Number of children locked up 'rises fivefold'

The number of children locked up by the courts in England and Wales has increased fivefold in a decade, the charity Barnardo's said today.

Barnardo's said the use of custody for 10 to 14-year-olds rose by 550% from 1996 to 2006 and had led to children "being written off" by the age of 12.

The charity's chief executive, Martin Narey, a former director general of the Prison Service, said detaining so many youngsters was "inexplicable" and "unjustifiable".

Barnardo's said it recognised that custodial terms were needed for "grave" or "serious" crimes but added only 7% of sentences for 10-14-year-olds last year were for such offences.

More than £27 million could be saved per year if custodial terms were only reserved for the most serious offences, the charity claimed.

Mr Narey said: "We should drastically reduce the use of custody for very young children in England and Wales.

"Barnardo's are not naive. We recognise that children committing grave crimes need to be incarcerated. But the explosion in the use of custody for very young children when youth offending has not been growing is inexplicable, unjustifiable and unnecessary.

"It is often the most vulnerable young people in society who end up in the criminal justice system, and despite this only 5% of the £445 million spent by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) was invested in preventative work."

In 1997, the Government lowered the age of criminal responsibility for children from aged 14 to 10.

Barnardo's said the number of children and young people in custody in England and Wales was the third highest in Europe, behind only the Russian Federation and the Ukraine

According to the charity, the cost of custody could be as much as £185,780 to accommodate a young person for one year - the equivalent of six years' schooling at Eton College.

Its study of Government data from 1996 to 2006, Locking up or giving up?, claimed that custody for youths was ineffective as 78% of 10 to 14-year-olds would reoffend within 12 months of release.

Barnardo's called for sentencing thresholds to be changed so that 10 to 14-year-olds could only be locked up for serious crimes.

It wants local authorities to carry the full costs for those children sentenced to custody. Barnardo's warned there was a financial disincentive for councils as the YJB currently footed the bill and it deterred them from investing in preventative measures such as intensive fostering.

The charity also urged greater investment in more timely support for children, young people and their families to address problems at an early stage.