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In this month's edition...
Clinks has launched its eighth annual State of the sector survey. This is one of our biggest and most important information collections we conduct every year. We really can't do anything without hearing the voice of voluntary sector organisations working in the criminal justice system. Our findings from our last State of the sector survey gave us a lot to celebrate, but the picture we’ve built up over the years shows there are a number of deep-seated and systemic challenges facing voluntary organisations. We need up to date evidence to best represent and support the sector. That's why we're asking as many of you as possible to complete our 20 minute survey by 8th November. Take the survey here
Clinks is hosting a series of events with leading academics, following the recent publication of our evidence reviews. The first of these events [19th October, online, free] looks at the evidence around working with people in prison who are serving life sentences. Book your place here
Clinks has made two submissions to the Treasury to inform the Spending Review 2021. One response sets out our suggestions for how the government can address its priorities to cut crime and reduce reoffending, by building a strong and innovative criminal justice system that harnesses the knowledge and expertise of the voluntary sector across prisons and probation. The other response focusses on the need to fully invest in family services, that we developed and submitted alongside family and criminal justice voluntary organisations. The Spending Review will conclude alongside the autumn budget on 27th October. Our submissions will be published in due course.
Ministerial responsibilities published Following the reshuffle, which saw Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the responsibilities of each minister in the Ministry of Justice have been published. The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP retains his role as Minister of State at both the MoJ and Home Office, but holds wider responsibilities, including probation and reducing reoffending. Victoria Atkins MP, appointed Minister of State in the MoJ, has responsibilities including women, youth justice, prisons and health. Tom Pursglove MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the MoJ, leads on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and James Cartlidge MP, also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, leads on race, courts and sentencing.
Second Reading of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill had its Second Reading the House of Lords in September, where Peers were able to debate the general principles of the Bill. It has now moved to Committee Stage, which begins on 20th October. Ahead of the Second Reading debate, Clinks, and many of our members, signed a joint letter, to the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Justice. This shared urgent concern over the Bill because it constitutes a direct threat to Gypsy and Traveller communities and includes a host of expansive policing and sentencing powers that will further entrench racial disparity in the criminal justice system.
Accommodation
A new way of working: ending rough sleeping together The Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping has published its final report, exploring how measures taken during Covid-19 to support people sleeping rough into accommodation can inform long-term lasting change. The commission recognises the specific challenges people leaving prison face, and recommends that the government’s rough sleeping strategy introduces governance around transition points, to ensure people leaving prison can expect a well-planned release with services ready to access in the community. The commission also recommends a duty for relevant public agencies, including criminal justice agencies, to collaborate to both prevent and respond to homelessness. The commission was chaired by Lord Bob Kerslake and coordinated by St Mungos.
Health
Health reform and its impact on people experiencing multiple disadvantage The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition has published a briefing examining ongoing structural changes to public health and social care reform, including looking at the Department of Health and Social Care’s Health and Care Bill, which is currently going through parliament. The briefing sets out how these upcoming health reforms in England might impact people facing multiple disadvantage, examining central health function reforms, changes to the local structure of health bodies and how services will be commissioned. This is the latest of a series of “policy into practice” briefings that analyse the likely impact of national policy developments on people facing multiple disadvantage. MEAM is a coalition of Clinks, Homeless Link, Mind and associate member Collective Voice.
Mental health in prison The Justice Committee has published the final report from the mental health in prison inquiry. The committee finds that mental healthcare in prison has improved since the NHS took over responsibility for delivery in 2005, however, much more still needs to be done. They recommend action to be taken to prevent people being sent to or kept in prison due to a shortage of mental health services in the community. The inquiry raises concerns that the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service and NHS England, do not know the extent of the need for mental healthcare services in prisons, though acknowledge the NHS has commissioned work to address this gap. Clinks submitted written evidence to the inquiry which you can read here.
Effective practice guide on substance misuse HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) has produced a new effective practice guide on substance misuse, based on information sourced while undertaking ‘A joint thematic inspection of community-based drug treatment and recovery work with people on supervision’. This guide highlights where HMIP has seen standards delivered well in the area of community-based drug treatment and recovery work in probation services. It is designed to help commissioners and providers improve areas of their work with probation service users, including leadership and working in partnership to deliver key services, delivering good advice to court, delivering effective case supervision and reducing harm to individuals. Each area includes multiple examples of effectiveness and key takeaways.
