THE government faced calls to end privatisation in the justice system for good today after ministers were forced to remove all children from a youth jail over serious safety concerns. 

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland announced last week that 33 children at the scandal-hit Rainsbrook secure training centre would be moved elsewhere, with plans to either return the site to public control or shut it down completely.  

It came after inspectors issued an urgent notification to Mr Buckland, the second in six months, over “serious failings of leadership” and grave concerns over safety there.

The training centre, near Rugby, holds up to 87 children aged 12 to 17 who are serving custodial sentences or are on remand. It is run by United States privateer MTC. 

During a June inspection carried out by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, children and staff said they did not feel safe and feared someone was going to die or be seriously injured. 

And despite calls for urgent action to address problems at the centre in December, inspectors found that unsafe practices had continued. 

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said: “It is hugely disappointing that in spite of the previous urgent notification, things have deteriorated at the [centre], with children and staff members not being kept safe.”

In the most recent visit, inspectors found levels of violence and staff use of force were high and fights between children were common.

Mr Buckland said he had been left with no choice but to ask all the children be moved elsewhere after MTC failed to meet his demands in December to fix the problems.

But campaigners say the failings at Rainsbrook reflect a wider problem of privatisation in the justice system. 

Anti-privatisation group We Own It campaigns officer Johnbosco Nwogbo said: “This latest scandal is very much a case of deja vu. For years we’ve seen surges in violence in prisons run by the likes of Serco, G4S and Sodexo, which put both prisoners and prison officers at serious risk.

“Rather than waiting for more horrific stories like this one to emerge, the government should face reality that their obsession with the dogma of ‘private good: public bad’ has demonstrably failed and end the privatisation of the justice system for good.”

MTC managing director Ian Mulholland has previously apologised unreservedly for the “very obvious failings” at the site.