Organisations working in children’s rights and youth justice have joined together to condemn the Labour Party government’s decision to introduce PAVA spray – an incapacitant similar to pepper spray – for use against children.
PAVA spray: Labour Party permitting pepper spray use against children
On Thursday 24 April, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood authorised it for use against children across three Young Offender Institutions (YOIs).
In response, the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ) has led a joint statement to call this out. It included signees from 37 organisations and individuals working to represent the views of, or deliver services to children. Together, they set out the significant risks this measure poses to children’s safety and wellbeing.
The government’s decision represents a serious escalation in the use of force that is permitted against children. Far from keeping children and staff safe, normalising the use of violence in this way risks making conditions even worse for those living and working in YOIs. The move is also inconsistent with the government’s ‘Child First’ approach. This commits to seeing children as children first and foremost, and to prioritising their best interests.
When adult male prisons first piloted PAVA spray, the Ministry of Justice’s evaluation showed that violence continued to rise. The use of PAVA undermined trust between prisoners and staff, further affecting safety.
Despite repeated warnings that the introduction of PAVA spray was highly likely to mirror the existing disproportionate use of force against those from racially minoritised backgrounds, the previous government nonetheless proceeded to roll it out across the adult male estate.
Through the Ministry of Justice’s own monitoring and evaluation, we now know that these predictions were correct.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also highlighted that disabled people are likely to be disproportionately impacted by the use of PAVA spray due to pre-existing conditions and vulnerabilities.
‘Locking institutions into cycles of violence’
Despite this evidence from the adult estate, the current government now risks repeating the same mistakes in the children’s estate.
This decision reflects a broader failure to address the longstanding challenges within the children’s custodial estate. Staffing shortfalls, deteriorating conditions, and inadequate support structures have contributed to an unsafe environment for both children and staff. Rather than arming staff with chemical sprays, the government must prioritise safer, trauma-informed environments that meet children’s needs.
Chief Executive of the Alliance for Youth Justice Jess Mullen said:
Years of failure and a lack of direction has led the children’s secure estate to a deeply concerning point.
Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), which the previous government had committed to closing, are the largest and most prison-like establishments that can hold children in custody, with the lowest staff-to-child ratios. They suffer from staffing shortages, and staff who are in place are not always sufficiently trauma-informed or child-centred. Children spend most of their time locked in cells with limited access to education and support.
In such a context, it is no wonder that tensions run high. But the solution to volatile establishments is not to propagate further harm, and the introduction of PAVA spray will only further lock institutions into cycles of violence.
Instead, children need more support, education, and interventions from well-trained, child-centred staff able to de-escalate tension and meet complex needs. The government must outline a clear plan for achieving this, including closing YOIs and the last Secure Training Centre, increasing capacity in more appropriate provision, and ensuring custody is only ever used for children as a last resort. Every day that goes by without doing so places the wellbeing of these children at risk.
Featured image via the Canary
