Section 2. Background to the report - Note: There are some differences in the rules around removal from association across YOIs, STCs [secure training centres] and SCHs [secure children’s homes]. Establishments must ensure they comply with the relevant legislation and guidance for the sector. Solitary confinement Human rights standards prohibit the solitary confinement of children. This is reflected in our own Expectations criteria for assessing the treatment of children in detention.7 Any of the current methods of separating children from their peers has the potential to become solitary confinement if the child experiences a regime that meets the following criteria. Definition of solitary confinement ‘The confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact.’ Rule 44 of The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules).8 This is the definition used by HMI Prisons in our Expectations for children and throughout this report. Meaningful human contact A panel of experts convened by the University of Essex and Penal Reform International provided the following guidance on what constitutes meaningful human contact. 9 The term [meaningful human contact] has been used to describe the amount and quality of social interaction and psychological stimulation which human beings require for their mental health and well-being. Such interaction requires the human contact to be face to face and direct (without physical barriers) and more than fleeting or incidental, enabling empathetic interpersonal communication. Contact must not be limited to those interactions determined by prison routines, the course of (criminal) investigations or medical necessity. … it does not constitute ‘meaningful human contact’ if prison staff deliver a food tray, mail or medication to the cell door or if prisoners are able to shout at each other through cell walls or vents. In order for the rationale of the Rule to be met, the contact needs to provide the stimuli necessary for human well-being, which implies an empathetic exchange and sustained, social interaction. Meaningful human contact is direct rather than mediated, continuous rather than abrupt, and must involve genuine dialogue. It could be provided by prison or external staff, individual prisoners, family, friends or others – or by a combination of these. Inspection findings on the use of separation 2.7 HMI Prisons has long reported concerns about the conditions that children are held in when managed on segregation units, and the regimes on offer to separated children. Extent of use 2.8 7 8 9 14 Findings from HMI Prisons inspection surveys show that separation is widely used across the children’s estate to manage children’s behaviour. In surveys from our inspections published between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019, over half of children in YOIs (58%) reported that Expectations. Criteria for assessing the treatment of children and conditions in prisons, available at <https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/11/Childrens-ExpectationsFINAL-261118-2.pdf> accessed 24 October 2019. Available at <https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/GA-RESOLUTION/E_ebook.pdf> accessed 24 October 2019. Available at <https://cdn.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Essex-3-paper.pdf> accessed 24 October 2019. Separation of children in young offender institutions