Single separation incidents for young people in custody
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Incidents involving young people in custody.
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1. Main facts and figures
- in 2016/17, White young people in custody had a higher rate of single separation incidents (where they are locked alone in a room) per 100 young people in custody per month, compared with young people from all other ethnic groups combined
- between 2010/11 and 2016/17, the rate of single separation incidents for White young people was consistently higher than for young people from all other ethnic groups combined
Things you need to know
Simple conclusions or direct comparisons between ethnic groups should be avoided, because the circumstances are different for each use of force.
The data counts every single separation incident. Some individual young people may be involved in repeated single separation incidents, so they will be included in the data multiple times. This means that the rate per 100 young people in custody per month should be considered with some caution.
What the data measures
This data measures the average number of ‘single separation incidents’ per 100 young people in custody per month (the rate) in each year covered, broken down by 2 broad ethnic groups.
A single separation incident is when a young person in custody is locked alone in their bedroom or other area as a way to control them.
'Young people’ are aged between 10 and 17 years. The data may also include some 18 year olds.
The data includes young people held in:
- secure children’s homes
- secure training centres
For each financial year covered, the data in the table shows the:
- average number of single separation incidents in custody per month
- average rate of single separation incidents per 100 young people in custody per month
If a young person has multiple single separation incidents, each one is counted as a separate incident.
The ethnic categories used in this data
The number of young people involved in single separation incidents was too small to draw any firm conclusions based on specific ethnic categories. Therefore, the data is broken down into the following 2 broad categories:
- White – White ethnic groups (including White British and White ethnic minorities)
- Other – all other ethnic minorities
2. Single separation incidents for young people in custody by ethnicity
| White | Other | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | White Number of single separation incidents per 100 young people per month | White Average number of single separation incidents per month | Other Number of single separation incidents per 100 young people per month | Other Average number of single separation incidents per month |
| 2010/11 | 66.2 | 277 | 59.9 | 95 |
| 2011/12 | 59.7 | 240 | 44.0 | 83 |
| 2012/13 | 52.2 | 187 | 22.8 | 39 |
| 2013/14 | 48.3 | 168 | 19.1 | 31 |
| 2014/15 | 37.2 | 102 | 29.6 | 46 |
| 2015/16 | 58.7 | 152 | 39.6 | 52 |
| 2016/17 | 103.3 | 216 | 75.0 | 78 |
Download table data for ‘Single separation incidents for young people in custody by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Single separation incidents for young people in custody by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Single separation incidents for young people in custody Single separation incidents for young people in custody by ethnicity Summary
A single separation incident is when a young person in custody is locked alone in their bedroom or other area as a way to control them.
This data shows that:
-
in 2016/17, there was an average of 103.3 single separation incidents per 100 White young people in custody per month, compared with 75.0 per 100 people per month for young people from all other ethnic groups combined
-
between 2010/11 and 2016/17, the rate of single separation incidents per 100 White young people was consistently higher than for young people from all other ethnic groups combined
- the rate of single separation incidents per 100 White young people, which had been falling between 2010/11 and 2014/15, rose from 37.2 to 103.3 between 2014/15 and 2016/17
- the rate of single separation incidents per 100 young people from all other ethnic groups combined, which had been falling between 2010/11 and 2013/14, rose from 19.1 to 75.0 between 2013/14 and 2016/17
3. Methodology
Young people report their own ethnicity. Staff working in secure training centres and young offender institutions then record this information on an administrative system.
Single separation incidents are measured as the number per 100 young people in custody. 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.
The data does not include young people in custody for whom ethnicity wasn’t known.
Rounding
Rates per 100 young people have been rounded to 1 decimal place.
Related publications
Youth justice statistics since 2008.
Further technical information
Data received from the establishments through monthly returns is validated through a reconciliation process on an annual basis. Figures published before the release of the 2016/17 Youth justice statistics may have been revised since their original publication.
4. Data sources
Source
Youth Justice annual statistics: 2016 to 2017
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 people in custody. It reports on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales, giving information for the latest year and also longer-term trends.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, value, denominator, numerator