Young people in custody

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1. Main facts and figures

  • from 2005/06 to 2016/17, the number of young people in youth custody went down for all ethnic groups
  • in the same period, the percentage of the youth custody population that was from each of the Asian and Other, and Black ethnic groups doubled
  • in 2016/17, White young people made up the highest percentage of young people in custody (at 54.4%)
  • in 2016/17, more young people were in custody for violence against the person compared with any other type of offence, accounting for 29.7% of White young people in custody and 47.3% of those from all other ethnic groups combined
Things you need to know

If a young person has more than one custodial order at the same time, the data is based on the most serious custodial order.

The data is from the Youth Justice Board database, which includes young people in:

  • young offender institutions
  • secure children’s homes
  • secure training centres

The Youth Justice Board changed its database and the way it recorded some data in March 2012. Until then, most breaches of a statutory order were recorded as a separate type of offence. This changed after March 2012, and this is believed to account for a large decrease in the percentage of young people sentenced for breaching a statutory order from 2012/13 onward.

This data does not include young people in police custody.

Young people for whom ethnicity wasn’t known accounted for 0.6% of all young people in custody in 2016/17. This group is shown separately in the analysis of young people in custody by ethnicity over time.

What the data measures

The data measures the average number of young people (aged 10 to 17 years) in custody in the time period covered. The data is broken down by ethnicity, type of offence (‘offence group’), and type of custodial order (‘legal basis for detention’).

Because the number of young people in custody varies from month to month, an average is worked out for each 12-month period (1 April to 31 March). On a specific day every month, the number of young people in custody is counted - then an average is then worked out based on 12 months’ worth of counts.

The statistics on this page categorise custodial orders as one of 4 types:

  • a section 91 order is used for custodial sentences of more than 24 months for serious crimes (except murder), and can only be passed by a Crown Court
  • a Detention and Training Order (DTO) is 4 to 24 months long and includes both custody and training - it can only be used for young people aged 12 to 17 years
  • remand is when the young person is put into youth detention accommodation when they have been charged with an offence and are detained until a trial or sentencing hearing.
  • other sentences, which include detention for public protection (‘section 226’), extended sentences (‘section 226B’) and life sentence for murder with a minimum period in custody (‘section 90’)

The statistics on this page specify 6 types of offences, plus ‘Other offences’. Types of offences under ‘Other offences’ include:

  • arson
  • breach of bail
  • criminal damage
  • death or injury by dangerous driving
  • fraud and forgery
  • motoring offences
  • non-domestic burglary
  • public order offences
  • racially aggravated offences
  • theft and handling stolen goods
  • vehicle theft or unauthorised taking
The ethnic categories used in this data

The youth custody population was too small to draw any firm conclusions about specific ethnic categories. Therefore, the data is broken down into the following 5 broad groups:

  • White
  • Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
  • Asian/Asian British and Other
  • Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
  • Unknown

For the data covering types of crime and types of custodial order, the following 2 categories have been used:

  • White (including White British and White ethnic minorities)
  • Other (all other ethnic minorities)

2. Young people in custody by ethnicity over time

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
2005/06 to 2016/17
Source:
Youth justice statistics
Percentage and number of young people in custody by ethnicity over time
Asian and Other Black Mixed White Unknown
Year Asian and Other % Asian and Other Number Black % Black Number Mixed % Mixed Number White % White Number Unknown % Unknown Number
2005/06 5.2 147 12.5 355 7.0 198 71.7 2,031 3.5 100
2006/07 5.3 154 13.4 390 7.1 208 70.5 2,056 3.7 107
2007/08 4.1 119 13.6 399 7.0 206 71.2 2,087 4.1 121
2008/09 4.9 142 14.0 402 6.5 188 66.3 1,909 8.4 242
2009/10 6.0 146 14.1 340 6.9 168 67.9 1,641 5.1 123
2010/11 6.5 133 17.2 351 6.0 123 63.9 1,303 6.4 130
2011/12 6.8 134 15.7 308 6.1 119 61.9 1,216 9.5 186
2012/13 7.6 118 21.0 325 8.7 135 59.1 912 3.5 54
2013/14 8.3 101 22.4 272 9.3 113 60.0 730 0.1 1
2014/15 8.7 90 21.1 219 9.7 101 60.5 627 0.1 1
2015/16 10.4 100 21.4 205 9.8 94 57.9 556 0.5 5
2016/17 10.3 90 23.4 203 11.3 98 54.4 472 0.6 6

Download table data for ‘Young people in custody by ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Young people in custody by ethnicity over time’ (CSV)

Summary of Young people in custody Young people in custody by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

  • in 2016/17, the average number of young people in custody was 868, about one-third the number in 2005/06 (2,831)
  • between 2005/06 and 2016/17, the number of young people in custody went down for all ethnic groups – the biggest decrease was in the White ethnic group, from 2,031 to 472 over the period
  • in 2016/17, White young people made up the highest percentage of young people in custody (at 54.4%); but this has decreased by over 17 percentage points since 2005/06, when 71.7% of young people in custody were White
  • from 2005/06 to 2016/17, the percentage of the youth custody population from Asian and Other backgrounds doubled, from 5.2% in 2005/06 to 10.3% in 2016/17; the percentage from Black backgrounds also increased, from 12.5% in 2005/06 to 23.4% in 2016/17

