In this month's edition...
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Clinks has been establishing excellent working relationships with the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) review of probation. Overall, we welcome the MoJ’s response to the consultation (see government announcements below) to simplify the system and we are pleased the department has listened to the views of the voluntary sector as we recommended. Clinks attended market and stakeholder engagement events (slides available here). We will also be attending further market engagement events for the dynamic framework for rehabilitation and resettlement interventions. Clinks will brief the sector on these and continue to work closely with the MoJ, keeping the sector informed of updates.
Clinks submitted written evidence to the Justice Committee for its prison governance inquiry which we will publish shortly. Our evidence included recommendations for prisons to adopt a voluntary sector co-ordination model and for shared outcome measures between prison and probation services.
Anne Fox, Clinks’ Chief Executive Officer, has written to Mark Sweeny, Director General of Policy, Communications and Analysis Group at the MoJ, following the expansion of his responsibilities in order to promote the role of the voluntary sector and encourage the department to engage with the knowledge, skills and support the sector can provide.
Following evidence from Clinks and the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance, the Select Committee on Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has recommended the government commission an independent review of arts provision in prison. We are working with the MoJ and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to advise on how this can be implemented. See the Committee’s report here.
New model for probation announced The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published the response to its consultation, ‘Strengthening probation, building confidence’, on the future of probation services. From spring 2021, all offender management will be the responsibility of the National Probation Service (NPS). Each NPS region will be overseen by a Regional Probation Director with responsibility for the overall delivery and commissioning of probation services. In addition there will be ‘innovation partners’ from either the voluntary or private sectors contracted for the direct provision of unpaid work and accredited programmes. The MoJ is also developing a ‘dynamic framework’ to commission resettlement and rehabilitation services. See our blog here for more information on the top five things you need to know about the probation reforms.
Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) policy framework The Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service have published new rules and guidance on ROTL for prison and probation staff. ROTL allows eligible prisoners to be temporarily released for activities that support their resettlement, such as work, volunteering or to maintain family ties. The new policy framework aims to increase the use of ROTL by making the process clearer, more efficient, and easier to administer. Changes include removal of the restriction on ROTL in the first three months of transfer to open conditions; allowing paid work to be taken as soon as someone is eligible for day release; and removing requirements for those on ROTL to spend at least one 24-hour period per week in prison.
New justice ministers Two new justice ministers have been appointed. Robert Buckland QC MP has been appointed the new Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), whose responsibilities include prison operations, probation services and sentencing. Paul Maynard MP has also been appointed to the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the MoJ, whose responsibilities include court services and legal aid. Clinks’ Chief Executive Officer, Anne Fox, has written to both ministers to introduce Clinks, promote the role and expertise of the voluntary sector and to encourage engagement with voluntary sector organisations as key partners in the criminal justice system.
New Victims' Commissioner appointed Dame Vera Baird has been appointed the new Victims’ Commissioner and will take over from Baroness Newlove, in mid-June 2019. Dame Vera Baird has been Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria since 2012 and the lead for supporting victims and reducing harm for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners. In her new role, Dame Vera’s responsibilities will include listening to and representing the views and needs of victims and witnesses; research and monitoring and of victims’ services and reviews of specific areas related to victims; and holding government to account on its commitments to victims.
Clinks publications
Universal credit and access to bank accounts The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) submitted evidence to the government’s Reducing Reoffending Board on the barriers people leaving prison face in accessing bank accounts and Universal Credit. Clinks chairs and provides the secretariat for the RR3. The paper proposes practical solutions for addressing the barriers identified. These include for the Ministry of Justice and HM Treasury to create a standardised process across all banks that removes the limitations some banks have imposed; for the government to develop and roll out schemes to provide affordable ID to people in prison; and cross government commitment to controlled internet access to allow prisoners to make applications for Universal Credit online without being reliant on work coaches and resettlement staff.
Universal credit and discharge grants Clinks provided a briefing for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ’s) implementation team to inform its exploration into Universal Credit and the discharge grant policy for people leaving prison. This briefing provides a summary of the key issues based on information gathered from our State of the sector research and a short call for evidence to voluntary organisations. The briefing finds that the value of the discharge grant is too low for people’s basic needs to be met and that welfare reform, including the roll out of Universal Credit is pushing people into poverty, having a detrimental impact on their mental health and is preventing them from accessing accommodation.
Sentencing
What could England and Wales learn from Scotland’s approach to justice? (PDF) Crest Advisory has conducted a study looking at the impact in Scotland of its presumption against custodial sentences of three months or less. The presumption was found to have correlated with a number of positive trends since implementation in 2011, including; a decline in the reoffending rate; a decline in the number of short custodial sentences handed out; an increase in the use of community sentences; and a decline in the overall prison population. However, with respect to the use of very short custodial sentences (less than three months), the impact appears more mixed and for women there has been a growth in the proportion of custodial sentences of under three months since 2011 in Scotland.
Probation
Post-release supervision for short-term prisoners: The work undertaken by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) has published a thematic review into the quality of post-sentence supervision for people released from custody after serving a short prison sentence. The report found this group experienced significant difficulties in accessing accommodation, substance misuse and mental health services and were not able to apply for Universal Credit until release from prison. Resettlement plans were often limited to signposting to other services and lacked genuine coordination with other services. Recommendations include for the government’s Reducing Reoffending Board to improve local commissioning arrangements; reduce the barriers to accessing Universal Credit at the point of release; and to develop a national strategy for the provision of appropriate accommodation for those under probation supervision.
