There are more males than females accommodated in secure children’s homes. The proportion of children accommodated who are male has dropped to 62% (88 children), from 70%, this represents a decrease of 40 children compared with the number of female children accommodated which fell by just 2 children to 54.
Information on the gender split by type of placement is not collected but it is most likely this decrease in number of males relates to the decrease in children placed by the YCS, as males account for over 95% of the youth custody population.
Children accommodated by age in 2021:
- 33 were aged 14 years old (23%)
- 40 were aged 15 years old (28%)
- 43 were aged 16 years old (30%)
- 20 were aged 17 years old (14%)
- the remaining 6 children (4%) were either aged 13 years or under, or 18 years and over.
There are substantial decreases in the number of 15- and 17-years olds (down by 37% combined) and an increase in the number of 14 years olds (up 14%) compared to last year. This is in part due to the decrease in YCS placements, however, the numbers in each age group are small and do fluctuate over time.
This is the first year information on the ethnicity of children accommodated in secure homes has been collected. Children accommodated by ethnicity in 2021:
- 103 were White (73%)
- 13 were Black or Black British (9%)
- 11 were Asian or Asian British (8%)
- the remaining 15 children (11%) were either Mixed Ethnicity or identify as Other Ethnic groups.