We are letting down significant numbers of young people each year according to Assistant Chief Constable Dawn Copley of Greater Manchester Police. She was speaking in to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Children according to this news report when she explained that the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) is “clear” that detainees under 18 should be transferred to accommodation provided by the local authority – rather than held in the cells – while waiting to appear before a court. The age limit for those affected was changed several years ago from children under 17 years of age, to those under 18 which was a much needed adjustment. However at that time, nationally some 53,000 children a year were being held in Police cells or sent to youth prisons whilst waiting for a court appearance. These people under the rules of British Justice are innocent of any crime. With an increase in the age of those affected the likelihood is that this number of cell nights has increased.

When I was preparing to stand as Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex, I met with the Youth Offender Services in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton in order to understand the challenges they faced, and consider if I should include any reference to youth crime in my manifesto. The challenge faced by all three ‘upper tier’ local authorities was that they did not have suitable secure accommodation available. In part this was because the numbers of young people were not significant enough in each area to justify providing this. My conclusion two years ago was that one of the vital roles for the Police and Crime Commissioner would be to work with all three Councils and ensure that in Sussex, no children would be held within the Criminal Justice estate until they had been convicted of a crime. This would mean investing in at least one home in the Sussex area in which those detained could be held, until a youth court appearance could be organised. The irony is that such an approach could actually save these Councils money, as the cost of incarceration in a Youth Prison, along with the extensive transport arrangements is borne by these same local authorities. By investing in suitable provision in Sussex, the law could be kept, young people receive more appropriate treatment, and the taxpayer could save cash. A win for all of us.

According to Dawn Copley, the number of times children had been held in cells was becoming a “large concern” for the service and it should be a significant concern for you and I. According to a chap called Andy Abraham “Children are our future,  Teach them well and let them lead the way”. Popular music may not be the most reliable basis for policy making but there is ample evidence that if teenagers are well treated, some of them will make better decisions as they grow older. Sending children who have been removed from their homes, in some cases for their own protection, as much as for their own behaviour to a youth prison, because we have no other alternative is clearly wrong. We can stop this, but it will depend on cooperation between our Councils, and the Police and Crime Commissioner.