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Clinks Members' Policy Briefing | August 2017
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This month, Clinks announced that, following careful consideration by the Boards of Women’s Breakout and Clinks alongside consultation with Women’s Breakout members, Women’s Breakout will merge into Clinks. For the past six years, Women’s Breakout has provided a unique and specialised resource for women’s centres working in the criminal justice system. Despite building up a strong network and having considerable success, it has struggled to be viable on its own. Roma Hooper, Chair of Women's Breakout, said "We are delighted that Women’s Breakout has secured its future within Clinks. We believe that the integrity of Clinks and its commitment to strengthening the work of Women’s Breakout will enhance the voice of our women’s centres and continue to support the work being undertaken". This blog post provides more information on the merger.
Following the launch of our annual State of the Sector report earlier in July, Clinks’ Head of Policy and Communications Nathan Dick wrote an article for the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network discussing the central role the voluntary sector plays in the criminal justice system. The article outlines the findings of the report, highlighting the important work done by the sector, as well as some of the challenges it faces.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons has published its updated Expectations for adult men’s prisons. Clinks published a response to the Inspectorate’s consultation on these Expectations, based on the findings of our consultation events with our members. We are pleased to see a number of our recommendations reflected in the Expectations, particularly in relation to the voluntary sector’s work in prisons. The Expectations include the following indicators: relevant voluntary and community sector organisations are supported to work with prisoners; and a named manager is responsible for coordinating the work of voluntary and community sector organisations.
On 14th July Clinks, working in partnership with the Lammy Review, held an event to hear from David Lammy about the progress of his review and also to hear from representatives of some of the voluntary sector organisations who have been working directly with people affected by some of the issues that the Review is looking to address. Attendees discussed how partnership working between the voluntary sector and government can continue beyond publication of the Review’s report to ensure that there is a legacy for the review and that the issues it raises and its recommendations are addressed.
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Probation reform: open letter from the Secretary of State for Justice On 17th July, Secretary of State for Justice David Lidington published this open letter, outlining adjustments to probation services following the Ministry of Justice’s internal review of the Transforming Rehabilitation programme. He stated that Community Rehabilitation Companies’ contracts have been adjusted to address unforeseen challenges in caseload divides and operational pressures, saying that the Inspectorate would be given more funds to carry out annual performance reviews and publish individual ratings. He also announced that the Ministry of Justice are developing a joint protocol with the Department of Health and other bodies to bring the work of probation, health and treatment services closer together.
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Clinks publications
Clinks response to HM Inspectorate of Probation inspection framework and programmes consultation This response draws on evidence from Clinks’ ongoing policy work and consultation with members, focusing on three key areas: HM Inspectorate of Probation’s engagement with voluntary sector organisations, probation providers’ engagement with voluntary sector organisations and prioritising equalities in the Inspectorate’s framework and programmes. It makes a number of recommendations, including that good engagement with the voluntary sector by probation providers should be an embedded principle in the underpinning standards and that the inspection framework and programmes and any definition of ‘good’ must consider how to drive improvement in equalities outcomes. It also makes offers of support that Clinks could provide to the Inspectorate, such as in engaging with service users through the members of our Service User Involvement Network.
Notes of the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group The notes of the most recent Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) meeting, which took place in May, have now been published. The meeting focused on diversion and early intervention and community sentencing, with a presentation on problem-solving courts from Phil Bowen from the Centre for Justice Innovation. The group highlighted the importance of investment upstream in the criminal justice system, to avoid unnecessary contact with it for people with complex needs, considering in particular what could be done to provide more effective responses to those receiving short custodial sentences.
