Dear Cornwall Council,
The following questions concern arrangements to safeguard children
detained by police officers as required of the local authority
under section 38(4) Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and related
legislation. Questions have been sent to a number of other local
authorities and will inform follow-up research to that which has
already been published and is freely available.
In providing a response please consult your Out-of-Hours service in
relation to questions concerning appropriate adults an detained
children.
Policy etc.
1. Please provide your policy and procedures documents that cover
arrangements concerning receipt of a request for an appropriate
adult; attendance at the police station; addressing disposals
(including youth cautions); Youth Justice Board remand management
guidance; arrangements for accommodation usually of an emergency
nature under section 21(2)(a) and(b) Children Act.
2. (i)Please provide details of policies and procedures concerning
children making complaints including standard documentation that i
given to children. (ii)Please describe if and how these are made
available to children detained at the police station who are not
accommodated as required by section 21 Children Act? For example,
are such complaint procedures made available at the police station
or by the YOT at court; to the child or to the child’s legal
representative?
3. (i)Please provide policies and procedures concerning the
schedule 2 duty under the Children Act to avoid the need for
criminal proceedings (e.g. diversion from a decision to charge and
to avoid the use of secure accommodation (including requests for
it) insofar as they apply to children allegedly in conflict with
the law.
(ii)Please provide the same concerning the provision for a section
17 assessment to be conducted at the same time as undertaking
duties under any other enactment.
4. Please provide any other policy or protocol you are party to
concerning arrangements for children under the Police and Criminal
Evidence Act and sections 17, 20, 21 and 25 Children Act in
relation to children allegedly in conflict with the law.
Appropriate adult (AA)arrangements.

1. Please describe your arrangements in terms of service delivery
method and provider type; availability; person specification
criteria; status in terms of whether a volunteer, sessional worker
or local authority full time employee; arrangements for supervision
and management.
2. (i)How many appropriate adults do you or your service provider
have available within your local authority area?
(ii)Over the last three month period what percentage have attended
the police station on : Less than five occasions; 5 – 10 occasions;
more than 10 occasions?
3. If you or your service provider have a job that fulfils the role
of an appropriate adult coordinator please provide the job
description and person specification and details of how, when and
where the post was last advertised.
4. (i)Please provide specific details of the training that was
delivered to your last cohort of appropriate adults who were
recruited together with a summary of ongoing training.
(ii) Who delivered this?
(iii) How an in what way was the Children’s Services training
department/officer engaged in this?
(iv) Is the program validated or accredited in any way and, if so,
with whom?

The question is asking for a specific curriculum or training
program. This will provide an important element of the follow-up
study which will also consider relevant custody officer training
and that for accredited police station representatives with
relevant agencies in the process of providing detailed information.
5. Please provide details of written material provided to or
available to appropriate adults. This may include legislation
including secondary legislation, text books such as a primer on
criminal law etc.
6. If not included in the above, what training do your appropriate
adults receive concerning the Children Acts 1989 and 2004 and
thresholds for action most recently referred to in Working Together
2013?

Statutory national standards and Youth Justice Board Guidance.
1. (i)Over the last three months how many requests have been
received by the local authority under section 38(6) PACE and
section 21(2)(b) Children Act 1989? Please break down these
requests between secure accommodation and non-secure accommodation.
(ii) How many such children have been accommodated by the local
authority and how many have been left in police cells?
(iii) In relation to those transferred to local authority
accommodation how many have failed to appear in court or committed
offences before doing so?
(iv) In how many of these cases did the local authority provide the
appropriate adult through: the YOT or an externally provided
service? There will be some cases where neither of these apply.
(v) Distinguishing between those left in police cells and those
moved to local authority accommodation (it may be that there is no
distinction if all were dealt with in one way or another) what were
the remand outcomes at court on first appearance?
(vi) On how many occasions has a member of the YOT (as opposed to a
volunteer or contracted out person) attended the police station in
relation to the above cases and advocated for bail or made
arrangements for a child detained under section 38(6) PACE to be
transferred to local authority accommodation a required by law?
(vii) How does your YOT apply in practice the Youth Justice Board
guidance pasted below?
(viii) Has the issue of children detained in police cells under
section 38 been drawn to the attention of your Local Safeguarding
Children Board and to what effect? Please provide minutes or links
that relate to this.

Below I have pasted an extract from YJB Guidance for the sake of
convenience.

• Bail and remand management is a crucial part of the service
provided by YOTs at various points and places in the youth justice
system. These include:
• at the police station, following the arrest of a child or young
person

The overall aim of bail and remand management is to:
• minimise inappropriate use of custody
• ensure that children and young people attend court

Possibility of bail being refused
Where an appropriate adult identifies that there is a possibility
that bail will be refused, they should alert the YOT immediately.
Where it is necessary to detain a child or young person overnight
in accordance with section 38 of the Police and Criminal Evidence
Act 1984, the YOT should be contacted to make the arrangements as
outlined later in this section
The custody officer is required to liaise with the local authority
to request PACE accommodation transfers. Given that the YOT may
hold information and/or assessments on the child or young person,
it is expected that the YOT will be involved in this referral
process.
Preventing refusal of police bail
Alternatives to Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transfers
Where there is a possibility that the police will refuse bail, the
YOT staff responsible for bail and remand support should look at
providing bail information and/or bail supervision and support to
help facilitate bail being granted. As soon the appropriate adult
identifies that there is a possibility of bail being refused, YOT
staff should begin liaising with the custody officer to address any
concerns about granting bail. If the liaison with the YOT does not
satisfy the police concerns about granting bail then it is most
likely that the child or young person will be put before a court to
hear a remand application.
Addressing police concerns about granting bail
YOT staff should assess the young person's situation and
circumstances to:
establish their previous offending and bail history
identify whether or not the child or young person is known to the
YOT or other statutory service
determine whether they are able to return home
verify the suitability and stability of the proposed bail address.
The YOT practitioner should then:
advocate for bail where appropriate (it is always appropriate)
provide bail information that may address the police's concerns
outline the available support and the measures that will be taken
to ensure the young person's attendance at court
ensure that all other available options have been considered.

Yours faithfully,

Charles Bell