Section one Context Children in detention In September 2016, Sir James Munby, President of the High Court Family Division in England and Wales, called for legal clarity in relation to English courts placing children in secure units in Scotland.62 In January 2017, the Scottish Parliament passed a legislative consent motion63 inserting a clause into the Children and Social Work Bill to allow local authorities in England and Wales to place children in Scotland, and vice versa. Sir James Munby had noted a recent increase in local authorities in the north of England placing children in secure accommodation in Scotland, due to a shortage of places, and argued that such care orders could not be legally enforced. The Children and Social Work Act received Royal Assent in April 2017. In February 2017, the Youth Custody Improvement Board (YCIB) that had been appointed in May 2016 published its report looking at the current state of the youth custodial estate in England and Wales, and concluded that it shared the previouslyexpressed view of the Youth Justice Board that the youth secure estate was ‘not fit for the purpose of caring for or rehabilitating children and young people’.64 The YCIB noted that it found this analysis ‘astonishing’ given that the Youth Justice Board (YJB) had been in operation in over a decade, and raised the question as to why the YJB and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had not been able to intervene to remedy the situation. Following on from this report, the Secretary of State for Justice announced that she had appointed a new Chair of the YJB and that the government would create a new Youth Custody Service ‘as a distinct arm of HMPPS’. Responsibility and accountability for commissioning youth custody services, setting clear standards and for intervening to address poor performance would be transferred to the MoJ.65 Police custody Full implementation of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, which will introduce significant changes relevant to detention, was still pending (see seventh NPM annual report). By early 2017, Police Scotland had rolled out a national custody IT system, replacing the eight systems used by legacy forces. A national system will facilitate the gathering of consistent data about custody which should provide Police Scotland with improved data to use when planning and delivering its custody service. Guidance on the implementation of the Police and Crime Act 2017 in England and Wales was also pending. At the time of writing it was not clear whether the guidance would rule out the use of police custody as a place of safety under Section 135/136 of the Mental Health Act. 62. In the Matter of X (A Child), In the Matter of Y (A Child), [2016] EWHC 2271 (Fam)., https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/ judgments/in-the-matter-of-x-a-child-and-in-the-matter-of-y-a-child/ [accessed 13/11/17]. 63. A motion agreeing that Westminster may pass legislation on a devolved issue. 64. Alan Wood (Chair), Professor Dame Sue Bailey and Rob Butler, 2017, Findings and Recommendations of the Youth Custody Improvement Board, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/594448/findingsand-recommendations-of-the-ycib.pdf [accessed 09/11/17]. 65. See https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/youth-justice-update [accessed 09/11/17]. 25