Criminal justice system
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Annual Report 2016 –17 This report, published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, finds that conditions in prisons have significantly worsened since the previous year and that many prisons are still unacceptably violent and dangerous. The number of adult male prisons judged as ‘good’ or ‘reasonably good’ has dropped from 78% in 2015-16, to 49% and only 14% of prisoners said they were let out of their cells for at least 10 hours. While women’s prisons performed better than most men’s prisons, the report identifies greater vulnerability and increasing needs in the women’s population and an increase in violence. The Chief Inspector expresses concern that the majority of the Inspectorate’s recommendations to prisons, including those concerning safety, have not been achieved.
Ministry of Justice annual report and accounts 2016 to 2017 The Ministry of Justice’s Annual Report looks at activity and outcomes over the year related to performance, accountability and finances. The department’s key strategic priorities were: a prison and probation service that reforms offenders; a modern courts and justice system; a global Britain that promotes the rule of law; and a transformed department that delivers efficiency, value for money and excellent public service. Detailing outcomes in prison and probation, the report states that assaults on both prisoners and staff have risen considerably, with a smaller rise in the percentage of prisoners testing positive for drug use. It also gives the reoffending rate for 2014 – 15, which shows a 2% drop since the previous year.
National Offender Management Service Annual Report and Accounts 2016-2017 The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) now HM Prisons and Probation (HMPPS) has released its annual report, detailing activity and outcomes across custody and community services. It states that NOMS has recruited more than 1,000 new prison officers, made £14 million available to prisons to tackle violence and self-harm and completed the design of a new HMPPS Offender Management model for prisoners in custody and on release, among a range of other activities. The report also provides detailed data on outcomes against operational measures and information about corporate services and financial performance, including data on the staffing and governance of the organisation.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Annual Report 2016 – 17 This report provides an overview of the work during 2016 – 17 of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which undertakes investigations into both deaths in custody and complaints in adult prisons, youth custody and immigration removal centres. The report notes significant increases in the number of deaths investigated by the PPO and in complaints upheld due to prison staff making poor decisions. It identifies some key themes in the causes of death including use of segregation and inadequate mental health support for prisoners, highlighting that PPO investigations continue to identify repeated failings in procedures relating to prisoner safety and wellbeing.
Probation Hostels' (Approved Premises) Contribution to Public Protection, Rehabilitation and Resettlement This thematic inspection report by HM Inspectorate of Probation examines the performance of probation hostels in England and Wales. The report finds that the structured and contained environment offered by hostels does promote effective work by professionals and residents and enable residents to make progress on a range of issues. It makes a number of recommendations, including that the Ministry of Justice and HM Prisons and Probation Service should reduce the number of non-local hostel places, that the National Probation Service should strengthen liaison between hostels and local strategic partners and that the Ministry of Justice should develop a probation hostel policy statement.
Final results for cohort 2 of the Social Impact Bond Payment by Results Pilot at HMP Peterborough The Ministry of Justice has published this impact evaluation, undertaken by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, analysing the results of the world’s first Social Impact Bond (SIB) in 2010. Under the terms of the SIB, investors are paid according to how successful the intervention is in reducing reconvictions. The intervention aimed at reducing the reoffending among prisoners discharged from HMP Peterborough after serving a sentence of less than 12 months. The evaluation finds that the intervention resulted in a 9.02% reduction in the re-conviction rate for the final cohort, reaching the threshold for triggering repayment and therefore demonstrating that the SIB was successful.
The New Futures Network The Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) has published this proposal, submitted to the Ministry of Justice, for the New Futures Network. The network is a proposed new body that aims to work with prison leaders to support reform and ensure that prisoners returning to their communities have the right skills, access to employers and are able to build a better life. The proposal outlines findings from consultation with staff from prisons and probation, and from the private, public and voluntary sectors. It also sets out the New Futures Network’s work strands, which include: creating local forums for increasing skills and employment; supporting governors to scale capacity and competence in their teams; and providing platforms to share expertise and evidence.
