Clinks Members’ Policy Briefing | June 2014
In this month's edition...News
A Transforming Rehabilitation checklist for boards This resource, developed by Clinks and Russell-Cooke Solicitors as part of our TR Legal Support project, includes a checklist of issues that the management team and boards of organisations may want to consider before entering into subcontracting arrangements using the Industry Standard Partnering Agreement (ISPA). This resource is for the boards of voluntary sector organisations considering contracting under the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) programme.
Response to a consultation on fraud, bribery, and money laundering offences In October 2013 the Sentencing Council consulted on their draft guidelines on sentencing fraud, bribery and money laundering offences to which Clinks submitted a response. They have now published a response to the consultation and the definitive guideline for these offences. Clinks are particularly pleased to see that in line with our, and other voluntary sector organisations’ suggestions, a mitigating factor for benefit fraud has been amended to state ‘remorse’ rather than ‘remorse, particularly where evidenced by voluntary repayment.’ Clinks’ consultation response can be downloaded here.
The Care Bill becomes the Care Act On 14th May 2014 the Care Bill received Royal Assent and became the Care Act. The Act contains significant references to people in custodial settings, with the majority of those affected likely to be older prisoners.
Criminal Justice System
Ministry of Justice Policy Update This is intended to give information on some of the main issues of direct interest to voluntary sector organisations. Items include Transforming Rehabilitation, women's justice, older prisoners, youth justice and prisoners with a disability.
The Criminal Justice System This report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee argues that there are inherent weaknesses in the Criminal Justice System, which cause delays and undermine public confidence. It outlines that departments [in the CJS] are struggling to: improve the smooth passage of criminal cases through the System; achieve greater collaboration and efficiency between criminal justice organisations at local level; and improve the use of new technology for sharing information.
Prison: The facts This is the latest Bromley Briefing published by the Prison Reform Trust. It gives detailed statistics relating to the Criminal Justice System and includes information about the prison population and trends, and performance and outcomes.
Transforming Rehabilitation
Probation: Landscape review This report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee examines the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and asserts that although the reform programme is still developing, there are evident risks arising from both the scale and pace of the reforms, and the new arrangements and structures have not been fully piloted and the Ministry of Justice has a poor track record of procuring services. The report gives a series of recommendations, including the Ministry of Justice applying best practice to all aspects of contract design, bid evaluation and contract management; the Ministry establishing a clear mechanism for identifying suppliers at risk of failing or withdrawing from their contracts that includes setting out what action it will take in these circumstances; and the Ministry should set out how it intends to satisfy itself that the proposed payment mechanism is workable.
Community sentences
Sentences in the community This report by the Centre for Social Justice examines the current challenges of community sentences and gives a series of ideas on how to make them more effective at reducing reoffending. These ideas include introducing primary legislation to guarantee prolific drug offenders receive a robust response to breaching sentences in the community, making abstinence the goal of the drug rehabilitation requirement (DRR) and placing families at the centre of the rehabilitative process.
Policing
Reform of the Police Federation This report by the Home Affairs Committee argues for further reform of the Police Federation. Some of the main findings of the report include that bullying is ‘endemic’ in the higher echelons of the Federation; some of the Federation's political campaigns have been too personal; and that the 'dysfunctional relationships at the Federation Headquarters have seriously undermined the organisation’s ability to speak with a powerful voice on behalf of its members'.
Hate Crime
Tackling hate crime and incidents: A framework for action This framework was developed by Welsh Government following a consultation that took place in 2013 and will tackle hate crimes and hate incidents in respect of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act, 2010. These include disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender reassignment and age. The framework will also take forward work in relation to ‘mate crime’, far right hate crime and cyber hate and bullying.
South Devon Learning Disability Report The Action Learning for Change project was launched in February 2013 and was facilitated by two consultants with specific expertise in learning disability who worked alongside experienced police officers to identify whether disability was a causal factor in incidents that involved victims with a learning disability. It is intended that the learning from the project will influence procedures and practices to inform better recording of targeted abuse against people with a learning disability and improved outcomes for victims.
