Section one Context In July 2019, the House of Commons Justice Select Committee commenced an inquiry on Children and Young People in Custody in England and Wales, considering the progress the government has made in implementing the recommendations of the 2016 Taylor Review and reforming the approach to youth justice. Several NPM members contributed evidence, though this inquiry was closed due to the General Election in December 2019 and was only recently re-established in the new parliament.78 Secure schools In the previous reporting period, the NPM noted that in England and Wales plans were made to change the nature of secure accommodation for children in different respects, including through the opening of a pilot ‘secure school’ at the site of the highly criticised and now closed Medway Secure Training Centre. In July 2019 it was announced that the Oasis Charitable Trust had been chosen as the UK’s first secure school operator, and would be taken forward to the pre-opening stage.79 However in November 2019 it was reported that this pilot school, which had been due to launch in autumn 2020, had been delayed and would not be open until 2022 at the earliest.80 78 79 80 81 Reviews into secure care for children and young people in Scotland Following the deaths in custody at HMP YOI Polmont of William Lindsay, aged 16, and Katie Allan, aged 21, the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament opened an inquiry into secure care places for children and young people in Scotland. Several NPM members gave evidence. The final report was published November 2019 and made a number of recommendations around mental health assessments and guaranteed access to appropriate care and education services, as well as around improvements in the model of provision and placement to ensure no child or young person is sent to HMP YOI Polmont when a secure unit would be more appropriate to their needs. The Committee called on the Scottish Government to review the current legislative and policy framework regarding transition between secure care and prison, with a view to making the relevant changes to the law and current policy.81 It also endorsed the recommendations of the HMIPS report on an expert review of the provision of mental health services for young people entering and in custody at HMP YOI Polmont, and noted its upcoming review on deaths in prison (see ‘Deaths in prison in Scotland’, p.25). House of Commons Justice Committee, October 2019, Children and young people in custody inquiry - publications, https:// old.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/justice-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/ children-young-people-custody-inquiry-17-19/publications/ [accessed 10/11/2020] MoJ, July 2019, Secure schools: Setting up the first Secure School in the UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ secure-schools-how-to-apply [accessed 24/08/2020] Children and Young People Now, November 2019, MoJ confirms delay to secure school opening, https://www.cypnow. co.uk/news/article/moj-confirms-delay-to-secure-school-opening [accessed 24/08/2020]. In a Justice Select Committee, 14 July 2020, oral evidence session on an inquiry into children and young people in custody, Lucy Frazer MP also stated that one of the challenges causing a delay was ensuring the site was satisfactory to Ofsted. Transcript available https:// committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/703/pdf/ [accessed 15/10/2020] Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, November 2019, Secure care and prison places for children and young people in Scotland, https://sp-bpr-en-prod-cdnep.azureedge.net/published/J/2019/11/26/Secure-care-and-prison-places-forchildren-and-young-people-in-Scotland/JS052019R22.pdf [accessed 24/08/2020] 29