Women
Ending the inertia for women offenders: a plan to transform outcomes Crest Advisory has published a report that offers recommendations for improving outcomes for women in contact with the criminal justice system and developing a more joined up, preventative approach. The report finds that for more than a decade there has been widespread agreement that reform is needed in the treatment of women in contact with the criminal justice system, but despite the consensus there has not been a significant change in policy or outcomes for women. The recommendations include: for every area to develop vulnerable women’s strategy involving criminal justice and other agencies; for pre-sentence reports to provide information about women’s needs and offending circumstances; and for Police and Crime Commissioners and mayors to comprehensively review current local provision of gender-specific services.
Wales
Female Offending Blueprint for Wales The Welsh Government has published its blueprint for supporting women in, or at risk of entering, the criminal justice system and a corresponding implementation plan. The blueprint takes a whole-systems approach with focus on early intervention, prevention and community-based solutions. This involves diverting women where possible into women-centred, community-based, sustainable support services that meet their needs; exploring options for secure, safe and reliable accommodation for women in Wales; and working with sentencers to build confidence in community services. There is also a focus on supporting women in custody to resettle back into the community by working with rehabilitative services in prisons and post-release. Clinks is a member of the Women in Justice Group in Wales which contributed to the development of the blueprint.
Youth Justice Blueprint for Wales The Welsh Government has published a blueprint for a whole systems approach to youth justice in Wales. It sets out ambitions for a rights-based and trauma-informed system, which will support services to deliver positive outcomes for children in Wales and focuses on preventing and minimising the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences, minimising contact with the justice system and developing resilience. Targeted prevention activity and pre-court diversion will continue to be prioritised, by building on existing models and practice in this area. The blueprint also sets out plans to explore options for addressing long-standing concerns about the distance Welsh children in custody are held from their homes, ensure effective resettlement and encourage collaborative working across agencies and cross-border arrangements with England.
Prison provision in Wales The House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee has reported on its inquiry into prison provision in Wales. The Committee calls on the UK and Welsh Governments to work more closely together in the areas that intersect in criminal justice, such as health, housing and education. It also recommends that NHS Wales create a central unit to liaise with HM Prison and Probation Service on delivering healthcare for people in the criminal justice system; that women’s residential centres be set up in north and south Wales to enable Welsh women who offend to be closer to home; and that the effectiveness of HMP Berwyn be independently reviewed before any commitment is made to a build another large prison in Wales.
Homelessness
Preventing youth homelessness (PDF) In this report, Reform examines the approaches taken by local authorities to prevent homelessness for 16-24 year olds. The report considers what can be done to build on the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) and how to tackle ‘short-termism’ to enable long-term planning and sustained change in housing outcomes for young people. The report recommends that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ensure that local authority homelessness prevention strategies include a section specifically on the needs of young people, and have long-term, ring-fenced funding cycles for homelessness prevention. It also outlines that the Cabinet Office should produce guidance on what reasonable steps government departments, including the Ministry of Justice and Home Office, can take to prevent and relieve homelessness and goes on to state that departments should be held accountable to those.
Care leavers
Between Care and the Criminal Justice System (PDF) The Care Leaver’s Association has published a report from a series of workshops facilitated by prisoners held across Yorkshire and the Humber with key stakeholders in the statutory and voluntary sectors. The aim was to develop innovative approaches to local partnership working and improve outcomes of care leavers in the criminal justice system (CJS). The report makes a series of recommendations, including the implementation of robust mechanisms for identifying care leavers at all stages of the CJS; promoting a cultural change in the understanding of, and responses to, care leavers in the CJS; and closing the gap in conviction rates between looked after children and the general population by implementing targets and promoting good practice.
Education
Unlocking potential: three years on The Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) has published a briefing on the implementation of the main recommendations from the 2016 Coates Review of education in prison. The briefing found that overall fair progress has been made in many areas identified by the Review. For example in monitoring of education in prison such as the measures and frameworks for inspections by OFSTED and the prison inspectorate. However, implementing the review remains a work in progress and its ambitious vision has not yet been fully realised. The briefing outlines that there is slow progress in recruiting high quality teachers and limited training available to governors and senior leaders on capability and commissioning. The PLA will continue to monitor progress and plans a further update in May 2020.
State of the sector in focus 5: what can we all do to support the sector? In this blog, Nicola Drinkwater, Clinks’ Policy Officer, looks at how Clinks is responding to the issues we have uncovered in our 2018 State of the sector research. We have made three commitments this year; to promote a better understanding of tackling inequalities in the criminal justice system amongst all our stakeholders; to support partnership working in the voluntary sector; and to promote the work and value of small, local organisations providing a tailored service for a particular client group.
Personality disorder: prison vs community In a guest blog for Clinks, Sue Wheatcroft, founder of the Derbyshire Borderline Personality Disorder Support Group, discusses the support available for personality disorder in prison and the community, as well as the development of a forthcoming pathway of support for the region that she is advising on. Most treatment for personality disorder in prison comes from an over-stretched In-Reach team with long waiting lists and little resources, while in the community many face poor or even non-existent services. The new personality disorder pathway proposed for Derbyshire recognises the importance of a person-centred treatment plan and long-term follow-up.
Post-sentence supervision is failing people on short term sentences Will Downs, Policy Officer at Clinks, takes a closer look at the findings of HM Inspectorate of Probation’s (HMIP) thematic review into the quality of post-sentence supervision for people released from custody after serving a short prison sentence. This blog highlights findings which show that pre-sentence reports are being prepared in less than one in four cases, and people’s needs are not being met on release. Will also considers HMIP’s warnings that reducing short sentences alone will not be successful without wider changes to how services work, including commissioning arrangements, access to Universal Credit and accommodation provision.
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Clinks' policy officers, Will Downs and Lauren Nickolls
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