Prohibit pain compliance techniques
The Chair and Panel consider that the use of pain compliance techniques should be seen as a form of child abuse, and that it is likely to contribute to a culture of violence, which may increase the risk of child sexual abuse. The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice prohibits the use of pain compliance techniques by withdrawing all policy permitting its use, and setting out that this practice is prohibited by way of regulation.
- In May 2023, the government stated that it had removed Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) techniques from the standard training syllabus but retained a separate emergency intervention package (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
- The government rejected the recommendation to ban all pain compliance techniques, stating staff require these tools for emergency scenarios (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Not Accepted
Response
Not AcceptedOn 18 June 2020, the Ministry of Justice published the Charlie Taylor review of pain-inducing techniques in the youth secure estate. The review recommended that the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) programme should be amended to remove the use of pain-inducing techniques from its syllabus. The review also recommended that: (a) staff in young offender institutions and secure training centres may use a pain-inducing technique to prevent serious physical harm to a child or adult, and (b) that an Independent Restraint and Behaviour Panel (IRBP) should be established to review incidents in which serious injuries or warning signs have been identified, or where a pain-inducing technique has been deployed. On 18 June 2020, the Ministry of Justice also published the UK government's response to the review. It stated that the Ministry of Justice would remove the sections on pain-inducing techniques from the MMPR manual. In April 2021, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the Youth Custody Service had established the IRRP. A second Inquiry recommendation on the use of pain compliance was made (see row 20).