In this month's edition...
Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)-led voluntary organisations, and those working with BAME children, came together at our consultation event to inform Clinks’ response to the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into children and young people in custody. We are responding in partnership with EQUAL and the Barrow Cadbury Trust, and will focus specifically on the overrepresentation and experience of BAME children and young people in custody. The consultation closes on 1st October.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons is seeking views on the expectations that it uses to inspect the women’s estate for the first time since 2014. Clinks will submit a response based on the insights gained from our two consultation events held with voluntary organisations. If you want to submit your own response, contact Darren Wilkinson at darren.wilkinson@hmiprisons.gov.uk. Deadline for submissions is 14th October 2019.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of a review of sentencing policy for people who commit serious and prolific offences, Clinks has participated in a telephone interview to feed into a rapid internal review, which the Ministry of Justice is undertaking on behalf of the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice. Clinks highlighted several key points, including: the purpose of sentencing should be to support desistance, which in turn ensures public protection; the proposed changes to sentencing risk negatively impacting BAME people, women and young adults disproportionately; and that multiple disadvantage often underlies a significant amount of prolific offending. We also raised the well-evidenced effectiveness of community alternatives, often provided by the voluntary sector, for a diverse range of offence types and the challenges the voluntary sector has in delivering interventions in prison.
Results from the 10 Prisons Project Initiated in August 2018 by the then Minister of State, Rory Stewart MP, the 10 Prisons Project was designed to reduce levels of violence and drug use in 10 prisons, with the view to then rolling-out successful interventions across the estate. £10m was invested to increase security, refurbish cells and develop a new leadership training programme. Overall, the results show a 16% drop in assaults across the 10 prisons and a 50% reduction in positive drug tests. However, these headline figures should be treated with caution, as results vary widely from prison to prison, and violent assaults increased at HMP Hull, HMP Nottingham and HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
10,000 extra prison places The government has announced a new £2.5 billion programme to create an additional 10,000 prison places. The places will be created through the building of new prisons (the first site will be HMP Full Sutton) and bringing previously decommissioned prison places back into use through extensive refurbishment and maintenance. These prison places are additional to those previously announced at HMP Wellingborough and HMP Glen Parva. The announcement was made alongside others, including a review of sentencing, as part of the new prime minister’s prioritisation of criminal justice. The announcements have signalled a significant change in direction for government policy, which has caused concern for many voluntary organisations. Clinks will continue to represent the views of voluntary organisations to government as this develops.
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017: call for evidence The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published a consultation on the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. They are inviting evidence as to the impact of the Act, including how it has changed the way local housing authorities work and the experience of people looking for help with accommodation. Clinks are seeking evidence to feed into Homeless Links’ response to the consultation. The Act created an obligation on prison and probation services to refer people, with their consent, to the local authority if they are at risk of homelessness, and we are interested to hear how this has been implemented. For more information, please contact Nicola Drinkwater at Nicola.drinkwater@clinks.org by Monday 23rd September.
Clinks publications
Commissioning principles to enable the voluntary sector to deliver services in the future probation model Clinks submitted a paper to the Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service outlining the key commissioning principles that would to ensure the voluntary sector’s role in the future probation model. Reflecting on the voluntary sector’s experience under Transforming Rehabilitation, and the government’s consultation and engagement on the new probation model, Clinks advocates for a greater utilisation of grants to ensure that voluntary sector organisations - especially small and specialist organisations - can play a full role in working alongside probation services. We also recommend there should be an overarching National Probation Service (NPS) commissioning strategy, to be used as a template to co-produce commissioning strategies with the voluntary sector and service users in each NPS area.
Clinks response to the Labour Party consultation: National Policy Forum for Justice and Home Affairs Clinks has submitted a response to a Labour Party consultation to help shape their criminal justice policy. Our response focusses on the vital contribution the voluntary sector makes to the criminal justice system, and how a Labour government can develop a policy programme to ensure that well-funded, effective public provision can work alongside, and with the support of, a vibrant, independent and resilient voluntary sector that best enables people to transform their lives. In particular, we highlight the importance of reducing the number of people in prison by expanding alternatives to custody, and the role the voluntary sector can play in achieving this.
Clinks response to the Justice Select Committee Inquiry into Prison Governance Clinks has submitted a response to the Justice Select Committees inquiry into prison governance. In our response we make a series of recommendations, including: for the Ministry of Justice to proactively work to consult with voluntary organisations in the development of policy reform; that key performance indicators are developed for prisons, in partnership with prison governors, and with input from other stakeholders including voluntary organisations and people with experience of the prison system; and that every prison should consider adopting the voluntary sector coordination model.
