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Clinks Members’ Policy Briefing | May 2017
In this month's edition...
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In March, Clinks submitted a response the HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) consultation on expectations for adult male prisons highlighting the importance of: ensuring all prisons achieve a defined standard of safety; providing a more nuanced assessment of the performance of prisons; and involving the voluntary sector in developing plans to deliver these expectations. HMIP has now published the emerging themes of their consultation, which include Human Rights standards and leadership and management. These acknowledge some of the concerns raised by Clinks members during our consultation on the Expectations and Clinks will update members when the new Expectations are published.
The Justice Select Committee has now published the report of its inquiry into governor empowerment and prison performance. Clinks gave oral evidence to the Committee on this inquiry and also submitted a written response. A number of the recommendations made in the report chime with the recommendations made in Clinks’ written response, including that the Ministry of Justice sets out its plans on local partnerships and the relationship between prisons and probation services in detail; that Government provides an explanation about the performance measures it is or has considered testing to measure prison effectiveness and that Government provide service providers with appropriate information to offer appropriately tailored services to individual prison populations.
Clinks’ Chief Executive Anne Fox has contributed to a report published by the Civil Exchange, A Shared Society? The independence of the voluntary sector in 2017. In her piece, The Shared Society and the Criminal Justice System, Anne discusses the work voluntary organisations do to respond to disadvantage throughout society and the importance of utilising the expertise of the voluntary sector to improve systems and services. The report calls for a clear statement from government on the importance of the voluntary sector in helping to shape policies and services.
We have also published the notes of the most recent Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) meeting, which took place on 14th February 2017. Clinks provides the chair and secretariat for the group which exists with the purpose of building a strong and effective partnership between the voluntary sector and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). At the last meeting, the group discussed MoJ policy on a range of topics such as probation, women and youth justice and also discussed ways to drive the agenda forward on diversion from the criminal justice system.
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On 18th April, Theresa May announced a General Election to take place on 8th June. This has delayed the progression of the Prison and Courts Bill through parliament and may lead to a change in ministerial team at the Ministry of Justice. All committees, including the Justice Select Committee have also ceased to exist and will be re-appointed after the election. The pre-election period, or purdah, began on 22nd April. The Civil Society has published a useful blog explaining the rules that voluntary organisations need to follow during this period; it suggests that voluntary organisations shouldn’t feel deterred from campaigning in the run-up to the election and should use the period as an opportunity to inform public debates from a non-partisan position.
Separation units introduced for prisoners identified as extremists On 21st April, the Prisons and Probation Minister Sam Gyimah announced that prisoners involved in planning terrorism and deemed to be a threat to national security will be separated from the prison population and held in three specialist centres. The centres can also be used to hold prisoners whose views might encourage or influence others to commit terrorism crimes or undermine good order and security in prisons. The first centre will be opened at HMP Frankland. This development is part of a wider strategy to tackle extremism in prisons which will include banning extremist literature from prisons, removing certain prisoners from communal worship and rolling out new training to prison officers.
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Clinks publications
Response to the Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities In November 2016, the Women and Equalities Committee launched an inquiry into inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities. Clinks’ response examines the specific inequalities faced by GRT people in the criminal justice system. It makes a number of recommendations based on consultation with voluntary sector organisations, including that the Ministry of Justice should develop a strategic approach to consistently tackling inequalities faced by people from GRT communities and establish a formal mechanism to engage and consult with GRT communities and the voluntary sector working with them. Due to the general election, the Inquiry’s work has ended and may resume in September.
Women’s Networking Forum notes Clinks has published the notes from the Women’s Networking Forum in January 2017, a group convened in partnership with Agenda, Women’s Breakout and the Women’s Resource Centre to promote partnership working and support across the women’s sector. The group discussed the need to ensure that services are gender-specific, the risks and opportunities involved in devolution and the benefits of using the term ‘multiple and complex needs’ to communicate the challenges of women involved in the criminal justice system. Organisations also highlighted the need for increased investment in prevention and the pressures placed on women’s organisations by problems in contracting and commissioning processes.
Criminal justice system
Report to the Government of the United Kingdom on the visit to the United Kingdom carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) The Council of Europe has published this report looking at the treatment of people in prisons, police custody and immigration detention. The report welcomes the British government’s recognition of the need for reform but raises significant concerns about the levels of violence and overcrowding in prisons, suggesting that the aims of reform will be unattainable without action to reduce the prison population. It makes a number of recommendations including increased investment in preventing violence, swift reinforcement of staffing levels and the end of solitary confinement for juveniles.
Prison reform: Part 1 of the Prisons and Courts Bill The Justice Select Committee have published this report, examining the Prison and Courts Bill brought to parliament in March 2017. The report welcomes the introduction of a statutory purpose for prison as well as the strengthening of the powers of HM Inspectorate of Prisons. It makes two recommendations to the government: that the aim of achieving a decent and fair environment for prisoners should be included in the purpose of prison and that the Justice Select Committee should be required to give its consent to recommendations for the appointment of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. Due to the general election, the progress of the Prison and Courts Bill will now be delayed.
