National Preventive Mechanism Eleventh Annual Report 2019–20 In July 2019, HMI Prisons issued an Urgent Notification to the Secretary of State for Justice highlighting concerns about HMYOI Feltham A. This was the first use of the process for an establishment which detains children, and the Urgent Notification was issued after inspectors found unacceptable treatment and conditions and ‘overwhelming’ problems with safety. Issues included: ungoverned use of force; a lack of access to proper education or reliable access to health care; and children subject to behaviour management that was almost exclusively focused on punishment. Levels of selfharm were 14 times higher than in 2017, and a poor and unpredictable regime was dominated by the ‘keep-apart’ policy to separate children from rival gangs, which disrupted daily life. Ofsted, which took part in the joint inspection, judged the provision of and attendance at education as ‘inadequate’. Many children were released without stable accommodation, education, training or employment or support from families.161 In order to make improvements at Feltham, children were diverted to other YOIs, but this created new challenges at, for example, HMYOI Cookham Wood, which had staffing shortages at the same time as it received more children. HMI Prisons published a thematic review on the separation of children aged 15–18 in YOIs in England and Wales, finding that most children separated from their peers experienced a regime that amounted to the widely-accepted definition of solitary confinement, with little human contact and in conditions which risked damaging their mental health. There were dramatic variations in childrens’ experiences of separation across the five YOIs reported on and between different units in the same establishment, which was ‘inexplicable’ in a small custodial estate holding just over 600 children.162 Around one in 10 children were found to be separated at the time of inspection. Checks by managers, nurses and chaplains gave an illusion of oversight, but were cursory, often took place though a locked door and sometimes did not happen at all. The report noted some areas of better practice, particularly at HMYOI Parc, but generally identified ‘multiple and widespread failings’. The IMB also reported concerns about segregation in YOIs, with some children being segregated for many weeks even when they had serious mental health conditions. Cookham Wood IMB reported two incidences of children being segregated for over 90 days, and two others for more than six weeks. More widely, all IMBs in the under-18s estate expressed concerns about the high and often growing level of selfharm, particularly among young people with severe behavioural difficulties and mental health concerns.163 161 HMI Prisons, August 2019, Urgent Notification: HMYOI Feltham A, https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wpcontent/uploads/sites/4/2019/08/LC-to-Peter-Clarke-HMYOI-Feltham-A.pdf [accessed 24/08/2020] 162 HMI Prisons, January 2020, Separation of children in young offender institutions, https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/ hmiprisons/inspections/separation-of-children-in-young-offender-institutions/ [accessed 24/08/2020] 163 IMB, September 2020, Independent Monitoring Boards National Annual Report, 2019-20 https://www.imb.org.uk/prisonsremained-tightly-stretched-pre-covid-says-independent-national-monitoring-report-2019-20/ [accessed 30/10/2020] 52