Medway Secure Training Centre

Inspection report for Secure Training Centre

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Inspection date 8 September 2010 Lead inspector Linda Christie Additional inspector(s) Elizabeth Taylor

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Type of inspection Random Type of registration Secure Training Centre

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Service address Sir Evelyn Road Rochester Kent ME1 3YB Telephone number 01634 823300 Email address Ben.Saunders@uk.g4s.com Director Ben Saunders Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 2 of 19

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This document may be freely reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided the source and date of publication are stated. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 3 of 19

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About this inspection

The purpose of inspection is to provide assurance to the Secretary of State that secure training centres (STCs) provide an environment that promotes the safety and welfare of young people and that will help prevent children and young people offending in the future, and in particular that:

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About this inspection

ƒ the safeguarding of children and young people is effective ƒ programmes exist to tackle offending behaviour and meet the citizenship and resettlement needs of children and young people ƒ the performance of the secure training centre provider meets the quality of service expected in the inspections standards ƒ there is a purposeful regime in which children and young people are encouraged to take part ƒ there is effective security and control within the secure training centre ƒ high standards of social care, health care, education and training are provided for children and young people ƒ the individual needs of children and young people are fully assessed and there are plans for meeting them as far as possible.

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About this inspection

The inspection was conducted in accordance with the Statutory Rules inspections of secure training centres made under Section 47 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, and in line with section 37(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which states that: It shall be the principal aim of the youth justice system to prevent offending by children and young persons.

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About this inspection

This was a random unannounced inspection carried out in accordance with the service level agreement between the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and Ofsted. The standards used during the inspection were those agreed between the YJB and Ofsted.

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About this inspection

The last full inspection was carried out in February 2010 with an interim inspection in September 2009.

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About this inspection

Two social care inspectors spent two days on site. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 4 of 19

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough Not judged: this aspect of the provision was not judged

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about Ofsted inspections, please see Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 5 of 19

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Brief description of the service

1. Medway is one of four purpose-built secure training centres that offer secure provision to young people across the country. Medway is managed by Rebound ECD which is part of the G4S Care and Justice Services Limited. The centre is one of three secure training centres managed by the group.

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Brief description of the service

2. The centre is situated in Rochester, Kent. It offers secure provision for young people aged from 12 to 17 years who meet the criteria for custodial sentence, or who are remanded to a secure setting.

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Brief description of the service

3. Medway is designated to accommodate up to 76 young people of both genders. During the inspection 67 young people were in residence. Young people live in house units, of which there are four in each of the three house blocks.

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Brief description of the service

4. The centre was judged as good in the key inspection of February 2010.

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Summary

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

5. This is an interim unannounced inspection of the centre, intended to assess progress against recommendations made following the last inspection undertaken in February 2010. All standards included under the Every Child Matters outcome staying safe were also assessed. A site inspection took place to review the quality of the accommodation, security and building maintenance.

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Summary

6. The atmosphere at the centre appeared to be relaxed. Young people were observed being treated with courtesy and respect. Relationships between staff and young people are predominantly friendly and positive. Young people are clear about expectations in respect of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours and know the possible consequences of displaying the latter. Young people learn to trust adults and to work cooperatively with them. All of the young people spoken with said they got on well with staff.

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Summary

7. All young people are actively involved in purposeful activities throughout the day and evening. Staff across all departments are clear about their respective roles and work closely together to ensure a positive and effective service is available to young people. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 6 of 19

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Summary

8. A key strength of this centre is the close working relationship with the local safeguarding team and the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). The director is actively engaged in the relevant steering group of the LSCB and in agreement with the chair had set targets for a reduction in the use of restraint, use of removal from association, use of sanctions and attempts by young people to harm themselves. There has been a marked success in meeting these targets with a decrease in all behaviour management related targets.

