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Clinks Members' Policy Briefing | June 2018
- Policy work at Clinks
- Government announcements
- Publications
- Blogs
- Extra information
The Ministry of Justice has published its Female Offender Strategy, which sets out the government’s commitment to a new programme of work for women in contact with the criminal justice system across England and Wales, which we summarise in our blog. In our press release, Clinks’ Chief Executive Anne Fox welcomed the aspirational nature of the strategy but highlighted concerns around lack of funding and an implementation plan. We also signed an open letter coordinated by Agenda, the women and girls at risk alliance, in response to the strategy.
The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) met on 28th June. The group heard updates from officials and discussed the Female Offender Strategy, the Education and Employment Strategy and new commissioning models for people with protected characteristics. Two papers by its special interest groups have been published: one on the accommodation needs of people in contact with the criminal justice system and the other to support future commissioning processes by the MoJ and HM Prison and Probation Service.
Clinks responded to the following consultations:
- Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ consultation on transition between custody and the community for people with substance misuse needs (to be published shortly)
- HM Inspectorate of Probation’s 2018 consultation on its inspection framework and programmes
- Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry on prison healthcare
- Criminal Justice Joint Inspection Business Plan 2018/19 Consultation: this was a joint response with the Young Review and focuses on the proposal to undertake a study on ethnic disproportionality (to be published shortly).
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Edward Argar MP After the resignation of Dr Phillip Lee as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Youth Justice, Victims, Female Offenders and Offender Health, Edward Argar MP is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice. He has the same duties and responsibilities.
Concordat between the Ministry of Justice and the Welsh Government The Ministry of Justice and Welsh Government have published a concordat on the working arrangements between the two organisations, which sets out good practice for working relationships between them. It seeks to ensure that: the Ministry of Justice considers the interests and responsibilities of the Welsh government when designing and implementing UK justice policy and activities likely to have an impact in Wales; the Welsh government considers the interests and responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice when exercising devolved functions; and there is clarity and accountability, enabling productive working relationships and improving outcomes for English and Welsh Justice.
Statement from Chief Inspector Dame Glenys Stacey Dame Glenys Stacey announced she will be stepping down as HM Chief Inspector of Probation at the end of her current term. She was appointed as Chief Inspector in March 2016 on a three-year fixed term. She said: "It is so important for those receiving youth offending and probation services and for the wider public, that providers and government are held to account for the quality of those services. HM Inspectorate of Probation plays a pivotal role...In many ways, the job I set out to do is done. HM Inspectorate of Probation has grown into a capable and respected organisation, with a strong senior management team, and people can be assured that the inspectorate will continue to do excellent work."
Oral evidence sessions and parliamentary debates
Oral evidence: prison population 2022 Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, Rory Stewart MP gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee, alongside Mike Driver, Chief Financial Officer, and Justin Russell, Director General, Offender Reform and Commissioning Group, Ministry of Justice. During the evidence session, the Minister said his number one priority is to protect the public and the best way to do this is to “significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the under 12-month prison population, because people on community sentences are less likely to reoffend than people who are put in custody.” He will achieve this through investing in the quality of community sentences and increasing judges’ and magistrates’ confidence in them.
Oral evidence: Prison provision in Wales The Welsh Affairs Committee heard evidence from Alun Davies AM, Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Welsh Government and Martin Swain, Deputy Director of Community Safety, Welsh Government. Alun Davis said that he feels the current system is broken and justice devolution is needed for a more consistent approach: having two different governments delivering education, health and criminal justice services is not resulting in a cohesive system. He said Welsh prisoners should be able to access public services in Welsh if they wished, regardless of whether they are imprisoned in England or Wales. He hopes the new Welsh Language Commissioner will be able to step in to deal with these issues in future.
