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Better data over the use of handcuffs and other restraints on young innocent people in care is needed to help bring an end to the “brutal handcuffing of vulnerable children”, a cross-party group of MPs and peers has said.

In a letter to children’s minister Claire Coutinho, the signatories said they are concerned at what they call the “worrying prevalence” of vulnerable children being restrained and handcuffed unnecessarily by secure transportation providers.

They wrote that there have been instances of “innocent children outside the custodial system” being restrained during transport, but organisers from the Hope Instead Of Handcuffs campaign said the exact number of such instances is not known due to a lack of data.

The letter’s signatories, which include former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, the DUP’s Jim Shannon, and peer and ex-Green party leader Baroness Bennett, asked that Ms Coutinho meet with them and members of the campaign group about the issue.

They demanded that the minister “urgently conduct a review of the data gaps in secure transportation, which preclude proper monitoring and scrutiny of providers’ restraint practices”, and said that “accountability and transparency can be increased across the sector”.

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Children’s minister Claire Coutinho

The letter added: “Shockingly, many secure transportation providers use restraints such as handcuffs on vulnerable children in care. To be clear, these are innocent children outside the custodial system. Some of these providers even advertise that they use handcuffs on their website.”

They said providers “should be required to record and report any instances of restraint to an appropriate body, which would be appointed by the government to monitor and scrutinise this data”, which they said would “bring secure transportation in line with other areas of the care system, improve transparency, and initiate a cultural change within the sector that will reduce, and ultimately end, the brutal handcuffing of vulnerable children”.

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Serenity Welfare, a transport provider, said it does not use handcuffs on children and instead uses “non-violent de-escalation and mentoring as part of a humanistic and compassionate provision of care”.

But it also said other organisations train their staff to use restraint techniques against children, including head control and handcuffing.

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In 2021, in evidence to the Human Rights (Joint Committee) inquiry on protecting human rights in care settings, Serenity Welfare said: “Many providers of secure transportation services for children in or on the edge of care use handcuffs on innocent children.”

“The practice is unregulated and unmonitored, as there is no obligation on these providers to report any instances of handcuffing to the appropriate authority,” they added.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “The safeguarding and wellbeing of children and young people is of the utmost importance.

“Restraint should only be used in exceptional cases where it is necessary and proportionate; for example, if there was no other way to prevent a child from seriously harming themselves or others.

“We are continuing our work with the Hope Instead Of Handcuffs campaign to explore what further action is needed.”

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MPs vote against new national inquiry into grooming gangs

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MPs vote against new national inquiry into grooming gangs

A Tory bid to launch a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal has been voted down by MPs amid criticism of “political game playing”.

MPs rejected the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill by 364 to 111, a majority of 253.

However, even if the Commons had supported the measure, it wouldn’t have actually forced the government to open the desired inquiry, due to parliamentary procedure.

Instead, it would have killed the government’s legislation, the aim of which is to reform things like the children’s care system and raise educational standards in schools.

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Tonight’s vote was largely symbolic – aimed at putting pressure on Labour following days of headlines after comments by Elon Musk brought grooming gangs back into the spotlight.

The world’s richest man has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, after she rejected a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, saying this should be done at a local level instead.

The Tories also previously said an Oldham inquiry should be done locally and in 2015 commissioned a seven-year national inquiry into child sex abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay, which looked at grooming gangs.

However, they didn’t implement any of its recommendations while in office – and Sir Keir has vowed to do so instead of launching a fresh investigation into the subject.

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The division list showed no Labour MPs voted in favour of the Conservative amendment.

Those who backed the proposal include all of Reform’s five MPs and 101 Tory MPs – though some senior figures, including former prime minister Rishi Sunak and former home secretaries James Cleverly and Suella Braverman, were recorded as not voting.

The Liberal Democrats abstained.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub before the vote, education minister Stephen Morgan condemned “political game playing”.

“What we’re seeing from the Conservatives is a wrecking amendment which would basically allow this bill not to go any further,” he said.

“That’s political game playing and not what I think victims want. Victims want to see meaningful change.”

As well as the Jay review, a number of local inquiries were also carried out, including in Telford and Rotherham.

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Speaking earlier in the day at PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer accused Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch of “jumping on the bandwagon” after Mr Musk’s intervention and spreading “lies and misinformation”.

Referring to her time in government as children’s and equalities minister, the prime minister said: “I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry.”

He also said having spoken to victims of grooming gangs this morning, “they were clear they want action now, not the delay of a further inquiry”.

Ms Badenoch has argued that the public will start to “worry about a cover-up” if the prime minister resists calls for a national inquiry, and said no one has yet “joined up the dots” on grooming.

Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns in England – including Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford – over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.

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