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Summary

9. Improving outcomes for young people is a clear objective that underpins the work of this centre. There is also an emphasis on reflective practice to inform development. Young people are active partners in reflecting upon their experiences and reviewing interventions and opportunities that work for them. Evaluation is an ongoing process in all aspects of service delivery. By seeking their views a week prior to discharge, the centre collects useful information regarding the impact of its provision on individual young people.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

10. At the last inspection managers were asked to consider 11 recommendations. Of those five were related to the education provision. Education inspectors recommended that consideration be given to ensure more meaningful educational or vocational accreditation; that behaviour management in classrooms should be reviewed; the quality of teaching and learning in some lessons be improved; self evaluation be made more effective and the Connexions service be improved. These recommendations will be reviewed at the next key inspection.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

11. Improvements have been made in response to the six recommendations which were reviewed during this inspection. However the recommendation relating to the administration of medication is being repeated.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

12. The centre was asked to ensure sanctions imposed on young people were relevant to the misdemeanour. Also, that staff encourage young people to consider their actions and offer them the opportunity to remedy matters by restitution or reparation. Action has been taken to address these matters. A revised sanctions scheme has been implemented and staff now use a wider variety of permissible measures to encourage young people to consider incidents of unacceptable behaviour. Young people have increasing opportunities to engage in restorative work and to ‘earn back’ a sanction. This enables them to learn constructively how to manage their behaviour in an acceptable way. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 7 of 19

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What has been improved since the last inspection

13. All duty directors and duty operations managers are now trained in the management of major emergency incidents and are testing and reviewing all relevant procedures.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

14. Young people have opportunities to gain and practise life and vocational skills though these were not well documented in the previous inspection. Considerable work has taken place to develop young people’s skills base and to extend work experience for some, consistent with security matters. Clear plans of work are in place for each young person. Each is based on an assessment of their existing independence skills, and identify other skills necessary to support young people in adulthood. This will enable individual young people to receive the help they need to develop their knowledge and skills for future independent living.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

15. The previous guidance leaflet for parents and carers, distributed on the young person’s admission, about the centre did not clearly publicise the complaints procedure. To ensure young people are kept safe, additional information has now been added to the leaflet to explain the various options, informal and formal, available to them to raise a concern or make a complaint.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

16. A review has been undertaken of the training available to staff across all departments to ensure they have opportunities to obtain relevant professional qualifications. Excellent progress has been made in this respect and administration staff, those working in facilities, control room staff and care staff at all levels are now participating in related National Vocational Qualification courses. Team leaders and duty operations managers are participating in NVQ at level 3 in either leadership and management, or health and social care. Care staff are currently working toward the NVQ level 2 award in custodial provision, with a view to their commencing the level 3 course in health and social care after this. In some departments, such as the control room, 100% of staff are participating in accredited training. Of care staff who are working directly with young people 65% of training assistants and 62% of team leaders are completing some form of qualification.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

17. There has been considerable progress made in addressing the recommendation related to ensuring administration records are well- maintained and consistently comply with the centre's own procedures. A major provider of pharmacy services is now contracted to the centre. They provide prescribed and non prescribed medicines and a thorough system for recording and monitoring all medicines.

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What has been improved since the last inspection

18. The pharmacists will also provide stock checking and auditing at the request of the centre. Other auditing mechanisms are also in place. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 8 of 19

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What has been improved since the last inspection

19. However, practice in relation to the recording of medication administered to young people remains inconsistent, with recent gaps once again identified upon examination of the records during the inspection. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 9 of 19

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision not judged. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 10 of 19

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them stay safe

20. The management team is committed to ensuring young people’s challenging behaviours are managed by positive means rather than negative measures. Reflective practice is embedded in the centre's practice and is used effectively to ensure young people’s diverse and changing needs are addressed.

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them stay safe

21. Behaviour management records are well-maintained and are routinely reviewed. Rigorous quality assurance procedures monitor and evaluate the application of behaviour management strategies in place. These procedures are used to identify any patterns or issues in relation to the management of young people. This includes the use of physical intervention, removal from association and sanctions.

