Appendix Four Terms of reference for the children and young people’s NPM subgroup 1. Introduction Since its establishment in 2009, the bodies that make up the UK NPM have monitored whether the UK government meets its UN Treaty obligations regarding the treatment of anyone held in any form of custody. Children and young people are considered a part of the NPM’s work alongside the treatment of adults and the NPM’s regular business meetings have included child-centred discussions. However business meetings provide limited capacity to have regular specialist discussion. As a result the NPM membership agreed in 2013 to establish a specialist subgroup to focus on children and young people. This group would provide the capacity for those with expertise and experience of working with children and young people to support the wider NPM with specialist advice, information and recommendations. 2. Background Children and young people under 18 represent a tiny minority of people in detention in the UK. They are vulnerable both because of their age and capacity, and because they are detained. Many will also have faced difficult experiences in their lives before detention. Children in detention also have additional rights and protections, set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments, as well as in domestic law. Children are detained in a variety of settings across the different jurisdictions of the UK. This can make it hard for NPM members to identify common challenges, share good practice and make recommendations. By focusing on the specific needs of children and young people in detention, this subgroup will support the NPM to fulfil its preventive role26 through sharing good practice on visits and inspections, a holistic and system-wide analysis of the situations where children are at risk of ill-treatment, and making recommendations designed to improve policy and practice for children in detention. 3. Chairing, reporting and membership The NPM subgroup will be chaired by the Deputy Children’s Commissioner for England, with support from the OCC. It will report to the NPM steering group, and meet three times a year. These meetings will be coordinated with the steering group meetings. The subgroup will be open to NPM members with an interest in the rights of children and young people in detention, across a range of settings. 25 See guidance in Association for the Prevention of Torture, Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture: Implementation Manual, Chapter V - Operational Functioning of NPMs. At: http://www.apt.ch/content/files_res/ opcat-manual-english-revised2010.pdf 43