Children's commissioner sees police queries increase

Jersey's children's commissioner said "many of the same issues" were raised by young people in 2021

Cases about police and youth justice for Jersey's children's commissioner doubled in a year, a report says.

The Children's Commissioner for Jersey's report said contacts doubled to 14 in 2021 from 2020, among a total of 127 inquiries and cases.

However, the number of contacts relating to matters in health, income support, mental health and safeguarding remained "consistently low", it added.

Parish hall enquiries for young people were also criticised.

Children's Commissioner cases and queries in 2021:

• Children's Social Care - 30

• Covid-19 - 6

• Education - 16

• Health - 9

• Housing and Work -21

• Income Support - 2

• Mental Health - 3

• Police and Youth Justice - 14

• Private Law - 19

• Safeguarding - 7

• Total - 127

In the human rights information and advice section of the annual report for 2020-21, commissioner Deborah McMillan said "many of the same issues" were being raised with her office during 2021 as in the previous year.

The office also had a similar number of young people or their adult parents or carers contacting it, with 127 in 2021, compared to 128 in 2020.

However, Ms McMillan said she was "especially encouraged" at work still carried out "despite ongoing concerns related to the pandemic".

She said the office's Human Rights Information and Advice team was involved in making a formal complaint to government on behalf of 42 families "in relation to their children's rights to a basic, healthy standard of living".

The team also supported a young person's complaint against States Police regarding the use of force during arrest, which prompted police to develop a formal policy on the use of force.

Centeniers 'measured'

The report also criticised parish hall enquiries, which are held for a centenier to decide if there is enough evidence to justify a charge to go to court.

It said the enquiries sometimes did not respect young people's rights and some charities said they had been blocked from representing children.

The head of Jersey's Probation Service, Mike Cutland, said his department would cooperate with the commissioner's office to ensure the system worked for everyone.

But he added: "We attend about 95% of parish hall enquiries and, overwhelmingly, we've found centeniers to be measured, to be constructive and trying to do the right thing for children."

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