28 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Revise Prison Service safeguarding guidance

Recommendation

The Chair and Panel note that Prison Service Instruction 08/2012, which sets out the mandatory actions for young offender institutions and secure training centres for 'maintaining a safe and secure environment', has expired. The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice revises and publishes this Prison Service Instruction to provide clear guidance on how custodial institutions must respond to allegations of child sexual abuse. This should include a requirement for all allegations to be referred to a child protection professional who is independent of the institution. The Chair and Panel also recommend that all institutions, including those which are privately run, publish their safeguarding local procedures in full as well as regular reports about their use, to aid scrutiny and increase transparency.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Ministry of Justice, work began to revise or replace Prison Service Instructions (PSIs) with 'policy frameworks' on 23 July 2019. According to the Youth Custody Service, they published a policy framework that replaced some aspects of PSI 08/2012 relating to behaviour management of children. According to the available evidence, as of 4 May 2022, early work had started on producing the 'Care and Management of Young People framework' which is intended to fully replace PSI 08/2012. The recommendation was accepted and was 'In Progress' as of May 2023. No further published evidence has been identified since May 2023.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
E
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
22 May 2023

On 23 July 2019, the Ministry of Justice stated that work had begun to revise or replace Prison Service Instructions (PSIs) with 'policy frameworks'. In advance of updating PSI 08/2012, the Youth Custody Service published a policy framework that replaced some aspects of PSI 08/2012 relating to behaviour management of children. On 4 May 2022, the Ministry of Justice stated that early work had started on producing the Care and Management of Young People framework that will replace PSI 08/2012. On 23 July 2019, the Ministry of Justice also stated that the Youth Custody Service would work with the Department for Education to produce 'Keeping Children Safe in Custody', which would thereafter be updated annually. On 4 May 2022, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the Youth Custody Service was drafting 'Keeping Children Safe in Secure Settings' guidance. For more information on this update, see row 26.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry IICSA
Report Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report 26 Feb 2019
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Ministry of Justice Primary
Themes & Tags
Child exploitation criminalisation Staff policy awareness Prison Service Safeguarding Guidance
Recommendation age 7.1 yrs
Last formal update 1037 days ago