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In this month's edition...
Clinks is excited to welcome Sophie Campion to the policy team. Sophie will be leading our Stronger Voice Project – a project which aims to support the sector in strengthening its voice and influence, with a particular focus on improving the policy and operating environment for small, specialist organisations. Please contact Sophie at Sophie.campion@clinks.org if you would like to speak to her more about the project.
We are working to support the voluntary sector in criminal justice following the launch of the dynamic framework for the new probation model. We have set up a dedicated mailbox probation@clinks.org for voluntary organisations who have concerns or questions about the qualification process. We are raising feedback and concerns with Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials and continue to work on influencing the probation review programme to develop solutions to these. We will also be using the feedback received from the sector to inform our response to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into future of the Probation Service.
Other areas of policy work this month, include:
- Health and justice We held a consultation event with voluntary sector organisations specialising in criminal justice and substance misuse to inform our response to Dame Carol Black’s review on substance misuse which we are submitting in partnership with the Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition
- Women Clinks hosted an event for voluntary organisations working with women in the criminal justice system on the residential women’s centres (RWCs), where delegates received an update from the MoJ and were able to give feedback on specific aspects of how RWCs should operate
- Racial equality Clinks will be submitting a response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights which has launched an inquiry into the impact of racism on black people’s human rights.
Comprehensive Spending Review launched Rishi Sunak MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has launched the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). The review will set the budgets for government departments for 2021/22 - 2024/25. A number of priority areas have been identified for the CSR - one of which is cutting crime. There is a process for external stakeholders to submit representations to HM Treasury to inform the CSR. Clinks will be submitting a representation focusing the need to divert people from the criminal justice system and invest in community alternatives to custody as well as the cost of an increasing prison population and the need to reduce sentence inflation.
Review of PCCs The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Home Secretary, has announced a review of the role of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). The intention of the review is not to abolish PCCs but to consider measures for raising the profile of PCCs; giving the public better access to information about the performance of their PCC; and sharing best practice so that PCCs are delivering consistently across the country. The announcement also outlined the government’s intention to publish a Local Recovery and Devolution White Paper in the autumn.
‘Nightingale Courts’ opened The Ministry of Justice has announced that 10 temporary courts – referred to as ‘Nightingale Courts’ – will open across England and Wales in July. They will hear non-custodial criminal cases, as well civil and family cases. The move is intended to ease pressure on the court system and tackle the backlog of outstanding cases created by Covid-19 lockdown.
Clinks publications
What does recovery look like? The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) special interest group on Covid-19 has published a report examining the recovery of, and future landscape for, the delivery of services by voluntary organisations for people in the criminal justice system (CJS). The paper has been submitted to officials at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and sets out key principles for responding to the challenges of Covid-19 and creating a fairer and more effective post-pandemic CJS. These include a full and equal partnership between the voluntary sector, MoJ and criminal justice agencies with a focus on improving transparency and communication; detailed and continuing input of people with lived experience of the CJS; and greater consistency across the prison estate and the national probation service.
Impacts of Covid-19 on the financial sustainability of the voluntary sector working in criminal justice This paper from the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group special interest group on Covid-19, looks at how the funding challenges the criminal justice voluntary sector has experienced in recent years – including a decline in grant funding, underfunded contracts and an increased need to turn to social enterprises and trading arms to bridge shortfalls – has impacted the sector’s ability to weather and respond to this crisis. The paper recommends a needs-led commissioning model that allocates funds based on need rather than price per head; more sustainable grant funding with less bureaucracy and that covers core costs; and for organisations to retain underspend on contracted activities to fund the costs of remobilisation.
Prisons
Exceptional Delivery Models Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has produced several Exceptional Delivery Models (EDMs) which sit under the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services – the document which sets out HMPPS’s approach to ending regime restrictions in prisons due to Covid-19. There are five stages outlined, ranging from stage five (‘Lockdown’), to stage one (‘Prepare’). The EDMs give more detailed guidance on different aspects of prison operations and how these will be delivered at the different stages of lockdown. There are 27 planned EDMs and 15 currently available. EDMs can be shared on request with voluntary sector organisations working alongside the prison service who want to understand how the easing of restrictions will affect their operations. To request an EDM, please email covid19@clinks.org.
Covid-19 Action Prisons Project: Families and communications The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) has launched a project to hear from people in prison, and the people who care about them, about their experiences of the pandemic and the prison estate’s response. The project’s first briefing focusses on the impact that stopping visits has had on families and prisoners and the challenges of maintaining contact. The briefing highlights the distress, anxiety and desperation families are experiencing, with similar feelings of hopelessness and loss amongst prisoners. Phone calls can provide a lifeline, but the approach to providing in-cell handsets and increasing credit to afford calls has been inconsistent. The report also found while video calls are appreciated, rollout has been slow and video calls have been particularly challenging for young children.