Children and Young people
What's in a name? The identification of children in trouble with the law In this report, the Standing Committee for Youth Justice aim to describe the law and policy relating to the identification of children involved in criminal or anti-social proceedings; consider how the law operates in practice; outline the arguments for and against identification; and explore the impact that identification can have on children in trouble with the law.
Youth Justice Board Corporate plan 2014-17 and Business Plan 2014/15 This report sets out the Youth Justice Boards’ (YJB) priorities and plans for the next three years, and specific areas of work for the coming year. The YJB are reducing funding for youth custody by £56m this year, but will keep spending on Youth Offending Teams at £92m, the same amount as for the previous year.
On the outside: identifying and supporting children with a parent in prison This report by Banardo’s outlines the impact on children of having a parent in prison and calls for the Ministry of Justice to appoint a Minister to look after the needs of children affected by parental imprisonment and to deliver a National Action Plan to make sure that this group of children are recognised.
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities
The importance of promoting mental health in children and young people from BAME communities This briefing by Paula Lavis, on behalf of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition looks at the policy framework for mental health service provision and provides examples of existing practice which promote better mental health for BAME children and young people. The briefing argues that there is poor or incomplete data relating to the provision and commissioning of mental health services for BAME children and young people and highlights the impact of this. The briefing also examines the specific factors that put children and young people from BAME communities at risk of developing mental health problems as well as protective factors that can help build resilience.
Women
Road to reduction? This report by Women in Prison assesses the implementation of the recommendations in the Women’s Custodial Estate Review in the six months since its publication in October 2013.
I am more than one thing This joint report by Imkaan, Positively UK and Rape Crisis England and Wales builds on existing evidence of women's experiences of poor mental health and their interactions with the mental health system. It also aims to identify support needs and barriers that women encounter when seeking support from both the statutory and voluntary sector.
Housing
One year on: The impact of welfare reforms on housing association tenants The National Housing Federation has commissioned Ipsos MORI and the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planned Research to research and monitor the impacts of welfare reforms across the housing association sector. This report investigates the impact of welfare reform from the perspective of the tenant and outlines that nearly a third (32%) of people affected by the under occupancy rule or the ‘bedroom tax’ say they have cut back on food and more than a quarter (26%) have cut back on heating as a result of the tax.
Mental Health
Feeling down: Improving the mental health of people with learning disabilities This report by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities outlines that people with learning disabilities are three times more likely to develop poor mental health than the general population. It also outlines that people with learning disabilities are continuing to struggle to access mental health support services and argues that barriers still prevent people with dual diagnosis from being appropriately supported.
How do managers and leaders in the NHS and social care respond to service user involvement in mental health services? This study by the National Institute for Health Research aimed to measure the extent and perceived impact of service user involvement in mental health services, and to explore the different models of service user involvement, both collective and individual. The focus of the study was on the interaction between service users, managers and other key decision makers in the UK NHS and social care. The report concludes that service users and managers are working in a dynamic and complex climate, of which service user involvement is integral.
Autism
Think Autism: Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives This Government report sets out a programme that the Department of Health and other government departments will be undertaking to improve the lives of people with autism. Two chapters of the strategy cover criminal justice, one focusing on victims and witnesses and the other on offenders. A cross Government group has been established to oversee implementation of the strategy, and includes representation from the Department of Health, the Home Office, Probation, the Youth Justice Board, the National Offender Management Service, NHS England, the Crown Prosecution Service and voluntary groups.
Alcohol
The alcohol and crime commission report The findings of this report by Addaction’s Alcohol and Crime Commission are based on a survey of prisoners in England and found that there is little support for individuals to help them understand what impact alcohol may have had with their offending. The report made a series of recommendations including that support services specifically designed for women prisoners should be developed urgently; all frontline staff in UK prisons should receive expert alcohol awareness training; and a thorough and alcohol-specific needs analysis should be carried out into alcohol misuse among the prison population.
Little to lose, much to gain This blog by Rebecca Roberts, from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies argues that there is a need for a bold and unapologetic agenda to bring about real change for women in the justice system.
Three aspects of desistance? In this blog, Fergus McNeill outlines definitional issues relating to desistance theories and explores whether introducing a concept of tertiary desistance would be useful.
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