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them stay safe

22. Frequent multi-disciplinary meetings take place which critically review these findings, and identify any actions necessary to address concerns and improve the service to young people. Representatives from relevant external agencies attend monthly meetings about behaviour management in the centre. This demonstrates transparency in the way the centre operates and contributes to ensuring young people’s safety is promoted and that they are treated fairly.

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them stay safe

23. An incentive scheme operates to encourage young people to behave in an acceptable manner. The scheme, which has five incremental levels of achievement and rewards, is clearly understood by young people. The majority of the young people are very positive about having either achieved the highest level or aspiring to do so. A change to the system in the linking of daily ‘points’ for effort in education, as well as in the residential units, has resulted in greater consistency in the management of young people.

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them stay safe

24. The sanctions policy has been reviewed and revised. The revised system is aimed at ensuring staff only apply measures suited to the misdemeanour, and allows for restitution or reparation in all but the most serious incidents. Records show staff respond more imaginatively in their use of sanctions, and also that young people are increasingly able to ‘wipe out’ some sanctions if they choose to rectify matters through an agreed action or improved performance. However, records for July show a more frequent use of ‘loss of outdoor activity’ as a measure of control. This has been identified by the management team and is being addressed in training for staff.

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them stay safe

25. Records show a reduction of just over 50% in the number of sanctions imposed on young people in the second quarter of the year compared to the first quarter. This is very positive. However, there is a need for continued Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 11 of 19

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them stay safe

focus to ensure that sanctions remain relevant to the misdemeanour and that the reduction in their use is sustained. This is intended to support young people to modify any behaviour considered to be unacceptable.

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them stay safe

26. Restorative justice is increasingly effectively used to help young people understand the impact of their behaviour and take responsibility for making amends.

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them stay safe

27. The use of removal from association is carefully recorded, monitored and evaluated to ensure transparency and fair practice. Incidents of the use of removal from association have fallen by fifty per cent since February, despite an increase in occupancy in April and June. None of the young people spoken with expressed any concerns about the imposition of sanctions or the use of removal from association.

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them stay safe

28. All staff are trained in the approved means of restraint, physical control in care (PCC). Initial training takes place during their induction and refresher training is completed by all staff every six months. The use of PCC is rigorously monitored as part of the centre’s quality assurance system. Records show the use of PCC has also reduced, by more than fifty per cent, in the last five months. This was reflected in comments made by several young people who said they had not been restrained or witnessed a restraint.

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them stay safe

29. The measures taken by the management team to implement a revised sanctions and reward system have resulted in a noticeable and consistent reduction in the use of sanctions, removal from association and restraints across the centre. This is an excellent achievement.

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them stay safe

30. There are well established procedures in place to ensure that the centre obtains appropriate information about the needs and challenges presented by a young person at the point of admission. Admission procedures ensure that those young people whose behaviour might present a risk of harm to themselves or others are identified and measures put in place to ensure that they are kept safe. Any young person at risk is carefully assessed and supported by a multi-disciplinary team, including health care staff. Plans are implemented to monitor their behaviour and clear strategies developed to reduce the likelihood of harm. The sharing of information between all staff within the centre is excellent. This enables support and supervision to be to be made available to those young people who exhibit signs of potential risk or vulnerability.

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them stay safe

31. Clear mechanisms are in place to track and confront bullying behaviour. This enables the management team to monitor incidents to ensure appropriate action is taken to support the perpetrator and victim.

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them stay safe

32. Incidents of bullying do occur between young people. Nevertheless, all the young people spoken with said they felt safe in the centre. Young people say Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 12 of 19

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them stay safe

staff act quickly to stop such behaviour. Mediation is used to good effect to resolve conflict. However, where persistent bullying is identified, it is actively managed through individual behaviour plans included in an explicit anti- bullying programme. This raises young people’s awareness of the reasons for, and consequences of, bullying behaviour.

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them stay safe

33. There are well established and practised procedures for notifying appropriate persons and authorities of significant events that affect individual young people.