Evaluation of digital technology in prisons The Ministry of Justice has published an evaluation into the impacts of introducing in-cell phones, self-service kiosks, and in-cell laptops into prisons. Conducted prior to the pandemic, researchers found the technology had positive impacts on accessibility to phones; the psychological wellbeing and feelings of autonomy amongst people in prison; and access to services and relationships with people outside of the prison. However, prisoners considered the cost of calls to be too high and outages of the in-cell telephones and self-service kiosks caused significant problems on the wings.. The research concludes that a wider roll out of in-cell telephones is likely to result in wide usage and benefits to prisoners’ relationships with people outside of prison.
Probation
Coronavirus: The impact on probation systems The Justice Committee has published a report examining the impact of Covid-19 on probation services. The report raises concerns about the inconsistent approach by Community Rehabilitation Companies, the lack of resettlement support for prison leavers and the growing backlog of programmes. It supports the recommendation made by the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to consider increasing the discharge grant given to all prison leavers during this crisis. The report also recommends that MoJ set out what additional measures have been put in place to support people released during this time and what work is being done in the longer term to address prison leavers’ housing needs to prevent homelessness.
Women
Second women's prisons short scrutiny visit HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) has published a report following visits to HMP Send and HMP and YOI Downview in June. At the time, social visits were still suspended at both prisons and many women only spent about an hour and a half out of their cell each day. Many reported that their physical and mental health had deteriorated. For many mothers it had been more than three months since they had seen their children. HMIP found implementation of video calls was slow and the small supply of mobile phones had no network coverage at either site and it had taken several weeks to replace them. Inspectors concluded that there was an urgent need to ease regime restrictions with clearer national guidance.
Gendered impact of the UK’s Government’s lifting of lockdown The Fawcett Society has published a briefing on the impact of the current approach to lifting lockdown on women and girls and is calling for the government to do more to support them. The briefing includes a particular focus on women in prison, highlighting that the regime currently imposed is resulting in a mental health crisis for women and damaging relationships between mothers and their children. The briefing recommends that women are not placed in conditions akin to solitary confinement and that urgent action is taken to release women from prison, focussing on pregnant women, new mothers, and those that have caring responsibilities, as well as those who are close to release or are at particular risk from Covid-19.
Reset: Rethinking remand for women The Howard League for Penal Reform has produced a briefing on the disproportionate use of remand for women which accounts for almost half of receptions into women’s prisons. The paper makes the case for reducing the use of remand for women, particularly in the context of Covid-19 where there is a pressing need to reduce numbers entering prison. It identifies measures that could be taken to achieve this. These include better oversight, as currently there is no data collected on remand decisions; more time for remand decisions, which are typically made in very brief hearings; and better information about women at risk of remand before a remand decision is made.
Three months in: the impact of Covid-19 on services delivered by the criminal justice voluntary sector Policy Officer, Lauren Nickolls discusses how voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system are still faring during this challenging time, drawing from the findings of our latest survey. Demand for the voluntary sector’s services is increasing but a number of organisations are finding this hard to respond to, with restrictions still in place. There is significant concern amongst the sector about the mental health needs of prisoners, lack of accommodation for prison leavers and lack of access to services in the community to support transition from custody. Clinks used the evidence from this survey to provide a briefing to the MoJ and will continue to use it to inform our advocacy work including our response to the House of Lords Covid-19 Committee's inquiry into life beyond Covid.
Covid-19 Response Grants - looking towards recovery Clinks’ Covid-19 Response Grants programme has moved into a new phase, looking beyond immediate needs brought about by Covid-19 and towards recovery. To be eligible, voluntary organisations must have an existing relationship with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and under £500,000 annual income. We now also welcome applications from those seeking support to make long-term or permanent adaptations to their work to adapt to a ‘new normal’; and for support in probation areas/prisons which have begun to ease lockdown. Previous applicants may be eligible to reapply – however, please read our updated guidance carefully. We will not accept a resubmission of the same application. The deadline for applications is 9am 17th August but if you can get your application in early please do, to allow us to review them over the next few weeks.
Health and justice: during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic Clinks’ Health and Justice Policy and Development Officer Zahra Wynne writes about the impact of the pandemic on voluntary organisations working in health and justice. Organisations are anticipating their return to prisons and face-to-face services in the community and are concerned about meeting the levels of mental health and substance misuse needs exacerbated by this crisis, particularly whilst at limited capacity and facing financial instability. Organisations will also need to continue responding to the health and justice priorities that existed before Covid-19, such as the roll-out of community sentence treatment requirements. The landscape and context for that work has undeniably shifted. Clinks will work to ensure that the voluntary sector’s voice is heard when navigating these health interventions under the ‘new normal’.
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Written monthly by...
Clinks' policy officers, Will Downs and Lauren Nickolls
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