In this month's edition...
Jess Mullen, Head of Policy and Communications at Clinks, gave oral evidence to the Justice Committee on the implementation of the Lammy Review. Jess spoke about the difficulties that black, Asian and minority ethnic-led voluntary organisations have faced, being more at risk of closure than other organisations working in criminal justice and that for real change in this area culture change is needed to ensure people’s needs rather than their perceived risk are responded to.
Interserve, which led the Purple Futures partnership responsible for managing five Community Rehabilitation Companies, went into ‘pre pack administration’. Its business has been sold but it is able to continue trading and as such its contracts should not be affected. Clinks is monitoring the impact on the voluntary sector and is in contact with HMPPS about the situation.
Jessica Plant, Director of the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA) and Alison Frater, NCJAA Chair, met with Edward Argar MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Justice, to talk about how the arts can support young people in the criminal justice system. See the full write-up here.
Jess Mullen, Head of Policy and Communication and Kate Aldous, Head of Strategic Development at Clinks, met with the vulnerable offenders’ team at the MoJ to discuss the department’s work and priorities and how the sector can be involved in shaping them.
Clinks submitted written evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into the mental health of men and boys. We recommended engaging voluntary organisations as strategic partners when implementing the NHS Long Term Plan and expanding Community Sentence Treatment Requirements.
Clinks, in partnership with Agenda, hosted the latest Women’s Networking Forum where delegates gave their views on the government’s Tackling Homelessness Together Consultation. Clinks will be submitting a response to the consultation and holding a further event with members on 29 April to support our submission. Book a place at the consultation event here.
Sale of Holloway prison site The site of former women’s prison, HMP Holloway, was sold by the Ministry of Justice to Peabody Housing Association. Over 1,000 homes and a women’s centre will be built on the site. The Mayor of London announced that as part of the deal more than 600 of the homes must be genuinely affordable with 70% of those being for social rent.
Strategy to end violence against women and girls: 2016 to 2020 The government published a progress update on its strategy to end violence against women and girls. The update gives progress on the 95 actions the strategy commits to, of which 54 have been completed. Actions that are still a work in progress include establishing a ‘What Works Centre’ for evidence-based resources and developing a cross-government approach to increase the diversity of provision and access to services for victims with complex needs.
£100 million funding for police to tackle violent crime The government announced that a further £100 million funding will be made available to seven police forces in areas of England and Wales deemed worst effected by knife and violent crime, including London, West Midlands and Greater Manchester. The funding will also be invested in Violence Reduction Units. The units bring together a range of agencies including health, education, social services and others, to develop a multi-agency approach to preventing knife crime.
Inquiry into health and social care in Welsh prisons The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the provision of health and social care in the adult prison estate in Wales. The inquiry explores the effectiveness of current arrangements, the demand for health and social care services in Welsh prisons, and whether healthcare services are meeting the needs of prisoners. It is also looking at the current barriers to improving prison healthcare and health outcomes of the prison population in Wales. The deadline for views and comments is 14th May. Clinks will be submitting evidence to the inquiry. If you have any questions or would like to feed in your views, please contact Nicola Drinkwater, Clinks Policy Manager, at Nicola.drinkwater@clinks.org
Probation
Report of the Chief Inspector of Probation Dame Glenys Stacey, current Chief Inspector of Probation, has published her annual report. She states that Transforming Rehabilitation is irredeemably flawed and it has proved well-nigh impossible to reduce probation services to a set of contractual requirements. She proposes that a new probation system should be evidence based, meet the needs of individuals, be integrated and professional and install confidence in probation and community sentencing. She recommends that the government should ensure that a good range of specialist services are available to meet need and a nationwide commissioning strategy for specialist services should be developed. The report also examines the challenges with current probation services and the changes to probation caseloads.
Transforming rehabilitation: progress review inquiry In a hearing with the Public Accounts Committee, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials were questioned about the implementation of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and how risks will be more effectively managed going forward. The Committee highlighted the lack of involvement of the voluntary sector, particularly smaller organisations, by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). Members of the Committee questioned officials about the findings of a Clinks' trackTR research which included that voluntary organisations were finding it difficult to gain funding from other sources because of confusion around what probation providers should be funding. MoJ stated that they intend to design a future model to enable the input of specialist voluntary sector organisations.
