We were concerned to hear reports of children being remanded to custody pending psychiatric reports. Evidence received suggested that this is unnecessary and potentially damaging for a child. We ask the Ministry of Justice to set out how many children have been sent to custody pending a psychiatric report. We recommend that the Ministry set out what steps it is taking to prevent this from happening.

We were concerned to hear reports of children being remanded to custody pending psychiatric reports. Evidence received suggested that this is unnecessary and potentially damaging for a child. We ask the Ministry of Justice to set out how many children have been sent to custody pending a psychiatric report. We recommend that the Ministry set out what steps it is taking to prevent this from happening. Type: recommendation | Number: 15 | Paragraph: 99 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: 59. The recently published MHA White Paper accepts in principle the Independent Review’s recommendation. The Government agrees with the Review that prison should not be used as a place of safety on the grounds of mental health but significant further work is needed before legislative change can be i