Clinks Members’ Policy Briefing | May 2014
In this month's edition...News![Policy News](http://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/policy%20policy%20news%20banner_0.jpg)
Reforms to the way the police use 'stop and search' powers Theresa May, Home Secretary has announced the she intends to review the Police and Criminal Evidence Act Code of Practice A to make clear what constitutes 'reasonable grounds for suspicion.' The revised code will emphasise that where officers are not using their powers properly they will be subject to formal performance or disciplinary proceedings.
Criminal Justice System
Case studies on providing employment and training opportunities for offenders The Home Office commissioned a short term programme of work undertaken in February and March 2013 by Clinks and Social Firms UK that explores and assesses the role of social enterprises in enabling both adult and young offenders to access training and employment opportunities. The programme had two elements; the development and publication of twenty case studies; and a summary report that brings together key learning about developing and sustaining social enterprises offering employment and employability training to offenders.
The impact and experience in prison on the employment status of longer-sentenced prisoners after release This report published by the Ministry of Justice presents findings from the Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) study. This is a longitudinal study of prisoners which was carried out between 2005 and 2010. Findings show that the factor 'most strongly associated with increased likelihood of employment after release from custody amongst the SPCR longer-sentenced prisoners was employment before custody.'
Managing the prison estate This report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee outlines that NOMS' strategy for managing the prison estate has delivered cost savings and a good standard of accommodation to time and within budget. However, the report goes on to outline that NOMS 'has not done as well at providing constructive prison regimes in which to work with offenders. The two new prisons opened under the strategy, HMP Oakwood and HMP Thameside, have performed poorly on providing sufficient, high-quality purposeful activity for prisoners.' It recommends that that NOMS could reduce prison overcrowding and generate additional cost savings if it provided more offender behaviour programmes to help prisoners serving indeterminate sentences to be released at the earliest opportunity, and if more foreign national prisoners were removed from the UK.
Meaningful mentoring This report by the Centre for Social Justice think tank explores mentoring in the criminal justice system. It gives examples of different mentoring projects and identifies themes that may constitute best practice. The report also proposes a definition of what mentoring is and gives 12 principal recommendations.
Transforming Rehabilitation
Breaking bad habits: reforming rehabilitation services This report by the Social Market Foundation analyses the Government's Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and makes three main recommendations including: government should be more ambitious in the level of investment; other government schemes including the work programme should be rolled into the reforms; and additional safeguards need to be implemented to ensure the expertise of charities and social enterprises can be brought in to the reform programme.
Payment by Results
Payment by Results (PbR) and the voluntary sector This report by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) argues that 'the instability created for providers by PbR is in danger of making them more risk averse and less inclined to experiment with new ways to achieve results.' The report recommends that; commissioners make use of up-front payments to ease cash-flow barriers and provide payments for intermediate outcomes; charities should develop internal checks to ensure contracts they are bidding for will allow them to work according to their values and; the Government should ensure the coordinated evaluation of different PbR models and sharing of good practice.
Interim reconviction figures for HMP Peterborough and HMP Doncaster Payment by Results pilot This statistical report published by the Ministry of Justice shows that before the Social Impact Bond pilot at HMP Peterborough, for every 100 prisoners released there were 159 reconviction events annually. Under the scheme this figure has fallen to 141, which represents a fall of 11 per cent. Nationally that figure has risen by 10 per cent over the same period. For this pilot, success will be determined based on comparison with a control group of offenders, which is not available for these results. The report also suggests that the pilot at HMP Doncaster has reduced reoffending rates. The final results will be available in summer 2014.
Police and Crime Commissioners
Police and Crime Commissioners: progress to date This report by the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons examines the work of PCCs during their first 18 months in office. It considers their effectiveness in areas including engaging the public and developing collaborative ways of working and also explores the relationships they have developed with their chief constables. The report concludes that 'it is still too early to determine whether the introduction of PCCs has been a success, and that given the low turn-out for their election, the concept of police and crime commissioners is still on probation.'
Women
Mental health provision in women's community services This report published by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health and Women's Breakout provides an overview of the current provision of mental health interventions within women's community services. The report demonstrates that women's community centres have established good working partnerships with other organisations such as local authorities, NHS trusts and probation services in order to meet the mental health needs of their clients.
Sex Workers
Sex Workers and Social Exclusion This literature review by the UCL Institute of Health Equity for the Department of Health examines existing evidence on sex workers in the UK, focusing on health alongside wider issues of social exclusion, such as poverty, homelessness and substance misuse. The report is structured around three main themes; the first examines the driving factors which cause vulnerability, social exclusion and involvement in sex work; the second explores how processes of exclusion affect the lives of sex workers and considers the different levels of social exclusion experienced by certain groups of sex workers; the third theme explores the barriers which prevent greater social inclusion and the stabilisation of sex workers’ lives.
Mental Health
Investing in recovery This report by Rethink Mental Illness in collaboration with the London School of Economics, provides an economic case to local health authorities for investing in services that 'we know support recovery in psychosis.' It states that investing in quality care and support for people with schizophrenia and psychosis results in significant long-term savings.
What is the purpose of learning in prison? In this guest blog for Clinks, Nina Champion, Head of Policy at Prisoners' Education Trust, gives details of the recent Prisoner Learning Alliance conference, including a focus on Clinks Director Clive Martin’s presentation entitled ‘What is prison education all about? What is the theory of change?’
Why prison isn't working for female offenders In this Guardian blog, Joanna Moorhead reports on a recent conference held by psychologist Stephanie Covington who believes ‘understanding that trauma, and changing the prison experience to reflect an understanding of it, could give these women the first break they've ever had – and that could really change them, and we'll all reap the rewards.’
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