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them stay safe

34. Robust and transparent safeguarding procedures have been devised in conjunction with the local authority allegations officer and the Local Safeguarding Children Board. Staff across all departments are aware of the procedures and receive regular training in understanding child protection. All allegations or issues of concern, linked to the safety and welfare of young people, are referred to the local authority allegations officer, who is managed by the local authority designated officer.

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them stay safe

35. The links with the local safeguarding team are excellent and this ensures regular expert independent oversight of all potential safeguarding matters occurring in the centre. All investigations are fully recorded and monitored. The Youth Justice Board performance monitor on site is kept fully informed of any investigations taking place. A representative from the local safeguarding team is invited to the monthly multidisciplinary meeting to review incidents, including restraint and self harm.

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them stay safe

36. The centre operates a robust complaints procedure which is effective in responding to young people’s concerns or requests, or those of other interested persons. Young people are advised of the procedure verbally and in writing at the time of admission. The complaints process is also outlined in a booklet available to parents/carers and others. The centre has adopted a tighter timescale for responding to complaints from young people than it is contractually required to do; a timescale of three days has been implemented for a full written response, rather than a week. This demonstrates a commitment to ensuring young people receive a quick response. Young people also receive a written receipt from the duty operations manager when they first submit a written complaint.

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them stay safe

37. Complaints forms are easily accessible in each of the residential units and all young people spoken with were aware of the formal complaints process. However, all but one said they preferred to tell staff about any concerns and were satisfied that something was done to resolve the matter. Occasional slippage in the timescale is quickly picked up by the management team and is addressed. This has happened in only three cases in the last five months.

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them stay safe

38. Young people are well supported by an active and effective independent advocacy service. An advocacy worker from an external independent organisation visits each residential unit once a week to meet informally with Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 13 of 19

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them stay safe

the young people. The advocates feel they are able to operate freely in their role and say they can request further information or challenge management about decision making in respect of young people who raise issues. The manager of the advocacy service said no concerns had been raised by young people ‘for a long time’ in respect of the use of sanctions, removal from association or restraint.

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them stay safe

39. Health and safety procedures and practices are well embedded and are effectively monitored by a nominated responsible person who is well qualified in this role and who is supported by an external health and safety manager. Regular internal and external audits are carried out and any issues raised are reflected upon and alterations made to procedures and practice, as required. The centre has recently, once again, been awarded the British Safety Council Five Star Award, which is valid for three years. This is the second time they have won this award. They also hold the British Safety Council 'International Safety Award'.

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them stay safe

40. Rebound has recently trained all relevant senior and middle managers to the 'silver command' level in dealing with serious incidents. The package was provided to relevant staff in all three Rebound managed secure training centres and although provided by the prison service, the useful elements of the training are being adapted to meet the specific needs of the centres. All staff spoken with who have participated in the training confirmed they found it to be very useful and the outcome is an improvement in confidence when dealing with emergency situations.

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them stay safe

41. The centre has robust security systems in place which are effective and enable young people to live in a safe environment. Written procedures provide guidance to staff, all of whom also receive an appropriate level of training to understand the day-to-day requirements of their role. Mechanisms are established and well-embedded to ensure that any possible breaches of security are identified, investigated and addressed. A recent situation involving a young person who breached security, was very well- managed by managers and staff and resulted in the young person being managed calmly and safely. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 14 of 19

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Education

The provision not judged. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 15 of 19

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Welfare

The provision not judged. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 16 of 19

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision was not judged. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 17 of 19

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Helping children achieve economic wellbeing

The provision was not judged. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 18 of 19

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Management

The provision was not judged. Inspection report Medway Secure Training Centre Page 19 of 19

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Recommendations

The following recommendations are made to the Director of the secure training centre unless otherwise stated.

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Recommendations

• ensure medication administration records are well maintained and consistently comply with the centre's own procedures (Being healthy - Standard 5). • ensure the revised sanctions scheme is embedded in the centre’s practice (Standard 11)

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