Justin Russel appointed HM Chief Inspector of Probation The Secretary of State for Justice has announced the appointment of Justin Russel as Chief Inspector of Probation for a tenure of 3 years. This follows a pre-appointment hearing with Justin Russel, held by the Justice Committee. The Committee questioned him on his senior leadership role during the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and his role in overseeing the proposals for the future of probation creating potential conflicts of interest if he were to be appointed as an independent inspector. In response Justin Russell spoke about his priority to identify good practice and establish evidence-based standards, including an understanding of what an appropriate case load is for members of staff, how much and what type of contact is the most effective.
European Probation Rules Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) commissioned its second ‘academic insight’ from Professor Rob Canton at De Montfort University. The report argues that the European Probation Rules (EPR) provide a strong ethical foundation for probation and its Basic Principles should be used to guide policy and practice in England and Wales. The Basic Principles include appropriate standing and recognition of probation agencies; adequate resourcing; enhancing the effectiveness of probation work by encouraging research; and more communication between probation agencies, the media and the general public about its work to encourage a better understanding of the role and value of probation in society.
Prisons
Prison population 2020: planning for the future The Justice Committe has published this report from its inquiry into the prison population. The report outlines the growth in the prison population and highlights the current gap in the Ministry of Justice’s finances. It argues that ploughing resources into prison building to meet prison population growth projections is unsustainable. The committee is also critical of what it describes as an ‘enduring crisis in prison safety and decency’ and suggests it is impossible to address this without a focus on rehabilitation. It places a strong emphasis on funding for rehabilitative interventions and makes reference to the role of voluntary sector coordinators in prisons, as advocated for by Clinks.
Children of Prisoners: Fixing a broken system Crest Advisory has published a report on the impact of parental imprisonment on children. Children with a parent in prison are at risk of significantly poorer outcomes than their peers who have not been affected by parental imprisonment. Gaps in the system mean that chances to support the needs of children affected by parental imprisonment are continually missed. The report recommends putting new arrangements in place requiring courts to notify the local authority when a parent is sentenced to custody; joint protocols between local authorities, prisons and probation services to address the needs of prisoners’ families; and for probation provider contracts to include a greater emphasis on family support and working with local authorities to safeguard children.
Falling through the gaps The Innovation Unit has released a report on the outcomes of young adult care leavers in prison and on release. The support and intervention available was found to be fragmented and uncoordinated. Young adult care leavers should be identified within the prison system and their local authority notified but this is not happening reliably and consistently. Local authorities and criminal justice agencies can have different priorities and cultures that can conflict. There is not a shared understanding of what support should be provided or a common planning framework and assessment. Care leavers are not helped to manage the transition between these systems and cultures. The report recommends a trauma-informed and multi-agency approach with a single, shared support plan and shared outcomes across agencies.
Knife and Offensive Weapon Sentencing Statistics The Ministry of Justice has released the latest sentencing figures for knife and offensive weapon offences. The statistics show that sentencing for knife and offensive weapons offences continues to rise, reaching the highest number formally dealt with by the Criminal Justice System since 2009. Over the same period, the likelihood of being sentenced to prison for such offences increased, with 37% knife and offensive weapon offences resulting in an immediate custodial sentence compared with 20% in 2008. The sentence length for knife and offensive weapon offences has also increased over that time from 5.3 months to 8.1 months.
How are charities influencing change in the prison system? NPC, with support from Clinks, published a discussion paper on the role of charities in influencing change in the prison system. The paper discusses the important and various ways that charities influence change including civil service and local government engagement, public campaigns, making recommendations grounded in evidence, and responding to the views and experiences of people with lived experience of the CJS. However charities are increasingly struggling to deliver their services in prison, and are required to navigate a complicated and uncertain policy landscape. As a result independent funders are losing confidence that their input will make a difference and are moving away from funding criminal justice organisations. NPC have posed new questions to continue the discussion and welcomes you to get in touch with your thoughts.
