In England, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that painful restraint will be removed from the core syllabus for officers escorting children, but the technique will now appear in a new section on personal safety.
A number of organizations have called for the controversial technique to be banned. According to C&YPN, its removal from the syllabus was achieved after publication of a review by Charlie Taylor (the former YJB chair). Commissioned in 2018 following legal action by NGO Article 39, the review took Taylor twelve months to complete, during which he witnessed excessive use of techniques that involved pain carried out by staff working with young people.
The review of "pain-inducing techniques" did not recommend a general ban on the technique itself, but rather suggested that this method should be used as a last resort, only in special circumstances which include children posing a threat of self-harm, or other forms of harm to themselves or people in their immediate surroundings.
Carolyne Willow, director of the organization which prompted the review, is content with the news, but far from overjoyed. She voiced her concerns and hope that the techniques will indeed be removed and children's rights respected. She added that "we are not finished by any means" and the organization will continue its mission to provide children's welfare, free from abuse and pain.