Inquest is urging the Government to set up an independent review into the deaths of children and young people in prison, ahead of an expected decision by the government this week.

Leading charities and NGOs, including Barrow Cadbury Trust, have joined the call in a letter published in the Daily Telegraph newspaper today. The Government has been considering whether to hold an independent review since Inquest and the Prison Reform Trust published Fatally Flawed: has the state learned lessons from the deaths of children and young people in prison, which examined the experiences of children and young people who died in prison between 2003 and 2010.

Following an earlier refusal in May 2013, Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright agreed to reconsider and is due to make the decision public this week. Inquest has published a comprehensive briefing on why a review is so urgently needed.