Care of Prisoners’ children Fiona Bruce MP introduced a debate in the House of Commons on the care of prisoners’ children, noting the impact on the child’s life chances are particularly severe when it is the mother who is imprisoned. Minister for Children and Families Nadhim Zahawi spoke about current cross-departmental work, the statutory responsibilities local authorities have towards these children and the financial support that carers are eligible for. He stressed the importance of courts knowing about dependents when sentencing and said a new family and significant other policy framework will be published this year.
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Criminal Justice System
Transforming Rehabilitation The Justice Select Committee published its report following its eight month inquiry into Transforming Rehabilitation (TR). The report concludes that the committee “are unconvinced that the TR model can deliver an effective or viable probation service.” The Committee make a series of recommendations including that the Ministry of Justice: publish more information on probation supply chains and considers what benefit might be gained from reintroducing targets for voluntary sector involvement; considers how to incentivise the involvement of smaller, more specialised voluntary sector organisations; and conducts a review into the long-term future and sustainability of delivering probation services under the models introduced by the TR reforms. Clinks’ Chief Executive Anne Fox wrote a blog about the report, which welcomes the focus on the experience of the voluntary sector.
UK Justice Policy Review The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has published its seventh report in their UK Justice Policy Review series, which covers the period from the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union in June 2016 to the snap General Election in June 2017. It assesses and explains criminal justice developments across the United Kingdom’s three criminal jurisdictions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This Review, like previous editions, focuses on the key criminal justice institutions of policing, the courts and access to justice, prisons, and probation across the UK. It combines critical analysis of policy developments with key data on the main trends.
Welfare conditionality: sanctions, support and behaviour change: As part of the Welfare Conditionality project, the Economic and Social Research Council has published the final findings from its research study on the impact of benefit sanctions and support on people in contact with the criminal justice system. In the study 25 English and Scottish people with convictions took part in three waves of interviews over a two year period. It found the process of behaviour change is non-linear, with people experiencing relapses: sustainable change is based on stable accommodation and accessing a range of support to address people’s different needs. Benefit sanctions were seen to fail to encourage individuals to engage with support in a meaningful way, whilst taking part in volunteering helped cement positive change in someone’s behaviour.
Prisoners’ voting rights The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on the discussion around the voting rights of people in prison since May 2015. It explains that current arrangements are in breach of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In December 2017 David Lidington (then Justice Secretary) published proposals to allow prisoners on Temporary Licence to vote. This was welcomed by the Council of Europe as an acceptable compromise. The government intends to implement the proposed changes by the end of 2018 and has agreed to report back to the Council by September 2018.
Women
Home truths: housing for women in the criminal justice system This report by the Prison Reform Trust and Women in Prison highlights that being unable to access stable, suitable accommodation has a negative impact on women’s ability to secure employment or training, arrange benefits, and re-establish contact with children and families. The report found there is insufficient housing support for women released from custody, causing them to re-enter the prison system. The report sets out a number of recommendations, including: the Reducing Reoffending Board should make gendered-housing solutions for those leaving prison a priority; local authorities should ensure that imprisonment is not regarded as intentional homelessness for housing eligibility purposes; and sentencers should be made aware of the housing impacts of custodial responses.
Exploring the impact of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 on women involved in the criminal justice system The Griffins Society has published a research paper by Alice Moore on whether Welsh housing policy is meeting the accommodation needs of women being released from prison. This is in the context of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 removing priority need status for prison leavers, meaning local authorities no longer have an automatic duty to secure accommodation for people released from prison homeless. She sets out 11 recommendations, including: amending legislation to restore priority need status for prison leavers; providing training for local housing authority staff about the needs of women in the criminal justice system (CJS); and providing support and advice to women in CJS on accessing the private rental sector.
Dynamic predictors of reconviction for women The Ministry of Justice has published a study which explores risk factors that predict reoffending for women compared to men. It found the profile of risk factors was broadly similar for men and women but some significant differences emerged which have implications for the design of rehabilitative services responsive to the specific needs of women. The five needs that emerged as the strongest dynamic predictors of any reoffending for women include unemployment, binge drinking, impulsivity, regular activities that encourage offending and class A drug use. It found that binge drinking was a major predictor of women’s reoffending and recommended this translates to policy action.
