HM Chief Inspector of prisons has demanded immediate action after finding boys being kept in solitary confinement at a young offenders institute.

An inspection of Cookham Wood in Rochester has found a quarter of the inmates were being held in solitary confinement for extended periods, including two for more than 100 days, as a means of managing conflict.

Records showed it was common for boys to be kept in their cells for days on end, with no meaningful interaction, education or other intervention – and HMP Inspectorate of Prisons has now issued an Urgent Notification to the Secretary of State for Justice, to improve the conditions.

At the time of the inspection, 90% of children were subjected to ‘keep aparts’ meaning they were not allowed to mix with some of their peers, and staff were managing 583 individual conflicts in a population of 77 children.

Children told inspectors they felt unsafe, and were increasingly resorting to carrying weapons to protect themselves; many made from metal which boys had scavenged from equipment in their cells including kettles.

More than 200 weapons had been recovered in the six months preceding the inspection, despite inadequate searching procedures.

Cookham Wood was judged to be in a poor overall condition, with dirty living units and broken equipment.

The inspectorate said prison staff were found to be exhausted, with significant shortfalls on wings, and, while many clearly cared about the children, they felt unsupported by senior managers, and had “given up hope that improvement was possible”.

The inspectorate noted 450 staff were employed at Cookham Wood, including 44 directly employed managers, of whom 24 were senior leaders, and added: “The fact that such rich resources were delivering this unacceptable service for just 77 children indicated that much of it was currently wasted, underused or in need of reorganisation to improve outcomes at the site.”

It said the findings represented the “culmination of a steady decline in standards documented in inspections since 2016 that cannot be allowed to continue”.

Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “Many of these children have committed serious crimes and have rightly been detained.

“Nevertheless, they are still children, many of whom have come from very difficult backgrounds.

“They ought to be receiving education and support to make better choices in the future, supporting their rehabilitation and growth into adulthood so they leave custody in a better position than they entered it.

“We spoke to boys who’d had almost no human contact at all in days, and who had resorted to trying to stick up photos of home with toothpaste on the walls of the tiny cells that became their whole world.

‘This is a scandal and it cannot be allowed to continue’

“Such treatment of children is appalling. This is a scandal and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

The urgent notification was invoked on Wednesday, and the Secretary of State for Justice must reply within 28 days of the publication of the letter setting out a plan for improvement.

Prisons Minister Damian Hinds said: “Cookham Wood is home to some of society’s most troubled children, many with violent convictions, but the situation there is completely unacceptable as it is preventing us from helping these young offenders turn their backs on crime.

“That is why we have already appointed a new governor to provide stronger leadership and started a review into how children were being separated to prevent violence but it is clear further action is needed so we can ensure these children receive the support they need.”

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the fact boys were being held in solitary confinement was the most shocking aspect of the report.

He said: "If they're having no positive activities; if they're simply lying in their bunks all day doing nothing; and whatever the issues that led them to commit crime, be that substance misuse, poor mental health, histories of neglect and abuse - if none of that's being addressed then how on earth are they going to be less likely to commit crime on release? If anything they may be more likely to reoffend."

He said one "particularly shocking detail" of the report related to boys resorting to using toothpaste to stick up photos of loved ones on their walls, adding: "That's a shocking indictment of the youth justice system in 2023."

Referring to boys using weapons to protect themselves, he said: "I think this comes back to the fact that these forms of youth custody which are pretty much like adult prisons are really not suitable places to hold children in conflict with the law."

He said concerns also remained about the planned Secure School, which is due to open in Medway, and whether it would act as a prison or a school, or both.

But he added: "There must be a better way of doing things, than what is currently happening at Cookham Wood."