Clinks Light Lunch | Issue 652 | 18th September 2020

Light Lunch

In this week's edition...

CLINKS EVENT: annual general meeting

We are holding our online Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 22nd October and invite you to save the date! This year, our guest speaker will be The Rt. Hon. Sir Brian Leveson. Our AGM is always a lively event, offering a great opportunity to network and to comment on Clinks' work and our priorities for the year ahead. As well as allowing us to carry out business that is vital to our work, our AGM is also the place for members to exercise the right to elect our trustees, and a chance to discuss the issues that matter to you. This event is a great opportunity to network with colleagues across the sector, meet with funders and policy makers. Join us for a virtual networking lunch. Bookings open soon - look out for updates in Light Lunch.

CLINKS PARTNER'S EVENT: prison telemedicine

Clinks is supporting NHS England and NHS Improvement to deliver a ‘Sharing the Learning’ session on prison telemedicine [22nd September, online, free]. This online session is for the voluntary sector delivering health services to people in prison to learn more about how to deliver services virtually in prisons. Chantal Edge, a Public Health Registrar and National Institute of Health Research clinical research fellow, will be presenting. Chantal specialises in health and justice and has led on the telemedicine programme. Olivia Butterworth, Head of Public Participation at NHS England and NHS Improvement, will be chairing. The meeting will be from 4.30-5.30pm on the 22nd September, and the direct link to join the Microsoft Teams meeting is here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: criminal record disclosure

Unlock has commented on the Ministry of Justice’s announcement of plans to make changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the disclosure of criminal records. Chris Stacey, co-director of Unlock, said “We very much welcome today’s proposals to reduce disclosure periods for criminal records. If passed into law, some sentences of over four years in prison would no longer have to be disclosed when applying for most jobs if a person stayed conviction-free for seven years after completing their sentence. However, more than 8,000 people every year receive sentences of over four years and today’s proposals have wide-ranging exclusions which we estimate would exclude around two-thirds of this group from these reforms.” Find out more and read the statement here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: community sentences

The Centre for Justice Innovation’s Smarter Community Sentences paper outlines steps the government should take to reform community sentences. The paper states that it is time to move away from the clichés of the past about tough or soft justice. It argues for smarter community sentences which give probation officers the powers to do their job, ensure that victims and communities have more of a voice and leverage the resources of the government, policy and the courts, to give people the chance to turn their lives around. Read the report here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: an opportunity for change in prisons

Spark Inside's CEO Vicki Cardwell has written an article for the Justice Gap in which she argues that having a new Chief Inspector of Prisons is a unique opportunity for a bold fresh approach in prisons. Vicki says there are two major tasks for them: The first and immediate priority must be to call for the restoration of rehabilitation and education across the system; and we need a bold, new direction for young people who commit crime, where effective alternatives to prisons become the norm not the exception. Read the article here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: housing for all prison leavers

Nacro, alongside many Clinks members across the criminal justice, health and housing sectors have written a letter to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland, about accommodation for prison leavers and the Comprehensive Spending Review. Almost 1,000 people are released from prison homeless every month, and it is estimated that over 30% of rough sleepers have been in prison. The letter calls on the UK Government to commit to ensuring that everyone leaving prison has somewhere to live. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: new CEO for reading charity

Shannon Trust has announced Ian Merrill as its new Chief Executive. Ian will take up his post on 1st October replacing Angela Cairns who left the charity earlier this year. Ian joins Shannon Trust with considerable experience of the charitable sector, gained in roles ranging from volunteer to CEO. Read more here 

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: criminal justice awards 

The Criminal Justice Alliance Awards are open for nominations. The awards celebrate individuals, organisations, journalists and digital champions who have made a significant contribution towards creating a fair and effective criminal justice system. Now in its sixth year, the 2020 awards features new categories and cash prizes. The closing date for nominations is Sunday 18th October. Find out more and apply here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: hiring people convicted of sexual offences

Thinking Differently - Employers’ views on hiring people convicted of sexual offences is a joint report by Prison Reform Trust and Unlock. It explores employers’ attitudes towards hiring people convicted of sexual offences. It finds that over half of employers would feel more confident hiring people with sexual convictions if they had access to management advice, or if they believed that the applicant wouldn’t re-offend. Almost half of the employers surveyed would be reassured by knowing the person would be under strict probation supervision, and over a third if they believed that other workers would accept them. Download the report here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: sentencing reform

The government has published a white paper for reforming the sentencing and release framework. Clinks has concerns that increasing the length of time spent in prison for certain sentences will put further pressure on struggling prison infrastructure, worsen conditions and exacerbate inequalities. The proposals will impact voluntary organisations' ability to deliver vital support. Whilst we welcome the focus on tackling offending drivers, improving sentencer confidence in community options and investment in Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, we have concerns that tougher community sentences and the increased use of curfews and tagging will increase the likelihood of breach, prevent diversion from custody and impact people’s engagement with voluntary sector services in the community. Look out for our blog series for more analysis. Download the white paper here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: conditions in prisons

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published Improving the prison estate. It finds that the Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service have failed in their attempts to improve the condition and suitability of the prison estate. Despite promises to create 10,000 new-for-old prison places by 2020, just 206 new places have been delivered so far, and prisoners continue to be held in unsafe, crowded conditions that do not meet their needs. Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said, “The scale of failure, in our prisons and in the disastrous probation reforms, is really quite staggering. The apparent disregard for the position of women in prisons is just another indictment of a clearly broken system." Find out more here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: online learning

Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service's InsightsOnline continues to offer blogs, videos and online learning events. There's a blog from Insights Group’s own Flora Fitzalan-Howard on procedural justice; a video tour with Governor Ralph Lubkowski during lockdown at HMP Stafford and a look at HMP Hull’s in-house TV station with Governor Tony Oliver. Upcoming events include 'The Power Of A Podcast – How To Get Started' with Manchester Met University [24th September] and a gambling-related harm workshop with GamCare [29th September]. Find out more here

FUNDING: Gloucestershire charities

Grants are available to charitable organisations in Gloucestershire, or those engaged in work that benefits Gloucestershire residents, for projects addressing the arts, museums and built heritage; the environment and natural heritage; community work; education, sport and recreation; vulnerable or disadvantaged sectors of society. Previous awards have ranged from £500 to over £20,000. The application deadline is 25th September. Find out more here

FUNDING: charity loans

The Social Investment Business Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund will close to new applications at 23:59 on 30th September. The fund offers: loans of £100k-£1.5m, a loan term of one to five years, is interest-free and fee-free for the first 12 months, and has an interest rate of 6.5% to 7% per annum for years two onwards (after principal payments start). To date, funding has been approved to 25 charities and social enterprises, with a total value of almost £10m. Find out more here

FUNDING: communities in Avon and Somerset

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to voluntary organisations in Avon and Somerset from the Police and Crime Commissioner's Community Action Fund. Funding is intended to enable communities to come together and tackle issues in their local area relating to the priorities set out in the area's police and crime plan. During the recovery phase of Covid-19, the fund will prioritise voluntary organisations who have been impacted by the demands of the pandemic. Apply before 30th September here

FUNDING: reducing crime in Essex

Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner's Community Safety Development Fund will provide grants of up to £20,000 to voluntary organisations to help with the reduction of crime in Essex. The fund aims to support and encourage voluntary organisations to develop and deliver effective and/or innovative approaches to preventing and tackling crime and anti-social behaviour. Apply before 30th September here 

CLINKS MEMBER'S EVENT: prisoners' families conference

Pact is holding its AGM and Conference 2020 [30th September, online, free]. 'Working together for the ‘Common Good’ in a post-Covid criminal justice landscape' will feature Dr Jo Farrar, Chief Executive of HM Prison & Probation Service, as the guest speaker. Attendees will hear from people with a loved one in prison, who have been directly impacted by the Covid-19 prison lockdown. You will also hear from Pact volunteers about what inspires them to dedicate their time to support those caught up in the criminal justice system. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBER'S TRAINING: social media training

The Social Switch Project Frontline Training has reopened spaces for its interactive (and now online) course [dates from September 2020 to November 2020, online, free]. The course aims to support professionals in dealing with both harmful online behaviour and the real-life violence which can escalate as a result. It is aimed at professionals working with young people in London and delivered by Redthread and Catch22, thanks to funding from the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit. It has already helped 550 professionals switch on to the language young people use, understand how to approach harmful online activity, and learn how to encourage positive online behaviour. Find out more here

OPPORTUNITY: research fellowship

The Sentencing Academy's Fellowship Scheme is aimed at people in the final year of an undergraduate degree course, or studying for a taught postgraduate qualification, from disadvantaged and/or under-represented backgrounds who may wish to pursue a career in research, policy, practice, the voluntary sector or a criminal justice profession. Fellows will be awarded a bursary of £1,500 and will be supervised and supported to complete a 5,000-word piece of research on any aspect of sentencing in England and Wales. The application deadline is 16th October. Find out more here

BLOG: liaison and diversion

Russell Webster has blogged about a longitudinal study which finds that custody-based liaison and diversion schemes reduce reoffending and improve mental health. Liaison and diversion services identify people who have mental health, substance misuse, learning disability or other developmental vulnerabilities when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system. The research, Are Liaison and Diversion interventions in policing delivering the planned impact: A longitudinal evaluation in two constabularies? is by Eddie Kane, Emily Evans, Jurgen Mitsch & Tahseen Jilani. It finds that people who had contact with these services were found to have significantly reduced their reoffending, whatever the type of crime they committed. Find out more here

CLINKS MEMBERS’ VACANCIES

Vacancies on the jobs board this week include: Non-Executive Board Director with Inside Job Productions [London], Floating Support Worker with Imagine Independence [Lancaster], Senior Caseworker – Peer Circles with St. Giles Trust [London], Employability and Financial Independence Advisor with Working Chance [London], Housing Management Worker with Nacro [Liverpool], Family Support Worker with Nepacs [HMP Northumberland], London Trainee, Admin Support & Network Coordinator, Prisoner Policy Network with Prison Reform Trust [Home based], Prehab Coach with Recovery Connections [Gateshead]. For more information about these vacancies, and many more, click here

TIPS OF THE WEEK

  • Tip I: Anti-Gravity LED Remote Control Car. 57% off. Details
  • Tip II: Luxury yacht trip on the Solent w/meal & champagne - £99. Details
  • Tip III: Oral Care Cordless Aqua Flosser. 66% off. Details

EXTRA INFORMATION

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