Young people
Young adults in the criminal justice system In October 2016, the Justice Select Committee published their report into the treatment of young adults aged 18 to 25, which the government responded to in January 2017. The Justice Select Committee felt the government’s response was “disappointing” and have published this report as, “we are not persuaded that the narrow approach adopted has had any positive impact on outcomes for young adults.” The report makes a series of recommendations, including the Ministry of Justice taking decisive action on more fundamental reform for young adults and revisiting urgently the Committee’s previous recommendations for a new framework for the disclosure of criminal records for children and young adults.
“Have you got anybody you can stay with?” Housing options for young adults leaving custody Nacro and Centrepoint have published this report which highlights the multiple barriers young adults face in finding safe and stable housing upon release from custody. It sets out recommendations including: the Ministry of Justice increasing the discharge grant in line with inflation; HM Prisons and Probation Service not planning releases on a Friday and/or at a time of the day when the person will not be able to present at a local housing authority or Jobcentre Plus; and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Ministry of Justice should guarantee deposits and rent for the first month for young adults leaving custody if going into private rented accommodation.
Substance misuse
Spotlight on substance misuse Revolving Doors Agency has published the seventh in its spotlight series, which highlights best practice by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in tackling various issues. The Spotlight on Substance Misuse report brings together examples of good practice with a view to raising awareness about the link between substance misuse, associated health inequalities and crime. It identifies five key themes as essential for good practice in PCCs tackling substance misuse: taking a public health approach; drawing on the expertise of those with lived experience of substance misuse; taking a whole-systems approach; offering women-only provision; and supporting families affected by substance misuse.
Disclosure of criminal records
Supreme Court considers criminal record disclosure case The Supreme Court heard the government’s appeal against decisions by both the High Court and Court of Appeal that the current system of criminal record disclosure is unlawful. Clinks member Unlock intervened in the case, putting forward arguments on behalf of people who are affected by the criminal records disclosure regime through having old and minor criminal records disclosed. The hearing ran from the19th to the 23rd June and the judgement was reserved. This means that the judge will produce a written judgement, which can take six months.
Black, Asian and minority ethnic people
Race Disparity Audit The Women and Equalities Committee published its report following their inquiry into the Race Disparity Audit (an audit of published government data to examine how people of different ethnicities are treated across public services). In Clinks’ evidence submission to the inquiry we noted that gaps in the data and lack of disaggregation risk portraying an untrue picture of people’s experiences and that the data showed nothing new, all of which the committee accepted. While Clinks recommended an independent scrutiny body should exist, that involves the voluntary sector, to ensure government departments act to address the identified disparities, the Committee recommended that this role should be fulfilled by an inter-ministerial group and that a cross-government race equality strategy should formalise the role.
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The value of the small: the missing link in Transforming Rehabilitation? This guest blog from Caroline Howe, National Programmes Manager at Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, looks at their latest research into small and local charities. Their research provides evidence into the distinctive role of small charities and the importance not only of what they do but how they do it. The blog highlights that through examining the distinctive value of smaller organisations, it becomes clear what is lost when funds through systems like Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) fail to reach smaller charities working on the frontline.
Prison education reforms: what are the opportunities for voluntary sector organisations? In this guest blog, Rod Clark, Chief Executive of Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET), sets out to demystify the major reforms of prison education commissioning that are underway. PET provides the secretariat for the Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA), an alliance of voluntary sector organisations committed to prison education. This blog explores how voluntary organisations can get involved in the new commissioning systems, including the Prison Education Framework and the Dynamic Purchasing System.
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Elaine Fischer
Clinks
© Clinks, 2018
Registered office: Clinks, Tavis House, 1-6 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9NA
Registered charity: 1074546 | Company limited by guarantee in England & Wales: 3562176