The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales responded on 2 September 2026 to the Government's announcement that it would increase the number of 18-year-olds held in the secure estate for children. Interim Chair Phil Bowen said the board recognised the pressure on the adult prison estate and the difficult decisions ministers face on capacity, but that the safety and welfare of children in custody must remain the overriding consideration.

Bowen said the board was disappointed by the reversal of the policy that had prevented 18-year-olds being held in the children's estate. He said the specialist skills needed to support young adults are not yet consistently in place there, and that combined with staffing pressures, the physical environment and the increasingly complex profile of children in custody, the decision carries a real risk of unintended consequences for children and staff.

He said two decades of progress in youth justice came from prevention, early intervention, partnership working and understanding the causes of offending rather than greater containment. As the Government weighs the future of youth and adult custody, he called for a coherent, evidence-based approach applied across the whole justice system.