New Joint Statement on the Misuse of Restrictive Practices

A Statement on the Use of Restrictive Interventions: Children and young people with a learning disability in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

The Protecting Rights; Eliminating Restraint Group (PR;ERG) led by the Challenging Behaviour Foundation (CBF) have co-produced a statement highlighting the significant harm caused by the misuse of restrictive interventions on children and young people with a learning disability across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This was developed following a multitude of high-profile media cases which have highlighted the misuse of restrictive practices.

Commenting on the publication of the statement Jacqui Shurlock, CEO of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation said:

“There is clear evidence that restrictive practices cause serious psychological and physical harm to children. This should be viewed as a child protection issue. When children leave their family home to go to school or to a health or social care setting, they should be protected from harm, not subjected to restraint, seclusion or other damaging restrictive interventions. We are calling for governments across the UK to take steps to implement safeguards to protect disabled children and young people from harm caused by the misuse of restrictive practices”.

Developed collaboratively and signed by 29 third-sector organisations from across the four nations, the statement brings together research evidence and human rights principles to set out a clear, shared position on the urgent need to reduce the use of restraint, seclusion and other restrictive practices.

The statement evidences the physical and emotional harm caused by the misuse of restrictive practices and calls for governments across the UK to implement rigorous safeguards to protect children from harm and recognise this as a child protection issue.

Clear Calls for Action

The joint statement sets out a series of calls to action, developed collaboratively with PR;ERG members.

These outline the urgent steps required to reduce and prevent the misuse of restrictive interventions, and include the following:

Targeted investment in early intervention and prevention to support parents and professionals to enable children with a learning disability to thrive.
The development of national training standards focussed on how to minimise the use of restraint.
Funded programmes to end the misuse of seclusion and solitary confinement. These practices are outdated, inhumane and unsafe.
Prohibit the use of mechanical restraints in education and care settings.
Establishment of recording and reporting procedures across services.

For a full list, please view the statement. These calls for action, along with referenced nation-specific policy contexts, are intended to support coordinated lobbying efforts and encourage consistent messaging across the sector.

About the PR;ERG

The Protecting Rights; Eliminating Restraint Group was established in response to family carers campaigning for change after their children had experienced restricted practices. The group is facilitated by the CBF. The group brings together professionals, campaigners and family carers from across the four nations with a focus on eliminating the use of restrictive practices on children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

The group shares information, identifies priority areas for action and supports coordinated influencing work across the UK. Further information is available here.

What next?

We are encouraging organisations, professionals and campaigners to share the statement on social media and through their own networks and use the core messages to influence change.

Following publication, we will continue working with the PR;ERG to engage governments across the UK on the key asks set out in the statement. The CBF and PR;ERG will continue working with partners to push for meaningful change and strengthen protections for children and young people across the UK.

Read the full joint statement here