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Clinks Members' Policy Briefing | April 2018
- Policy work at Clinks
- Government announcements
- Publications
- Blogs
- Extra information
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The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) met on 6th March. The group welcomed two new members: Martin Blakebrough (to bring expertise of the issues organisations in Wales face) and Emma Wells (to bring expertise of the issues that small organisations face). The group discussed a long term vision for good probation services and what the voluntary sector can offer in both design and delivery of this. The minutes will be published shortly.
Clinks is responding to the government’s consultation on domestic abuse, which closes on 31st May. The bill recognises the role that domestic abuse can play in women’s offending and includes proposals for supporting women in contact with the criminal justice system. It says that the Ministry of Justice is investing £1 million in six local areas to develop a whole-system approach to supporting women in contact with the criminal justice system. The consultation asks how domestic abuse can be identified earlier and how the government can make better use of women-specific services. In order to inform Clinks’ submission we will be consulting members at the next meeting of the Women’s Networking Forum.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is consulting on its draft guidance on preventing suicide in custodial settings. Clinks is responding to the consultation, which closes on 12th April. Our response will be informed by the recommendations of the RR3 Special Interest Group on effective care and support for people at risk of suicide and self-harm.
Clinks is consulting with the sector to inform its response to the government’s consultation on the civil society strategy. Clinks will hold two events at the end of April, one in Cardiff and one in London, where we will gather the sector’s views on: the role of criminal justice charities in civil society; involving voluntary organisations and people with lived experience of the criminal justice system in policy making; and the criminal justice voluntary sector’s experience of partnership working.
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Dr Phillip Lee’s speech at Centre for Social Justice launch event Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Youth Justice, Victims, Female Offenders and Offender Health, Phillip Lee, spoke at the launch event for a new report by the Centre for Social Justice on female offending. He described how the government is supporting women in contact with the criminal justice system including through: appointing women’s leads in each liaison and diversion service; improving awareness of community sentencing options for pre-sentence report writers; and continuing to roll out trauma-informed training to criminal justice professionals. He spoke about government investing £1 million in six local areas to develop a whole-system approach and the government’s commitment to greater devolution of criminal justice responsibility and budgets.
Oral evidence: The work of the Ministry of Justice The Justice Committee heard evidence from Justice Secretary David Gauke about the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies and whether government would consider introducing a presumption against short sentencing. David Gauke said the expansion of support for people sentenced to less than 12 months had affected probation-service performance. He said he would look at the options for sentencing but would want the confidence of the judiciary and magistrates before making changes. When asked about the delays for people accessing universal credit on leaving prison, he noted it is possible for people to get same-day advances but recognised the need to work with the Department for Work and Pensions on this.
Oral Evidence Session: Transforming Rehabilitation The Justice Committee heard evidence from the management of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS) on Transforming Rehabilitation, covering issues such as the effects of changes to contracts in terms of sustainability, lack of community sentencing and the use of telephone supervision in probation. The Probation Divisional Director North East, Lynda Marginson, described how the rate card acted as a barrier to the NPS using CRC interventions. She noted difficulties for CRCs in ensuring the availability of appropriate services for NPS clients when the demand for such services is uncertain as it is dependent on the decision of the courts in individual cases.
Government contracts for Community Rehabilitation Companies The Public Accounts Committee has released its report on government contracts for Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). It found that the government has still not delivered on its commitment to realise the potential of the voluntary sector in delivering probation services. As a consequence of their lower-than-expected incomes, CRCs are using smaller providers less. HM Prison and Probation Service told the committee some voluntary sector providers have withdrawn from providing rehabilitation services to short sentenced prisoners since this has become part of statutory provision. The report makes six recommendations, including that the Ministry of Justice publish an analysis of the gaps in provision across all CRCs that could be addressed through greater voluntary sector involvement.
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Criminal Justice System
A framework to support positive change for those at risk of offending in Wales The Welsh Government and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service on behalf of the All Wales Criminal Justice Board have published a framework to improve services for those at risk of entering or those already in the criminal justice system. It has six key areas for action: reducing the number of women in the criminal justice system; challenging domestic abuse perpetrators and holding them to account for their actions; improving provision for ex-armed services personnel engaged with the criminal justice system; providing support for young adults/care leavers; supporting offenders’ families following sentencing; and prioritising the needs of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.
Mental health
Mental Health Act independent review In response to the call for evidence by the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, the Centre for Mental Health, Prison Reform Trust and Together for Mental Wellbeing held a roundtable to discuss criminal justice concerns and priorities for reform in relation to the Act. The subsequent published paper is a starting point for discussion rather than a set of recommendations. Points raised include: the Act should clarify that prison is not a place of safety and should not be used while a hospital bed is found; the impact of prison on a person’s mental health should be recognised; and specific sentencing options should be developed for people with learning disabilities and/or autism.