3. Young people in custody by ethnicity and type of custodial order over time

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
2010/11 to 2016/17
Source:
Youth justice statistics
Percentage of young people in custody by ethnicity and type of legal basis over time
Remand DTO Section 91 Other Sentences
Year Remand % White Remand % Other DTO % White DTO % Other Section 91 % White Section 91 % Other Other Sentences % White Other Sentences % Other
2010/11 21.8 32.6 61.7 42.6 12.9 19.0 3.6 5.9
2011/12 21.4 28.5 63.7 49.3 11.5 17.9 3.4 4.4
2012/13 18.2 26.6 64.5 48.2 14.2 21.7 3.1 3.5
2013/14 18.2 26.0 64.1 46.0 14.5 24.4 3.2 3.5
2014/15 18.5 30.1 59.6 44.2 18.0 21.6 4.0 4.1
2015/16 19.2 26.1 58.1 43.5 18.9 24.9 3.8 5.5
2016/17 17.7 25.2 55.5 41.9 22.2 26.6 4.6 6.3

Download table data for ‘Young people in custody by ethnicity and type of custodial order over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Young people in custody by ethnicity and type of custodial order over time’ (CSV)

Summary of Young people in custody Young people in custody by ethnicity and type of custodial order over time Summary

This data shows that:

  • in 2016/17, 55.5% of White young people in custody were held on a Detention and Training Order (DTO), 22.2% had a section 91 order, 17.7% were on remand, and 4.6% had another type of custodial order
  • in the same period, 41.9% of young people from all other ethnic groups combined were held on a Detention and Training Order (DTO), 25.2% were on remand, 26.6% had a section 91 order, and 6.3% had another type of custodial order
  • in 2016/17, a higher percentage of young people from the White and Other ethnic groups had a section 91 order compared with 6 years ago – 22.2% of White young people and 26.6% of young people from other ethnic groups had a section 91 order (compared with 12.9% and 19.0% respectively in 2010/11)
  • in 2016/17, young people from the Other ethnic group were less likely to be on remand than they were 6 years ago – 25.2% were on remand in 2016/17, compared with 32.6% in 2010/11

4. Young people in custody by ethnicity and offence group

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
2010/11 to 2016/17
Source:
Youth justice statistics
Percentage of young people in custody by ethnicity and offence group over time
Breach of statutory order Domestic burglary Drugs Robbery Sexual offences Violence against the person Other offences
Year Breach of statutory order % White Breach of statutory order % Other Domestic burglary % White Domestic burglary % Other Drugs % White Drugs % Other Robbery % White Robbery % Other Sexual offences % White Sexual offences % Other Violence against the person % White Violence against the person % Other Other offences % White Other offences % Other
2010/11 19.5 9.4 17.9 7.2 2.4 10.4 18.4 31.3 4.6 5.3 21.9 28.5 15.3 7.9
2011/12 17.2 8.9 17.4 7.9 2.1 9.1 22.4 34.3 4.0 2.8 19.7 25.1 17.2 11.9
2012/13 9.6 4.5 21.2 7.9 1.6 7.6 24.4 40.0 6.1 3.9 20.9 25.5 16.3 10.6
2013/14 2.9 1.3 21.4 7.0 2.0 9.5 27.2 40.3 7.3 5.0 22.0 29.9 17.2 6.9
2014/15 2.2 1.7 18.7 7.2 3.9 7.5 25.0 35.9 9.8 6.2 27.0 35.7 13.3 5.7
2015/16 1.8 1.4 15.8 6.1 3.9 12.6 23.3 26.9 12.1 6.2 29.8 39.8 13.4 6.9
2016/17 0.3 0.3 14.7 5.4 4.7 11.2 22.1 25.1 13.7 3.5 29.7 47.3 14.8 7.3

Download table data for ‘Young people in custody by ethnicity and offence group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Young people in custody by ethnicity and offence group’ (CSV)

Summary of Young people in custody Young people in custody by ethnicity and offence group Summary

This data shows that:

  • in 2016/17, 29.7% of White young people and 47.3% of young people from all other ethnic groups combined were held in youth custody for violence against the person offences – higher than for any other type of offence
  • in the 6 years from 2010/11 to 2016/17, the percentage of White young people convicted for robbery increased (from 18.4% to 22.1%), while the percentage of young people from all other ethnic groups combined convicted for the same offence decreased (from 31.3% to 25.1%)
  • in 2016/17, a lower percentage of White young people were held in custody for drugs offences compared with young people from all other ethnic groups combined (at 4.7% and 11.2% respectively), while a higher percentage were held for sexual offences (at 13.7%, compared with 3.5% of those from all other ethnic groups combined)

5. Methodology

Young people self-report their ethnicity. Staff working in secure training centres and young offender institutions then record this information on an administrative system.

The numbers of young people in custody are counted at the beginning of each month, updated to include new admissions during the month, and then averaged across a 12-month period.

Rounding

Percentages have been rounded to 1 decimal point. Due to this, some figures may not add up to 100. Counts have been rounded to the nearest whole number. All calculations have been made using unrounded figures.

See the Youth justice annual statistics for unrounded figures and the percentages calculated from them.

Quality and methodology information

6. Data sources

Source

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Ministry of Justice

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

Youth justice data is used by the government to develop, monitor and evaluate criminal justice policy for young offenders. It reports on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales, giving information for the latest year and also longer-term trends.

7. Download the data

Average youth custody population - Spreadsheet (csv) 36 KB

This file contains: Measure, Time, Ethnicity, Legal Basis for Detention, Offence Group, Value, Numerator

Publication release date: 2 October 2018

full page history
  1. updated with the latest year's data (2016/17)

From: Ministry of Justice

Previous edition:
  1. Edition published on 2 March 2018
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