Youth justice
The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales annual Report and Accounts 2016/17 This report reviews the Youth Justice Board’s (YJB) work over the year, highlighting a 12.5% reduction in first time entrants to the youth justice system and an 8% decrease in numbers of children in custody in March 2016 compared to March 2015. It also gives an overview of activity under the four strategic end benefits of the YJB’s Business Plan for 2016/17: reduce the number of children and young people in the youth justice system; reduce reoffending by children and young people in the youth justice system; improve the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in the youth justice system; and improve the positive outcomes for children and young people in the youth justice system.
Ending the criminalisation of children in residential care This briefing by the Howard League provides an overview of drivers behind the disproportionate numbers of children living in children’s homes who come into contact with the criminal justice system. It states that children aged 16 and 17 living in children’s homes are at least 15 times more likely to be criminalised than other children of the same age and highlights the difficulties faced by these children, including experiences of abuse, mental health issues and criminalisation over minor incidents. The briefing concludes that this criminalisation compounds already existing feelings of rejection and that this represents a failure by the state to safeguard their welfare.
The ‘transformation’ of youth custody: a discussion paper This briefing, published by the National Association for Youth Justice, analyses the current Ministry of Justice proposals to reform custodial provision for children under 18 in England and Wales. It gives an overview of the recommendations of the Taylor Review and subsequently of the Youth Custody Improvement Board, as well as the government response to these developments. Examining elements of youth custody such as purpose, education and health, the briefing considers whether the proposed changes will lead to improvements. It concludes that, while they may address deficiencies in some institutions, they do not constitute a fundamentally different way of doing things and therefore will not lead to true transformation.
Substance misuse
2017 Drug Strategy The Home Office has published this strategy to set out how the government and its partners will take new action to tackle drug misuse and the harms it causes. The strategy states its two overall aims of reducing all illicit and other harmful drug use; and increasing the rate of individuals recovering from their dependence. It outlines four ways to do this: reducing demand, restricting supply, building recovery and global action. It suggests that the criminal justice system should consider use of health-based, rehabilitative interventions including increased interventions through liaison and diversion schemes and increased use of treatment as part of community sentences. The Making Every Adult Coalition, Agenda and Revolving Doors Agency have published a joint response to the strategy.
Accommodation
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ending Homelessness: Report 2017 This report, published by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Ending Homelessness (APPGEH), uses the research and consultation conducted by the APPGEH during the past year to outline the barriers to stable housing for care leavers, prison leavers and survivors of domestic violence and makes recommendations for Government. The key findings include that 20% of prisoners state they have no accommodation to go to on their release and that 37% of rough sleepers in London have experience of being in prison. The report makes a number of recommendations concerning the criminal justice system, including that the Ministry of Justice should hold an inquiry to determine the mix of needs faced by the offender population in prisons and in the community.
Mental health
Against the odds: Evaluation of the Mind Birmingham Up My Street Programme This report evaluates three Birmingham-based mental health projects that were commissioned by Mind to improve the resilience of young African Caribbean men in the city. It found that young African Caribbean men’s mental health was significantly affected by racism, including negative media portrayals and the intergenerational effects of slavery and historical trauma. The projects were found to boost participants’ wellbeing through providing positive role models, offering engaging opportunities and giving participants an experience of solidarity. The evaluation’s recommendations include that that the Government should work in partnership with relevant national bodies to develop a Concordat for Black and Minority Ethnic Health and that the Department for Education should pilot and evaluate culturally informed school-based mentoring programmes for black boys.
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Changing tunes: responding to a changing landscape In this guest blog for the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance, Chief Executive of Changing Tunes Lizzie Bond, discusses the work of Changing Tunes, which delivers music and mentoring to prisoners and ex-prisoners, and the implications of Clinks’ recent State of the Sector findings. She writes, “… I wholeheartedly support Clinks’ vision to encourage good practice for commissioning. For an arts organisation that struggles to find sources of earned income but has a significant impact on the lives of our beneficiaries, we will always remain somewhat reliant on grants and need to make sure funders understand how the arts can transform lives.”
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