Legal aid
No Justice in the Capital? Revolving Doors Agency has published research on the impact on people with complex needs of reduced legal support. Legal aid cuts have left growing numbers feeling abandoned and having to deal with civil law issues on their own without the necessary legal expertise. The impact is greater on people with multiple and complex needs who are more likely to face co-occurring problems such as mental ill health, homelessness, domestic abuse, debt, discrimination, and problems with benefits or immigration. This is particularly difficult for those simultaneously having to navigate a complex justice system. The report highlights the need for a more inclusive legal profession, and the importance of building relationships between lawyers and clients prior to hearings and clearer communication with clients.
Policing
Stop & Scrutinise The Criminal Justice Alliance has published a briefing on improving community scrutiny of stop and search. It recommends improving existing Community Scrutiny Panels (CSPs) to enable more scrutiny of stop and search by the communities most effected by its use. The briefing outlines four key principles for making CSPs stronger and more consistent. They should be independent and empowered; representative; informed; and open and visible. The report recommends that CSPs should to be chaired by a member of the public and have membership that reflects the communities most affected by stop and search, as well as actively engaging young people and the wider community.
Women
Promising practice from the front line Research by Homeless Link and the Women’s Resource Centre explores the gendered support available to women who experience homelessness and multiple disadvantage. 69% of services reported an increase in women with multiple disadvantage presenting to their service over the last two years but less than half were designed to work specifically with those women. Recommendations include for central government to develop a strategy that recognises women’s specific experiences of multiple disadvantage and the support they require; for funders and commissioners to provide funding for gender specific specialist services and approaches for homeless women experiencing multiple disadvantage; and for local service providers to work in partnership to provide co-located support for women in familiar surroundings such as drop-in centres.
Too many bends in the tunnel? Women serving Indeterminate Sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) Research for the Griffins Society examines the experiences of for women serving IPPs. For all of the women involved this was the first time they had spoken about the reality of serving an IPP sentence and they all spoke about the lack of information about IPPs, the frustration and confusion and the adverse effect on their mental health. The report recommends: there be a designated IPP caseworker in recognition of this group’s complex needs, ending the IPP sentence once the Parole Board has ordered release, limiting licence lengths and dealing with any further offences under normal sentencing provisions.
Youth justice
State of Children’s Rights: Policing and Criminal Justice Children’s Rights Alliance England produced a series of thematic briefings assessing how well the UK is respecting children’s rights. The report raises a number of concerns about the policing of children particularly for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) children, and for the safety and wellbeing of children in custody. The report makes a number of recommendations including eliminating the use of Taser and all harmful devices on children by police and for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to conduct a thematic review into police treatment of BAME children. The report also calls for appropriate care-based homes for children where detention is necessary instead of prison-like institutions and for all conditions that amount to solitary confinement of children to be abolished.
The Justice Committee urges a rethink on how we use prisons This Clinks blog summarises the key points from the Justice Committee’s report ‘Prison population 2020: planning for the future’ including its refernces to and implications for the voluntary sector.
Launch of an enhanced service through the prison gate In a guest blog for Clinks, Joanne Oliver, Senior Contract Manager for the Community Interventions Business Delivery Unit at Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) outlines the changes to the ‘through the gate’ (TTG) service specification which came into place on 1st April 2019. The new specification has three levels of need that everyone will be assessed against and then a service delivered to the right intensity to meet that need.
Our sector's staff and volunteers: The state of the sector in focus Clinks has published the third instalment in a series of blogs written by Policy Manager, Nicola Drinkwater, which look in more detail at some of the key trends and issues uncovered in our latest State of the Sector research. This blog looks at staff and volunteer recruitment in voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system, and the diversity in the workforce. Our research finds volunteers are essential, and overall more representative of service users than staff but are difficult to recruit and retain. Organisations recognise the importance of a diverse workforce, but challenges remain in achieving it.
What's the reality like on the ground for organisations meeting the needs of people with protected characteristics? This blog gives a more detailed account of the experience of an organisation delivering tailored services to people in the criminal justice system who have characteristics that are protected under the Equalities Act (2010). In this blog we hear from Caroline Hattersley, Director of Women@theWell, on how the organisation identifies and responds to the gender-specific and intersectional needs of a diverse group of women and the challenges they are experiencing.
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