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In this month's edition...
The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) - a voluntary sector advisory group to the government – has convened a number of recent meetings. In March, the Covid-19 special interest group (SIG) of the RR3 met twice with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS): to discuss the programme of recovery and reform in prisons; and to discuss preparations for Ramadan in prison. The RR3 SIG on probation reform also met with HMPPS officials to discuss the resettlement model of the reformed probation service and to feed into the independent review of the Dynamic Framework commissioned by the Ministry of Justice.
Clinks has signed the Runneymede Trust’s open letter to the government, which rejects the findings of the final report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, and instead calls on the government to fully implement the recommendations of previous reports such as the Lammy Review. In November 2020, Clinks responded to the commission’s call for evidence. We pushed back on the commission’s suggestion that there are disparities in the levels of crime committed by different racial and ethnic groups, and highlighted how any recorded disparities in crime are likely to stem from the racist targeting and treatment of such groups across the criminal justice system.
Clinks submitted a response to the government’s procurement green paper consultation. Our response called for a greater focus to be placed on ensuring procurement practices are proportionate and flexible, in order to level the playing field so voluntary organisations are able to engage as equal partners in commissioning processes. Our response will be published soon.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill entered parliament on 9th March. The bill brings forward into legislation many of the government’s proposals set out in the Sentencing White Paper. Clinks, as part of a coalition of criminal justice and race equality organisations, wrote to the Prime Minster warning that the Bill will further entrench racial inequality in the criminal justice system. The letter called for the government to withdraw elements of the Bill and launch a public consultation.
New minister for prisons, probation and women in the criminal justice system Lucy Frazer QC MP, formerly Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, has been appointed Solicitor General as maternity cover for Rt Hon Suella Braverman MP. No direct replacement has been appointed, and Alex Chalk MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, has had his portfolio expanded to include prisons, probation and women in contact with the criminal justice system. Clinks wrote to Alex Chalk to congratulate him.
Prisons
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Women in Prison The Traveller Movement has published a report to highlight the discrimination, marginalisation and overrepresentation of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller women in the criminal justice system, who form approximately 6% of the women’s prison population, and 0.1% of the general population. The Traveller Movement attributes overrepresentation to over-policing and poor understanding of the distinct needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. The paper makes a number of recommendations, including for increased use of Out Of Court Disposals for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Women and for Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to fund specialist voluntary sector organisations to inform and deliver aspects of their race equality strategies.
Community
Equal diversion? Racial disproportionality in youth diversion The Centre for Justice Innovation has published a report exploring the unequal playing field that exists for young people’s participation in diversion schemes. Based on interviews with Youth Offending Team staff, police, solicitors, young people and their families in two local authority areas, the report finds that black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) children and young people have unequal access to, and engagement with, youth diversion. The research finds a number of reasons for this, including the requirement of admission of guilt as part of a formal eligibility criteria. The research suggests that better training, well-rounded decision making, and the deployment of effective engagement and intervention strategies, the benefits of youth diversion can be made more broadly felt.
Caseloads, workloads and staffing levels in probation services HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) has published a research and analysis bulletin focussed on caseloads of probation staff. The report is based on a broad range of data, including aggregated data from over 3,000 case inspections, qualitative analysis of 2,000 interviews with frontline probation staff, a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of the UK and international evidence on caseloads and interviews with senior officials and leaders. Less than half of probation practitioners believe they have a manageable workload and those working in Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) were less positive than their NPS counterparts. The report finds that when probation practitioners hold a caseload of fifty or more, they are less likely to deliver high-quality work meeting the aims of rehabilitation and public protection.
Race equality in probation HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) has published a thematic inspection of the experiences of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) probation service users and staff. The inspection looked at the work of the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) in five areas and found no coherent approach to identify and address any disproportionality in service delivery. Both the NPS and CRCs commission very few services specifically for ethnic minority service users. HMIP makes a number of recommendations, including that Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service ensure that specialist BAME organisations can participate in commissioning processes. The findings were based on analysis of the support provided to 100 service users, inspections of 51 pre-sentence reports, surveys, interviews and focus groups conducted with staff and interviews with service users.
Policing
Lived experience perspectives on policing trauma, poverty and inequalities Revolving Doors Agency has published research which finds that young adults, aged 18-25, who live in the most deprived parts of the country have frequent and traumatic encounters with the police. Young adults want police to identify and effectively respond to their health and human needs, to avoid them being drawn into a lifetime of crisis and crime. The research explores guiding principles for trauma and poverty responsive policing from the perspective of 100 young adults who commit repeated low-level offences. Their accounts highlight how their experiences of policing relates to their experiences of trauma, poverty and structural inequalities. The report makes a number of recommendations, including investment in pre-arrest/at the point of arrest diversion.
Voluntary sector
Investigation into government funding to charities during the Covid-19 pandemic The National Audit Office (NAO) has published an investigation into government funding of charities during Covid-19. In April 2020, the government announced a financial support package to help charities meet increased demand during the Covid-19 pandemic and the report finds that by mid-February 2021, the government had disbursed £454 million to charities via seven funding schemes, distributed by nine government departments. As the #NeverMoreNeeded campaign has highlighted however, the loss of income for charities over the first 12 weeks of lockdown alone was calculated to be £4.3 billion. Additionally, many organisations working in the criminal justice system were not eligible for funding made available by the government and so continue to face serious financial uncertainty.
The Impact Of Prison Lockdown On Physical Health EP:IC Consultants has published a summary for Russell Webster of its recent research into the impacts of Covid-19 on the physical health of people in prison. The research was based on 2,000 direct responses from people in 19 different prisons. Patients mostly felt healthcare services were working hard and around 60% of patients felt their needs had been met despite lockdown. Experiences differed across the estate however, and in one prison over three quarters of patients felt healthcare services were unattainable, requests for appointments to see a GPs were unanswered, routine health checks were hit and miss, and medications were administered late, missing or incomplete, leaving patients worried for their health.
Making it up: parents in prison connecting through stories In a guest blog for the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance, Give a Book workshop leader David Kendall shares the importance of storytelling and how, over lockdown, the project has been keeping prisoners connected with their families. The Making It Up project from reading charity Give a Book supports parents in prison to bond with their children by creating storybooks. The men who come to the workshops vary in ability and confidence, but all use the process of creating story books to reflect and to think closely about their children, their interests, and what they might need to hear. In response to lockdown, the charity provided the project remotely in the form of an activity pack. This version is now running across four prisons.
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Written monthly by...
Clinks' Policy Officer Will Downs.
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