18
Response
Not Accepted
Joint MoJ/DfE policy for children in custody
Recommendation
The Chair and Panel recommend that the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education share policy responsibility for managing and safeguarding children in custodial institutions. This is to ensure that standards applied in relation to children in custody are jointly focussed on discipline and securing child welfare.
Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- In July 2019, the Ministry of Justice stated that it had joint working relationships with the Department for Education on secure children's homes, including information sharing (Government Response, Ministry of Justice, July 2019).
- In May 2023, the government stated that joint policy responsibility was being progressed through cross-departmental working arrangements (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
- No published formal shared policy responsibility framework between the Ministry of Justice and Department for Education for custodial institutions has been identified to March 2026.
- In May 2023, the government stated that joint policy responsibility was being progressed through cross-departmental working arrangements (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
- No published formal shared policy responsibility framework between the Ministry of Justice and Department for Education for custodial institutions has been identified to March 2026.
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by claude-opus-4-6 on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
D
Response
Not Accepted
Response
Not Accepted
Not Accepted
UK Government
22 May 2023
On 23 July 2019, the Ministry of Justice stated that it has joint working relationships with the Department for Education on secure children's homes, safeguarding and establishing secure schools. It stated that it aims to replace all young offender institutions and secure training centres with secure children's homes and secure schools.
Source
Inquiry
IICSA
Report
Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report
26 Feb 2019
Responsible Bodies
Ministry of Justice
Primary
Themes & Tags
Recommendation age
7.1 yrs
Last formal update
1054 days ago