Children on remand: Racial disparities in England and Wales

As part of the Howard League’s work on racial disparities in youth justice, we have been exploring the use of remand to youth detention in England and Wales.

While the number of children sentenced to custody has fallen steadily in the past 10 years, the number of children on remand has not reduced at the same rate. As a consequence, the proportion of the custodial population on remand has increased, and within that population, Black and Mixed heritage children are significantly over-represented.

In 2023, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) published a thematic review on remand. The review highlighted the racial disparities in custodial remand for children, noting that racial and ethnic disparities were present at many of the key decision points in the system, which result in Black and Mixed heritage children being over-represented in custody.

HMIP noted instances of potential adultification throughout the remand process, where children from Black and Mixed heritage backgrounds were treated as if they were older than their actual age at key points in the remand system.

The inspectorate also identified a potential disparity in the placement recommendations made by youth justice services to the Youth Custody Service (YCS), with the data indicating that Black and minority ethnic children were less likely to be recommended for a secure children’s home and more likely to be recommended for a young offender institution.

Although the number of children on remand is relatively small, the data has uncovered concerning disparities

The most recent youth justice annual statistics report that 59% of children on remand to youth custody are from an ethnic minority. Twenty-seven per cent of children on remand are Black, despite Black children comprising only 6% of the general population aged 12 to 17. Nineteen per cent of children on remand are Mixed heritage, despite Mixed heritage children also comprising only 6% of the general population aged 12 to 17.

The Howard League has tried to gain a clearer picture of how these disparities manifest across different regions in England and Wales.

We submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request to the YCS asking for data on the number of children held on remand each month in each region, disaggregated by ethnicity, in the year ending March 2023. We have compared this data with the latest census data of children aged 12 to 17 in each region and in each ethnic group.

Although the number of children on remand is relatively small — limiting the scope of our comparisons — the data has uncovered concerning disparities, particularly for Black and Mixed heritage children across most regions.

The table below provides the proportion of Black children among the remand population in each region and how that compares with the percentage that Black children make up of the total child population in that region.

Black children are disproportionately remanded in all regions, other than in the North East and South West. The greatest rate of disproportionality was in the East Midlands, where Black children were remanded at eight times the expected rate. This is followed by the Eastern and South East regions, where Black children were remanded at seven and six times the expected rate.

Remand should always be a last resort for children

The table below provides the proportion of Mixed heritage children among the remand population in each region and how that compares with the percentage that Mixed heritage children make up of the total child population in that region.

Mixed heritage children are disproportionately remanded in all regions in England. The greatest rate of disproportionality was in the South West, where Mixed heritage children were remanded at eight times the expected rate. This is followed by Yorkshire, where Mixed heritage children were remanded at four times the expected rate.

We had hoped to compare the data disclosed to us with equivalent data for the year ending March 2024. However, the data disclosed, following a further FOI request, was heavily redacted and did not allow us to do the same analysis. While this has limited our ability to analyse rates of remand regionally, the most recent youth justice statistics confirm that Black and Mixed heritage children are significantly over-represented in the national remand population.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published a new concordat on remand for children. According to the MoJ, the concordat is intended as a shared commitment by partners to follow a joint approach throughout the remand process, working together in the best interest of the child. It is not seeking to influence the independent judicial decision-making process but to ensure that partners are working together to provide alternatives to custodial remands where appropriate.

One of the stated aims of the concordat is reducing racial disparities in remand outcomes, noting the over-representation of Black children on remand. It encourages better partnership working to tackle the high levels of remand, setting out the law, as well as providing guidance and examples of good practice. The figures in the tables above highlight why the concordat is important, and why local services need to focus their approach on tackling remand and racial disparities.

Remand should always be a last resort for children. We hope youth justice services and all partners use the concordat to understand how to work better together to provide alternatives to custodial remands and reduce racial disparities in the process. Our analysis suggests that interrogating local data and understanding patterns of disparities in remand will be key to making progress and targeting effort appropriately.

We hope that all partners are able to learn from the good practice provided in the concordat to improve the experiences of remanded children and ultimately, reduce the overall use of remand for children.

Remand is one of our priority areas at the Howard League, and we will continue to monitor remand data and efforts to address and reduce racial disparities.

Ayomide Sotubo
Policy Officer

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