Women
A Women-Centred Approach The Centre for Social Justice has published a report on reducing female offending based on findings from its survey of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). It sets out ten recommendations to government, including: suspending plans for Community Prisons for Women and using these funds to contribute to a funding pool which PCCs can use to fund community-based services for women; reducing the female prison population; and a more local trauma-informed approach. It says PCCs should work with women’s centres to develop a package of rehabilitation measures that could be attached to Community and Suspended Sentence Orders. It says government should welcome applications from PCCs to pilot services for female offenders that could replace Community Rehabilitation Company provision.
Gender Specific Standards to Improve Health and Wellbeing for Women in Prison in England Public Health England has published 122 national standards to improve the health and wellbeing of women in prison, recognising that women in prison experience disproportionate levels of mental ill health, suicide, self-harm, drug dependence and other health needs compared to men in prison. The standards cover the following ten topics: general health and wellbeing; mental health, self-harm and suicide prevention; substance misuse; violence and abuse; sexual and reproductive health; pregnancy and families; older women; nutrition and diet; physical activity; and weight management.
Transgender people
Inside Gender Identity Community Innovations Enterprise (CIE) has published a report on the health and social care needs of people with transgender identities in contact with the criminal justice system, based on a literature review and interviews with stakeholders, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisations and people with transgender identities within the criminal justice system. The report sets out nine recommendations, including: healthcare providers should ensure equality and diversity training includes transgender identities; people with lived experience should be involved in providing support for other people with transgender identities in the criminal justice system; and there should be more research into the health and social care needs of transgender people.
Youth Justice
Incentivising and promoting good behaviour HM Inspectorate of Prisons has published a report on behaviour management schemes in secure training centres (STCs) and young offender institutions (YOIs). It says the schemes have been ineffective, particularly at reducing violence, and too focused on punishment, rather than incentivising and rewarding good behaviour. The report sets out nine recommendations, including: staff working in residential units should have the skills and time to build positive relationships with young people; rewards and sanctions schemes should focus on promoting and rewarding good behaviour; young people should receive at least ten hours out of their cell each day; and the response to violence and bullying should focus on identifying and addressing the underlying reasons.
Out-of-court disposal work in youth offending teams (YOTs) HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services have published a joint report which found that YOTs and police are doing effective work to keep children who have committed low-level offences out of the formal criminal justice system. It made 11 recommendations, including: the Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board collect and evaluate data on community resolutions as part of their reoffending statistics; YOTs take account of the child’s views on what may help them to avoid offending, when carrying out assessment and planning; and YOTs and chief constables ensure the requirements of youth conditional cautions are meaningful to children.
The violence virus The London Community Foundation has published a report which highlights the ways in which community based organisations actively reduce youth violence in London’s communities. It is based on a series of interviews with community-based organisations, front line service delivery practitioners, youth workers, people who have been in contact with the criminal justice system and politicians. The report looks at the causes of violence including: trauma; peers and social networks; poor education and a lack of jobs; and a lack of youth services. The report calls for a joined up, long term strategy that supports front line practitioners, invests in community-based organisations and delivers a long-term, multi-agency response.
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Who’s in the room? Gender, race and intersectionality Whitney Iles, CEO of Project 507, writes on the issues of representation and voice with regards to the intersection of gender, race and ethnicity. She writes '...we must ensure that within women-centred spaces other identifying factors such as race and ethnicity do not become an afterthought. We must understand that in order to have an inclusive process, it is not enough to just include women, we must include women that represent a wide range of communities and perspectives.'
Social impact bonds - a response to the sector's challenges Continuing our series of blogs about Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), Nigel Ball from Government Outcome Labs responds to a previous blog from Laura Seebohm, and discusses his take on how they can be used by the voluntary sector. He asks 'Do SIBs help public service commissioners work more preventatively? Do they help align siloed budgets and link siloed delivery? Do they enable innovation?'
Listening to children about what’s going wrong and what needs to be done to make things right This is one of a series of blogs which Howard League for Penal Reform is publishing to relate some of the findings from its current research project on the criminalisation of children in residential care. The project is looking at how call-outs to the police by children’s homes can be reduced and at how the police can better respond to these call-outs when they do happen. This blog by Youth Justice Researcher Claire Sands relates the experiences of one young person in care, including times where incidents were escalated to the police where they would not have been in a family home.
A far-reaching judgement Russell Webster has written a blog about the events that have unfolded following the judicial ruling on the Parole Board’s decision to release John Worboys. The review ruled the Parole Board must reassess the risk John Worboys poses and the rule which prohibits any information about parole proceedings being made public must be abolished. Russell Webster raises concerns about how Justice Secretary David Gauke’s response to this ruling of bringing forward proposals for Parole Board decisions to be challenged could further increase the prison population and that the resignation of Parole Board Chair Nick Hardwick means that the person who has been advocating greater transparency will not be in place to lead it.
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