In this month's edition...
Clinks is working closely with the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) probation reform team, continuing to raise a number of issues, including those the voluntary sector is facing in relation to the dynamic framework. Jess Mullen, Director of Influence and Communications at Clinks, also gave oral evidence to the Justice Committee inquiry on the future of the probation services, alongside Clinks members Changing Lives and Catch22. Read Jess’ blog for an overview of the issues we have been raising around probation.
Clinks and Birth Companions are seeking survey responses for vital research about the health needs of pregnant women, new mothers and babies in the community affected by the criminal justice system. The survey is open until the end of the year, and we are particularly looking for responses from volunteers and staff at voluntary organisations supporting women in the community. Take the survey here, or sign up for an online focus group session here. This work is being conducted as part of Clinks role in the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, a partnership between the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England and 21 national voluntary sector organisations and consortia.
The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) special interest group on Covid-19 held a meeting with HMPPS to discuss how prisons can safely increase rehabilitative and purposeful activity over the winter months, in the challenging context of increased rates of Covid-19 in the community and the likely increase in staff absences. The group also submitted further written feedback to inform a wider review of the prison winter regime. The RR3 is a formal advisory group to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HMPPS, consisting of senior voluntary sector leaders.
Clinks is appointing an education specialist to the RR3 leadership board. Applicants must be a senior manager from a voluntary organisation providing education services to people in contact with the criminal justice system. The deadline is Sunday 6th December. Find more information here.
HMPPS has provided an update on prisons and probation services following the introduction of national lockdown in England on 5th November. See our Covid-19 webpage for updates here.
Sobriety tags launched in Wales The Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement is now available to sentencers in Wales. This community sentence can be given to people convicted of certain offences where alcohol consumption has been a factor. Under the sentence, people are ordered to abstain from drinking any alcohol for up to 120 days and are fitted with a ‘sobriety tag’ that monitors their alcohol consumption. Noncompliance can lead people to being brought back to court and sent to prison. Sobriety tags may help divert people convicted of relatively minor offences away from prison, but there is a risk people with more serious underlying needs related to alcohol consumption without adequate support will be unable to comply and be resentenced to prison. These powers will be extended to England next year.
Clinks publications
Black people, racism and human rights We have published our response to the Joint Human Rights Committee inquiry on black people, racism and human rights. The response focuses on the institutional racism faced by black people in contact with the criminal justice system, the impact this has on their experiences in the justice system and the discriminatory outcomes that result. Our response recommends a cross-government strategy to tackling racial inequality in the criminal justice system. The strategy should recognise how structural and institutional racism affects the implementation of policies and the impact they specifically have on black people. We also urge greater engagement with and support to the black-led voluntary sector working in criminal justice, to ensure that these organisations are able to best deliver their vital services.
The future of the probation service We have published our response to the Justice Committee inquiry on the future of the probation service. Our response focuses on opportunities and concerns about the long-term future involvement of the voluntary sector in probation. We highlight the challenges the voluntary sector have faced in navigating the dynamic framework and the particular impact this may have on voluntary services that are aimed at and led by people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities and specialist women’s services. Our recommendations include for the availability of grants to cover core costs of small organisations and for HMPPS to set out clearly how they will hold prime contract holders to account on how they engage and communicate with their supply chains.
Life beyond Covid-19 We have published our response to the House of Lords Covid-19 Committee inquiry on life beyond Covid-19. Our response focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the criminal justice system and voluntary organisations that work within it. Our response makes a number of recommendations, including for the voluntary sector to have access to regular, published updates on coronavirus in prisons and probation and access to all operational guidance; and that in the recovery from the pandemic, funding should prioritise specialist services for people with protected characteristics. We also call for a full and equal partnership between the criminal justice voluntary sector and the government that best enables the voluntary sector to work effectively as a critically constructive friend to the government.
A bolder cost-benefit approach In this evidence review, Dr Mary Corcoran, Reader and Director of Postgraduate programmes in Criminology at Keele University, provides an in-depth look at the rationale and uses of cost benefit analyses (CBA). She examines the importance of basing CBAs on robust information; the difficulty in capturing the value of ‘soft’ outcomes as well as headline issues such as reoffending rates; and calculating the costs and benefits of entering a procurement competition. The article also addresses the complexity of CBAs for voluntary organisations, as their services can rarely be reduced to simple consideration of value for money. This article forms part of Clinks’ online evidence base of leading academics writing on pressing issues relevant to the work of voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system.
Considerations for local leaders building a new settlement for multiple disadvantage The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition has published a paper outlining ten key considerations for local leaders who have led the response to the Covid-19 crisis. The paper aims to harness the learning from the crisis and to rethink how local areas can respond in a more coordinated way to multiple disadvantage in the future. The paper details how local plans should embed coproduction, systems-wide leadership and an understanding of gender and race in their approaches. The paper also urges Regional Probation Directors and Police and Crime Commissioners to work closely with voluntary organisations working in criminal justice to ensure holistic, flexible and joined-up services are offered in partnership to people facing multiple disadvantage.
The MEAM Approach in practice The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition has published case studies demonstrating how the MEAM approach has supported local agencies to deliver more coordinated services for people experiencing multiple disadvantage. The case studies from Haringey, Doncaster, Hull and Westminster outline how multi-agency partnerships have been formed, the enhanced frontline support offered to individuals and the strategic oversight provided to make immediate and lasting changes to improve people’s lives. The case studies highlight how the MEAM Approach can help coordinate action around specific issues, such as better supporting autistic service users, or reducing deductions to universal credit payments. MEAM is a coalition of Clinks, Homeless Link, Mind and associate member Collective Voice, and works to improve services for people facing multiple disadvantage across England.