Social value in government procurement Clinks responded to a consultation on how government can best take account of social value in the award of central government contracts. Our response focuses specifically on the impact that government procurement has had, and may have in the future, on voluntary organisations working in criminal justice. Drawing heavily on Clinks’ trackTR research into the impact of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms on the voluntary sector, the response focusses specifically on how government can better protect small and specialist organisations, such as BAME organisations and women centred organisations, in their commissioning practices. The consultation was run jointly by the Cabinet Office and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. A response to the consultation was expected in early September.
Prisons
Clarification sought from government ministers Prison Reform Trust has written letters to Robert Buckland MP, Secretary of State for Justice, Sir Richard Heaton, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, and Jo Farrar, CEO at Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation service, seeking urgent clarification on the details of recent government policy announcements. Since the ministerial changes following the resignation of Theresa May MP, the government have announced a more punitive approach to the criminal justice system, announcing a review of sentencing for violent and sexual crimes; creating 10,000 additional prison places; and investing further in prison security. Prison Reform Trust is concerned about the lack of transparency and engagement from government, and have therefore published the letters and committed to publishing the replies to them.
Ministry of Justice to give prisoners greater protection during rollout of PAVA spray People with mental health conditions and learning disabilities will be better protected from the misuse of chemical restraint in prison following a legal challenge funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Last year, Rory Stewart MP, then Minister of State for Prisons, announced that all prison officers in the adult male estate will be given PAVA - a synthetic pepper spray. In response to an application for judicial review, made by a disabled person in prison, the Ministry of Justice has changed how it will roll-out PAVA. Prisons will now be required to record the protected characteristics of people it is used on and must demonstrate that they understand the trends in the use of force at their establishment.
Sentencing
'Stopping short?' Sentencing reform and short prison sentences The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies have published a briefing looking at the different mechanisms for reducing the use of short prison sentences. It examines the case for reducing short sentences, as presented by government figures from January to July 2019; the different options available to reduce short sentences; and assessing the potential impact of the various different sentencing scenarios would have and how they could be implemented. The report argues that short terms of imprisonment account for only a small proportion of prison places, and therefore a more comprehensive review of prison sentencing, that considers tackling the escalation of prison sentence length, would be far more impactful in reducing prison numbers.
Youth custody
Joint Thematic Inspection on Youth resettlement work Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons have conducted a joint inspection on youth resettlement work in Youth Offender Institutions (YOIs). The report shows that resettlement work is failing many children making the transition from custody into the community, due to work being poorly coordinated between agencies. 10 days prior to leaving a YOI, almost 14% of children do not know where they will be living on release. The report makes recommendations, including national and local government departments to develop a central payment system to ensure that children have suitable accommodation in place; and for prison staff be trained to deliver age-appropriate services when supervising people transitioning into adult services.
Wales
Sentencing and Imprisonment in Wales Wales Governance Centre has published a report setting out key statistics on Welsh prisons. The report highlights overrepresentation of and poorer outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic people, increasing custodial sentence lengths and a record number of self-harm incidents, drug finds and weapon discoveries in Welsh prisons. The report also shows a persistent problem of homelessness, with the percentage of people homeless on arrival increasing to 27.6% in 2018. At HMP Cardiff, almost a third (30.9%) of all prisoners arrived at the prison without a fixed abode.
The impact of changes to prison education commissioning Francesca Cooney from the Prisoner Education Trust, summarises concerns raised about the dynamic purchasing system (DPS), a tool for commissioning education services in prisons. Concerns include contracts being awarded only for up to 12 months, which isn’t long enough to deliver and demonstrate impact, especially when lengthy mobilisation periods (such as security processes for staff) eat into delivery time. The Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) – convened by the Prisoner Education Trust – has been continuously working with Clinks and the sector to monitor the impact of the DPS. As part of this, Clinks and the PLA organised a roundtable with government officials for voluntary sector organisations to explain their concerns, and for government to explain how they are responding.
What we can learn from the Sky News documentary about Circles and why it matters for the voluntary sector Circles UK CEO Riana Taylor writes about a recent documentary produced by Sky News on the Circles of Support and Accountability service, which involves groups of volunteers in local communities working with people with convictions for sexual offences to support their reintegration. Riana explores her experience of being involved in the documentary, including how detailed work and planning was required in order to manage the risks of working with the media over a highly complex and controversial social issue. In particular, she praises the work of the journalist for producing a sensitive and informative piece of work, met with an overwhelmingly positive response from the public.
Get involved Become a Member | Follow Clinks | Join Mailing List
Contact Us www.clinks.org | info@clinks.org | 020 7383 0966
Written monthly by...
Clinks' policy officers, Will Downs and Lauren Nickolls
Click here to manage your subscriptions. For assistance, email info@clinks.org
Registered charity: 1074546 | Company limited by guarantee in England & Wales: 3562176
Registered office: Tavis House, 1-6 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9NA
© Clinks, 2019