Where did it all go wrong? A study into the use of community sentences in England and Wales This report, published by Crest Advisory, looks at the reasons behind a drop in the use of community sentences since 2004. The report’s findings indicate that, despite their potential to provide an effective alternative to prison, community sentences are not delivered in accordance to the evidence on what works to prevent reoffending, are acting as stepping stones to prison and have lost the confidence of magistrates. It makes a number of recommendations to tackle these failings, including a new presumption to sentence young adult offenders (18-25) to intensive community orders rather than short custodial sentences and providing magistrates with the ability to deliver more innovative community sentences that are tied to the offender/offence.
Black, Asian and minority ethnic people
Tackling Discrimination in Prison: still not a fair response This joint report by the Zahid Mubarek Trust and the Prison Reform Trust looks at how prisons respond to prisoner complaints of discrimination. The report finds that 76% of complaints made by staff against prisoners are upheld, compared to just 1% of complaints made by prisoners about staff. It highlights a number of issues with the complaints process for prisoners, including a failure to investigate reports indicating a pattern of discrimination for one officer, an inappropriately high threshold of proof and poor evidence to dismiss complaints. The recommendations include that HM Prison and Probation Service should establish an external prison equality advisory group comprised of voluntary sector representatives and that prisons should consult prisoners regularly on how the complaints process is working.
Fairness in the criminal justice system: What’s race got to do with it? Catch22 has published this report based on evidence from a series of focus groups with people in prison, exploring the experiences behind the statistics detailed in interim report of the Lammy Review of black, Asian and minority ethnic representation in the criminal justice system. The key findings include that prisoners are particularly concerned about the lack of diversity among criminal justice professionals and the lack of transparency in decision-making processes by professionals throughout the criminal justice system. The report’s recommendations focus on diversity and transparency, suggesting that all criminal justice professionals should provide people with appropriate opportunities to challenge or review key decisions that can profoundly affect their liberty and that staffing levels across the criminal justice system should be reviewed.
Families
Assisting professionals to support the children and families of Foreign National Prisoners This i-HOP briefing provides an overview of the issues affecting the children and families of Foreign National Prisoners and how i-HOP can assist professionals to support them. It notes that 14% of prisoners in England and Wales are foreign nationals and that their families often experience difficulties in: maintaining contact; understanding the criminal justice system; and poor mental health. It also highlights the impact on families of the deportation of Foreign National Prisoners including severe distress and significant financial loss. The briefing concludes by listing the services i-HOP provides to meet the needs of families of foreign national prisoners?
Restorative Justice
The Cost of an Entitlement to Restorative Justice The Criminal Justice Alliance has published this report estimating the cost of providing Restorative Justice (RJ) across England and Wales for all appropriate offences as £30.5m per year. The report finds that there are over 300,000 RJ-qualifying cases and that between 38% and 46% of victims express an interest in RJ. The cost analysis is based on the costs of existing public and private sector RJ delivery. However, the report highlights the importance of voluntary and community participation in RJ and suggests that these costs would be considerably lower for voluntary sector initiatives due to the reduced costs of using volunteers to support paid staff.
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What do we mean by recovery through social enterprise? This Clinks guest blog from Charlotte Burrows, Director of Innovation and Growth at EDP Drug & Alcohol Services looks at how EDP have developed a ‘socially enterprising prison’ model to support prisoners’ recovery. It discusses the process of implementing the model, the challenges faced and top tips for those working in prisons. Charlotte writes: “We started off delivering social enterprise workshops and an accredited social enterprise qualification in prisons. Prisoners wanted to address social issues that they felt passionate about. Giving back, and learning new skills whilst going through difficult periods of their lives, was important to those who were involved. The practical nature of our social enterprise activity meant that prisoners could build on their existing skills and previous hobbies as well as utilise new skills learnt in prison.”
Introducing personalisation Clinks’ Development Officer for Health and Justice has written this blog exploring how the principle of personalisation, developed within the social care system, can be introduced to the criminal justice system. The blog emphasises the links between desistance theory and a personalised approach that embeds greater choice and control within services. It also provides four short videos in which Professor Chris Fox explains what personalisation means and how it applies to criminal justice as well as examples of personalisation in practice.
What do prisoners and ex-offenders need to learn? Clinks Head of Policy and Communications Nathan Dick has written this blog about the Monument Trust Fellowship, established last year to try to improve the criminal justice system. The fellowship have invited responses to the question ‘what do prisoners and ex-offenders need to learn?’ and plan to produce a publication of the best responses this year. Nathan writes, “This is about debate, and about the voluntary sector speaking out and having a say in a useful and long-term discussion about improving our justice system.”
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