked after children’s team, community safety and more.

Barnet, the first local authority to host a property, states the importance of ensuring that all local services, including the local mental health services are aware of the project and that there are agreements in place regarding the care of children who may require their services whilst residing in the property, even though they may be from another borough. The importance of detailed planning of the arrangements for which local authorities will hold statutory responsibility for children placed in the accommodation is also a key learning from the project.

Significant energy was dedicated to financial modelling at the outset of the project to ensure that the provision gives each council value for money and real-terms savings in comparison with the cost of other local authority placements or custodial remand. This modelling has supported positive buy-in to the scheme. To encourage full use of the accommodation once it launches, councils with access to the placements have agreed to share the ‘cost’ of empty bed places so that the quality of provision for children is not affected by under-use. 

The project team encountered hurdles relating to planning permission and building works larger than those originally foreseen, for example one planning application taking over a year and recognise that in future schemes sufficient time needs to be factored in to accommodate this. Robust engagement with the community and partners is also key to ensuring that the project is a success.