Incidents involving young people in custody
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity (use of force) section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity (single separation incidents) section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity (restrictive physical interventions) section
- 6. Navigate toData sources section
- 7. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
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in the year ending March 2019, white young people in custody had a higher rate of use of force incidents, single separation incidents, and restrictive physical interventions than young people from all other ethnic groups combined
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the rate of restrictive physical interventions was highest in the year ending March 2019 for both the white group and all other ethnic groups combined
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the year ending March 2018 was the only year that white young people had a lower rate of single separation incidents than young people from all other ethnic groups combined
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in 7 out of the 9 years to March 2019, white young people had a lower rate of restrictive physical interventions than young people from all other ethnic groups combined
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the average number of the following incidents involving young people in custody:
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use of force – this includes planned interventions to prevent serious harm, physically stopping an assault or fight, and resolving ‘passive non-compliance’
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single separation incidents – when a young person is locked alone in a room during the day and against their will
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restrictive physical interventions – the use of force on a young person in custody, with the aim of restricting their movement or mobility
It also shows the rate of these incidents for every 100 young people in custody.
The data is based on incidents in young offender institutions and secure training centres. Data on single separation incidents and restrictive physical interventions also includes secure children’s homes.
‘Young people’ are 10 to 17 years old. The data may also include some 18 year olds who remain in youth custody for a short time.
Average incident numbers and rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. All calculations have been made using unrounded figures.
Not included in the data
The data does not include young people in custody whose ethnicity was not known.
How rates are calculated
The rate shown is the average number of incidents for every 100 young people in custody per month, based on 12 months of data.
If a young person has multiple incidents or interventions, each one is counted as a separate incident.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Young people in custody report their own ethnicity which staff then record.
Data is shown for 2 ethnic groups:
white – white ethnic groups (including white British and white ethnic minorities) other – all other ethnic groups
This is because the number of young people involved was too small to make reliable generalisations about specific ethnic groups.
The data does not include young people in custody whose ethnicity was not known.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document (PDF) (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for the data on this page.
Some young people may be involved in more than one incident, in which case they will be included in the data more than once.
There are more white young people in custody compared with other ethnic groups. You can read more about how group size affects the reliability of data.
3. By ethnicity (use of force)
| All | White | Other than White | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Establishment | All Rate per 100 young people per month | All Average number per month | White Rate per 100 young people per month | White Average number per month | Other than White Rate per 100 young people per month | Other than White Average number per month |
| All | 59.6 | 604.1 | 60.2 | 304.0 | 59.3 | 297.8 |
| Cookham Wood YOI | 25.5 | 47.8 | 26.1 | 18.6 | 24.8 | 28.8 |
| Feltham YOI | 56.0 | 92.8 | 51.6 | 28.4 | 59.2 | 63.9 |
| Medway STC | 104.3 | 48.8 | 118.1 | 21.2 | 95.7 | 27.6 |
| Oakhill STC | 154.8 | 101.8 | 146.7 | 42.2 | 161.0 | 59.6 |
| Parc YOI | 83.6 | 38.6 | 81.3 | 25.4 | 88.3 | 13.2 |
| Rainsbrook STC | 129.0 | 97.4 | 126.7 | 66.5 | 134.4 | 30.9 |
| Werrington YOI | 35.5 | 45.8 | 39.7 | 22.8 | 32.1 | 22.9 |
| Wetherby YOI | 44.1 | 131.1 | 41.3 | 78.9 | 49.3 | 50.8 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (use of force)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (use of force)’ (CSV)
4. By ethnicity (single separation incidents)
| White | Other than White | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time period | White Rate per 100 young people per month | White Average number per month | Other than White Rate per 100 young people per month | Other than White Average number per month |
| 2010/11 | 66.2 | 276.9 | 59.9 | 94.9 |
| 2011/12 | 59.7 | 240.1 | 44.0 | 83.3 |
| 2012/13 | 52.2 | 187.4 | 22.8 | 38.6 |
| 2013/14 | 48.3 | 168.1 | 19.1 | 31.3 |
| 2014/15 | 37.2 | 101.5 | 29.6 | 46.2 |
| 2015/16 | 58.7 | 152.0 | 39.6 | 51.6 |
| 2016/17 | 103.3 | 216.4 | 75.0 | 77.8 |
| 2017/18 | 94.7 | 211.8 | 95.9 | 106.5 |
| 2018/19 | 95.9 | 165.9 | 78.1 | 93.3 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (single separation incidents)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (single separation incidents)’ (CSV)
5. By ethnicity (restrictive physical interventions)
| White | Other than White | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time period | White Rate per 100 young people per month | White Average number per month | Other than White Rate per 100 young people per month | Other than White Average number per month |
| 2010/11 | 19.1 | 364.6 | 23.8 | 231.3 |
| 2011/12 | 22.5 | 387.9 | 30.0 | 312.3 |
| 2012/13 | 23.5 | 324.6 | 24.8 | 213.1 |
| 2013/14 | 29.1 | 298.3 | 28.2 | 176.9 |
| 2014/15 | 25.8 | 223.7 | 32.6 | 179.2 |
| 2015/16 | 25.0 | 192.8 | 32.0 | 168.2 |
| 2016/17 | 29.8 | 194.8 | 35.8 | 182.3 |
| 2017/18 | 37.0 | 243.1 | 39.4 | 207.4 |
| 2018/19 | 47.2 | 273.1 | 46.3 | 247.0 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (restrictive physical interventions)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (restrictive physical interventions)’ (CSV)
6. Data sources
Source
Youth justice statistics: 2018 to 2019
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Ministry of Justice
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The data is used by the government to develop, monitor and evaluate criminal justice policy for young offenders in England and Wales.
7. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, value, numerator, denominator
This file contains the following variables: measure, ethnicity, institution name, average number of incidents, rate of incidents per 100 young people
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, value, numerator, denominator