Over half of Co-op members believe youth custody is not appropriate for children
In the year ending March 2025, almost two thirds of children remanded to youth custody did not go on to receive a prison sentence.
As the charity of a member-owned organisation, we want to understand what Co-op members think about the use of prison for children. Here’s what they told us.
Custody of children should only be used as a last resort. But in England and Wales, this is too often not the case. As a result, vulnerable children are still needlessly exposed to environments that are unstable and unsafe.
Youth custody settings have been experiencing high levels of violence and disorder for many years now. Ministry of Justice data, accessed via a Freedom of Information request by Howard League for Penal Reform, reveals that boys are being kept in their cells for about 20 hours a day and are receiving far less than 15 hours of education per week.
We’ve partnered with Alliance for Youth Justice and Transform Justice to ensure custody of children is used as a last resort. We are doing this by:
- Calling for a reduction in the use of custodial remand for children (when a child is detained pre-trial or pre-conviction)
- Calling for greater restrictions on the use of prison sentences in child cases
By supporting children in the community, we can prevent them from being subjected to harmful conditions. This increases their chances of receiving the most effective support and growing into happy, productive members of their community.
We know tackling the cycle of reoffending to keep communities and colleagues safe is important to members. They’ve told us this previously through a member motion. That’s why we wanted to better understand what they thought about the use of prison for children.
What members told us
Over 20,000 Co-op members answered the question, ‘is prison appropriate for children?’ through a survey we published in December 2025. Of those, over 10,000 members went on to answer extra questions. This helped us better understand their thoughts on youth custody. A huge thank you to everyone who took part.
Our Campaign Working Group – featuring Suranne, Neylia, Emmanuel and Phoebe from our Future Communities Collective – have created a short video highlighting some of the key themes that emerged from member feedback:
Members also told us:
- They’re concerned about community safety and those who have been victims of crime
- They believe children are naturally vulnerable and they are therefore concerned about the wellbeing of children who come into contact with the justice system
- There needs to be better support services and early intervention
- Alternatives to prison seen as better for children and they should therefore be better funded and prioritised
- They think when children encounter the justice system, they should be treated equally and fairly. Bias or prejudice should not play a part in justice and rehabilitation and disparities should be addressed
- Isolating children is not seen as an effective and should only be used when absolutely necessary
How we’re sharing members’ views
The views Co-op members have shared with us are already helping to improve youth custody. We shared members’ insights, alongside findings from our research with More in Common, directly with government to help influence the plans for reforming youth justice that were announced this week.
The plans set out strong commitments to end unnecessary use of remand but lacked ambition and detail in other areas, so we still have work to do. We will continue to amplify member voices, research and evidence and the experiences of children in custody to drive the further change needed to end the unnecessary imprisonment of children.
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