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CLC Gives Evidence on Restrictive Practices in Education Settings

22 May 2025
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

22 May 2025

The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) presented evidence to the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee, calling for urgent legislative reform to end the harmful use of restrictive practices – including restraint and seclusion – in education settings.

Watch the Full Committee Session

The evidence session, supported by a detailed written briefing, highlights how current practices in some education settings are breaching children’s human rights and disproportionately harming disabled children, particularly those with autism, intellectual disability and communication difficulties.

The evidence, presented by Rachel Hogan, SEND Specialist Legal Adviser at CLC, strongly asserted that no child should be restrained in an education setting without strict legal safeguards and that no child should be subjected to seclusion in an education setting.

Yet, in Northern Ireland, outdated legislation remains in force and the statutory guidance which had been promised for the protection of children from harm has not been finalised. This creates a dangerous vacuum and places the most vulnerable pupils at serious risk of avoidable harm as well as leaving staff who support them without essential knowledge and skills to enable child rights compliant practice.

Read the Written Briefing

The CLC written briefing outlines a number of key concerns:

  • Article 4 of the Education (NI) Order 1998, which empowers staff to use “reasonable force” on children in a range of circumstances, including for the maintenance of order and discipline, is outdated and incompatible with equality and human rights standards.
  • There is a lack of clarity around the banning of seclusion in all education settings.
  • There is no mandatory training for school staff on how to minimise and eliminate restrictive practices.
  • NI remains behind other jurisdictions, despite repeated calls for action from parents, professionals and international rights bodies such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on Persons with Disabilities.

The Children’s Law Centre is urging the Department of Education to:

  • Immediately repeal Article 4 of the 1998 Order and introduce children’s human rights-based legislation and guidance.
  • Ban seclusion outright in all education settings.
  • Ensure mandatory, standardised training for all school staff.
  • Implement clear recording, monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
  • Work with the Department of Health to ensure joined-up, cross-departmental policy and guidance.

Every child has the right to feel safe, supported and respected in education regardless of their disabilities or other protected equality characteristics. Legislative reform is long overdue. Without it, children’s rights will continue to be violated and staff left unsupported.

Read the BBC NI News Coverage

Restraint and Seclusion Recommendations Welcome, Implementation Essential

25 April 2022
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

25 April 2022

The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) has welcomed a report by the Department of Education reviewing the use of restrictive practices in education settings. The report makes six recommendations, including repeal of Article 4 (1)(c) of the Education (NI) Order 1998 and outlines the need for statutory guidance.

Legal experts at CLC also welcomed the recognition of children’s rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) within the report, as well as the collaborative work undertaken to consult with stakeholders. A key issue at this stage is the extent of the legislative reform required to ensure compliance with human rights standards within education settings.

Special education needs and disability expert, Rachel Hogan, said: “I would like to pay tribute to the small group of committed individuals who have consistently built pressure to address this issue. That includes, most notably, children, young people and the parents and carers of the children and young people affected. This is what happens when the people affected have their voice heard by decision makers and should be an important lesson on how good, evidence-based, decisions can be made.

“There can be no doubt that the existing framework and guidance has led to instances where the human rights of vulnerable children have been seriously violated. The grievous impact this has had on the children affected, as well as their parents and carers, has now been brought into the public domain and acknowledged.

“There has been a notable lack of consistency in approach between education and health and social care settings and this must be fully addressed. Children should have equal protection from the unlawful and disproportionate use of restrictive practices regardless of the setting they find themselves in.

“The recommendations in the report reflect the direction of travel we need to take to protect children in education settings. This includes the urgent need for legislative reform, clear statutory guidance and monitoring practices. CLC is pleased to have had the opportunity to feed in to the report through the Department of Education’s reference group and the NI Commissioner for Children and Young People’s advisory group.

“Effective and timely implementation of the recommendations is now key. The young people affected, and the parents and carers who have fought for change, all deserve to see progress. We cannot continue to allow children’s rights to be breached in this way. The current framework has fallen well short of international human rights standards and this is the first step towards addressing that.

“CLC looks forward to ongoing engagement on the implementation of positive change to realise and protect the legal rights of children and young people in education settings.”

Read a report on the recommendations by thedetail.tv

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Chief Constable criticised for spit hoods roll-out in defiance of policing board

4 March 2021
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

04 March 2021

The Children’s Law Centre, Amnesty International, CAJ and Include Youth wrote to Doug Garrett, chair of the Policing Board, ahead of their meeting on Thursday 4 March, to ask the Board what steps they are taking to ensure their clear recommendation that all spit hoods by withdrawn by the end of 2020 is followed.

In November 2020, the Northern Ireland Policing Board recommended their immediate phasing out in its report, Review of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Response to Covid 19.

Instead, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has started distributing spit hoods to 4,000 additional police officers.

New figures show that, to date, the PSNI has used spit hoods 95 times. They were used on children (aged 10 to 17) eight times.

In 81% of cases (68 out of 84 incidents) of their use by the PSNI in 2020, spit hoods were used on people with disabilities.

The figures have come to light in a document published as part of a PSNI equality impact assessment launched this week, almost a year after the introduction of the devices.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, said:

“The decision to roll out spit hoods, rather than withdraw them from use as advised by the Policing Board, is shocking.

“It is disturbing that in more than eight out of ten incidents, the PSNI has used spit hoods on people with disabilities and, on eight occasions, on children.

“The Chief Constable rushed to deploy spit hoods without evidence that they are effective in preventing the transmission of Covid-19. Now he is doubling down on that flawed decision, in outright defiance of the Policing Board.

“Placing a hood over someone’s head is a significant use of force and one that raises key concerns over cruel and degrading treatment, as well as serious potential health risks.

“These devices must be withdrawn from use, as called for by the Policing Board.”

Paddy Kelly, Director of the Children’s Law Centre, said:

“The Children’s Law Centre are extremely concerned that eight spit and bite guards were applied to children during the last year. In the cases of one 16 year-old and one 15 year-old, two spit and bite guards were applied during the same incident. This use of force must have been a frightening experience for these children.

“Their use on children is even more concerning given that children who come in contact with police are more likely to have a disability, mental ill-health or a learning disability. A police officer using a spit hood on a child cannot know if a child has a learning disability or suffers from asthma.

“In the light of medical evidence that the use of spit and bite hoods may increase the risk of Covid-19 infection to both police and members of the public, there can be absolutely no justification for their use on children. Spit and bite guards should be withdrawn in compliance with the Policing Board’s report of November 2020.

“We and other civil society organisations have now written to the Policing Board to ask them what steps they are taking to ensure their clear recommendation that all spit hoods by withdrawn by the end of 2020 is followed.”