Liberal Democrats welcome efforts to keep young people out of police cells

9.21.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 17th Jan 2008

Children should spend less time in police cells

Liberal Democrats today welcomed the news that Tower Hamlets Council is recruiting dedicated foster carers to work as part of its Remand Fostering Scheme. The scheme is designed designed to reduce the time children spend in police custody and on remand in young offender institutions.

Group leader, Cllr Stephanie Eaton said: "We welcome any scheme that means children will spend less time in police custody. However, the success of a policy to divert children from police custody and young offenders institutions will depend on adequate funding and support to remand fostering families. It's a difficult job to look after a young offender, but a really important one and I call upon Children's Services to ensure that resources are sufficient to ensure that this vital service can be provided"

Councillor Eaton is an Independent Custody Visitor, one of a team of local volunteers who check on the welfare of people in police custody. Speaking of her experiences she said "It's not unusual to find a young person languishing in a police cell when I do custody visits at Limehouse and Bethnal Green Police Stations. Kids in custody are vulnerable, and bare concrete cells should not be used to hold children before an appearance in court. In my experience the police do their best to look after juveniles in custody, and they agree with me that young people, guilty or innocent, should not be kept in the cells for very long, but some of them can be there for a few days.

I have been working hard to try and ensure that there are alternatives to police custody for young people arrested and detained in the Borough. There never seem to be enough beds, or enough secure beds across London, although on one occasion a social worker told me he had not even bothered to call around to see if there were any spaces because he assumed that there would not be any available.

The Borough needs a supply of secure emergency beds to enable children to be placed in a supportive environment if they are to be held overnight pending a court visit. We also need a better system for providing "Appropriate Adults" to be present during police interviews with children."

For an informal discussion about becoming a Remand Foster Carer within Tower Hamlets Children's Services, please contact Tina Lord, Team Manager of the Recruitment & Assessment Team on 0207 364 5443.