Children and Policing in England and Wales: Adopting a Child First Approach

5th August 2026

Children and Policing in England and Wales: Adopting a Child First Approach

The Nuffield Foundation launched a research programme on children’s experiences of frontline policing and custody in England and Wales. It identifies gaps across the policing pathway - from first contact to release – providing recommendations on how Child First Principles can be embedded towards achieving greater Child Centred Policing.

Details

The research found that over 58,000 children were detained in police custody in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025 (Summary Report and Recommendations, p4), spending almost 12 hours in custody on average (Analysis of Electronic Custody Record Data, p21). It found little substantive distinction between child and adult detention under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (The Case for Child First Reform, p20), undermining the Child First principle that children should be treated as children, with their best interests, needs, capacity and rights recognised and an emphasis on prevention, diversion and minimum intervention (The Case for Child First Reform, p4).

The research recommends a stronger national framework for Child First policing, covering policy, governance and training to embed Child First practice in custody. Central to this is a call for structured mechanisms enabling frontline officers to access youth justice specialist advice at the point of arrest, before key decisions are made (Summary Report and Recommendations, p16), and for mandatory legal representation that actively scrutinises detention from the earliest stage.

Key findings include:

  • Training: At the time of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) pilot, officers and lawyers reported limited formal training on Child First approaches, neurodivergence and communicating with children (Frontline Policing and Children: Towards a Child First Approach in Practice, p22). The research recommends nationally mandated child-specific training for all officers and staff interacting with children, covering communication, voluntary attendance and street bail (Summary Report and Recommendations, pp9 and 13), incorporated into the proposed Licence to Practise (The Case for Child First Reform, p86).
  • Defence lawyers: A survey of 40 lawyers found that 70% had 30 minutes or less formal training on ACEs and trauma, and 60% on neurodivergence (The Case for Child First Reform, p55). The research makes a strong case for child-specialist legal advice, with the Ministry of Justice having committed to mandating such training (Summary Report and Recommendations, p22). A key finding from CHIRP (defined below) was the value of early ‘safety net conversations’ between the custody officer and lawyer shortly after booking-in, reviewing the rationale for detention and exchanging key information about the child (The Case for Child First Reform, p56). Child-specialist trained lawyers outperformed untrained colleagues in holding effective safety net discussions and making early representations on bail and remand (Summary Report and Recommendations, p22). The research calls for a mandatory requirement that a lawyer be in attendance for every child in police custody, with a right to waive that lawyer’s presence in an interview only an after in-person consultation and unless an appropriate adult disagrees (Summary Report and Recommendations, p22). It also recommends earlier involvement of youth justice services (YJS) practitioners in diversion decisions (Summary Report and Recommendations, p16). 
  • Strip searches: Black children were significantly more likely to be strip searched than White children (13.1% compared with 5.1%), even controlling for offence type. The reports recommend every force establish a stop and search scrutiny panel that includes children with experience of being stopped and searched (Summary Report and Recommendations, p26), in addition to impact monitoring, anti-racism training and community engagement (Analysis of Electronic Custody Record Data, p35). 
  • MPS Child First Custody Pilot (CHIRP): The pilot demonstrated that with training, checklists and enhanced inspector oversight, child detention can be dramatically reduced, with reductions of 25% in Wood Green and 35% across Brixton and Walworth, and detention refusals increasing to 17% and 11% respectively (Summary Report and Recommendations, p17). The extendable 12-hour initial detention period was shown to be feasible and effective (Summary Report and Recommendations, p18). The pilot’s success was built on Child First training, early ‘safety net’ engagement between lawyers and custody officers, and structured inspector review - demonstrating that procedural change backed by specialist training can transform outcomes for children.
  • Legislative reform: The reports call for legislation limiting initial child detention to 12 hours (extendable with senior officer authorisation), mandatory legal advice for all children, restricting detention to indictable offences save in exceptional circumstances (The Case for Child First Reform, p15) and ultimately reforming PACE to acknowledge a change in the response to children (Summary Report and Recommendations, p13).

Commentary

Practitioners should note the practical resources in the Child First Custody Toolkit, including point-of-arrest flowcharts and custody checklists, available for immediate adoption. The evidence strongly supports early YJS involvement at the point of arrest and child-specialist duty rotas for lawyers. The strip search data demands urgent scrutiny regarding racial disproportionality. Practitioners representing children at the police station should familiarise themselves with the 'safety net' model and use this research to make robust representations against unnecessary detention. 

Sources