Prisons
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales annual report The Chief Inspector of Prisons has published his annual report, which is largely based on inspections conducted by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) before Covid-19 impacted regimes and conditions in prisons. It therefore offers a reminder of the challenges in prison that were seen before the pandemic, and that will exist long after without action and investment. The report shows that between April 2019 and March 2020, HMIP continued to have serious concerns over safety, with far too many people locked in overcrowded and unsanitary cells. Inspectors found widespread poor performance in the area of purposeful activity, and limited time out of cells, which have fuelled self-harm and poor mental health amongst people in prison.
Race
Minority ethnic prisoners’ experiences of rehabilitation and release planning HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) has published a thematic review on the experience of rehabilitation and release planning for black and minority ethnic (BME) prisoners. The review found that there was a lack of understanding amongst staff about the experiences of BME prisoners and that BME prisoners reported more negatively across most areas of prison life including victimisation by staff, complaints, and time out of cell. Specialist voluntary sector support for BME prisoners was highly valued by both staff and prisoners. The report makes a series of recommendations for improved data collection, more dialogue between staff and BME prisoners, and the development of more culturally sensitive services with specialist community organisations involved in this process.
Challenging racist stereotypes in the criminal justice system Garden Court Chambers have published summaries and recordings of a series of events they recently conducted around challenging racist stereotypes in the criminal justice system in relation to drill music, gangs and prosecutions. Over six sessions, experts examine the criminalisation of young black people through racist stereotypes of gangs and Drill music. The sessions seek to foster a better understanding of Drill music, its context and origins; to challenge racist narratives around gangs and Drill music; and support legal professionals to run proactive defences in criminal trials. Speakers across the six events include charity workers, legal professionals, journalists and academics.
Wales
Welsh language in prisons HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has published a formal response to a 2018 report by the Welsh Language Commissioner on the use of the Welsh language in prison. The paper responds to each of the 17 recommendations made by the commissioner, and includes commitments to improve data collection on the language needs of prisoners, and to better monitor the availability and quality of the Welsh language services offered in prisons. Full details of the actions HMPPS will take forward and their wider work to ensure they comply with the Welsh Language Act 1993 are set out in an accompanying document, the Welsh Language Scheme 2020- 2023.
Employment
Employing people in the criminal justice system HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the New Futures Network (NFN) have published a paper to support businesses to employ people who are, or have been, in contact with the criminal justice system. The paper points to evidence that demonstrates the benefits of working with people in contact with the criminal justice system including reduced costs related to advertising vacancies, and increased staff retention. It provides tips for inclusive recruitment practices, for example by encouraging businesses to join the Ban the Box campaign, by removing any tick box from job application forms that asks about criminal convictions. The NFN is a specialist part of the prison service that brokers partnerships between prisons and employers.
Women
Safe homes for women leaving prison The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) has published recommendations to central and local government on how to ensure women leaving prison have access to a safe home. The recommendations include a national cross-government accommodation strategy for people in the criminal justice system (including specific measures for women); processes that better designate responsibility between agencies for supporting woman leaving prison; and for an increase of the prison discharge grant. The report includes examples of good practice, including projects led by Clinks members such as Advance, Anawim and Stockport Women’s Centre. The paper is part of PRTs work with London Prisons Mission and HMP Bronzefield, and the findings are based on consultation with service providers, voluntary organisations and women with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
The case for sustainable funding for women’s centres The Women’s Budget Group has published a report highlighting how women’s centres are the most cost effective way to support women in contact with the criminal justice system. Women’s centres offer effective community-based support to women in contact with the criminal justice system, and are more cost effective than prison (a place at a woman’s centre costs up to £4,125 per year, whilst a place in prison costs £52,121). Despite this, there is an estimated £10m gap in core funding for women’s centres next year, which threatens the sustainability of these vital services. To meet the objectives of the Ministry of Justice Female Offender Strategy, the paper recommends that the government reduce the number of women in prison and instead invest in women’s centres.
Nowhere to Turn Changing Lives has published a report that indicates there has been a sharp increase in sexual violence against women selling sex and experiencing sexual exploitation since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report is based on evidence gathered from 15 Changing Lives services across the North East, Yorkshire and the Midlands. During the first four months of lockdown, staff reported a 179% increase in the number of female service users disclosing that they have experienced sexual violence. These are women who are already experiencing multiple disadvantage, such as homelessness, substance misuse and poverty. The report calls for urgent action to support women with existing vulnerabilities who are selling sex or experiencing sexual exploitation, including increased provision of specialist services and greater protection under the law.
Future sentencing policy – entrenching inequality In this blog Lauren Nickolls, Policy Officer, highlights that the government’s recent proposals for sentencing reform uphold and reinforce a criminal justice system that disproportionately targets, criminalises, and mistreats black and Muslim people and that implementation of them will further entrench the inequalities in the system. Black people are already more likely to be sentenced to prison and to receive longer custodial sentences. Policies aimed at increasing the amount of time spent in prison will exacerbate this. Muslim people in prison are often seen through a lens of risk, radicalisation and terrorism which leads them to be treated with greater suspicion. With these stereotypes going unchallenged, the proposals to introduce powers that prevent release of people suspected (not convicted) of terrorism, risk being targeted at Muslims.
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Written monthly by...
Clinks' policy officers, Will Downs and Lauren Nickolls
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