Sentencing
Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences The Justice Committee has launched an inquiry into indeterminate sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP). IPPs were introduced to increase the powers of courts when dealing with those termed ‘dangerous offenders’. People handed an IPP must serve a minimum prison term before they can be considered for release, and following release they are subject to a life licence. Despite the sentence being abolished in 2012, more than 1,700 people in prison today are still serving an IPP sentence without a release date. Recall numbers under the terms of IPP have also risen significantly in recent years. The inquiry will explore legislative and policy options to reduce the number of IPP prisoners and the Committee invites written evidence by October 26th.
Youth justice
Youth Justice Board Annual Report The Youth Justice Board has published its annual report which looks at changes in the youth justice system and the Board’s work over the last year. The number of first time entrants to the youth justice system continued to fall, including targeted youth crime prevention schemes and diversion through measures such as restorative justice and triage. The Board also found that the youth custody population had fallen by 9% on the previous year, but the average number of children held on remand remained about the same, highlighting that more needs to be done to find alternatives to custodial remand for children.
The quality of delivery of out-of-court disposals in youth justice HM Inspectorate of Probation’s latest research and analysis bulletin, based on 43 Youth Offending Team (YOT) inspections carried out between 2018 and 2020, explores out-of-court disposals in youth Justice. The Inspectorate found that the lack of standardisation of decision making, assessment, planning, and delivery of out-of-court disposals has led to several different models across England and Wales with considerable variation in the quality of delivery. The best performing YOTs tended to have robust frameworks for managing out-of-court disposals, where staff understood the roles of partners and benefited from strong inter-agency communication. For those YOTs that were performing less well, shortcomings were found in relation to the levels of communication, recording, performance monitoring, and feedback.
Co-creating youth justice services Commissioned by the Youth Justice Board to explore how well youth justice services listen and respond to the views of children and young people, Peer Power has explored the opportunities and challenges that come with participation and co-creation in a youth justice context. Peer Power’s report makes a number of recommendations including embedding trauma responsive and relational practice at the youth justice system for both practitioners and children, and see this as a ‘way of being’ to create the conditions for participation; ensuring recruitment strategies include the creation of paid employment roles for individuals with lived and learned experience, including apprenticeships and Peer Mentor Roles; and applying strengths-based approaches in practice, including co-creating positive language used about children in all communications.
Prisons and probation
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Annual Report The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has published its annual report for 2020/21. In that year, the Ombudsman received 4,010 complaints, a fall of 14% on the year before. However, it started 425 fatal incident investigations, an increase of 37% on the previous year. The pandemic meant that the Ombudsman had to conduct investigations remotely, and access in prisons to the technology needed to respond to the Ombudsman’s requirements has been patchy. The report states too many complaints are handled incorrectly by prison staff and a number of the complaints received by the Ombudsman relate to ‘incredibly straightforward situations’ which should have been easily resolved by prison staff. Property complaints remained the largest single category of complaints to the Ombudsman.
The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) National Annual Report for 2020-21 The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) have published their National Annual Report for 2020-21. They report on the distinctive difference between how prisons were run before and during/after Covid-19, explaining how many issues were either side-lined or exacerbated during the pandemic. They detail issues surrounding staffing, safety, fair and humane treatment, health and wellbeing and progression and resettlement. The report details three important lessons as prisons start to move out of the immediate crisis, which are: 1) regime and moving away from the sentiment that locked-down prisons are seen as safer and therefore better places; 2) better relationships with services focussing on rehabilitation and safety, noting the voluntary sector; and 3) embracing the new digital age.
Probation Quarterly Issue 21 of Probation Quarterly from the Probation Institute has been published which includes contributions from policymakers, academics and the voluntary sector. This issue discusses a range of subjects such as: the role of technology in probation; hidden vulnerabilities such as low literacy and learning disabilities; and practitioner attitudes towards ‘paedophile hunting’ groups. It also includes a themed section on unification which considers: a personal view of the process from Jim Barton; the implications of the unification of probation in England and Wales on race equality; and what the future holds for different models of probation.
Women
Young women in the criminal justice system at risk of violence, abuse, and exploitation A briefing from Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice found that young women’s experiences of violence, abuse, and exploitation can drive them into the criminal justice system, but their experiences are often overlooked by the agencies they look to for support. The findings include that young women often face a lack of understanding and recognition of their needs; they have limited access to specialist support services, despite their very high levels of need; and racially minoritised young women face harsher treatment across the criminal justice system and are significantly more likely to be arrested, imposing extra barriers to them getting the support they need.
Women’s experience of prison during the Covid-19 lockdown regime The Prison Reform Trust has published a briefing that highlights the consequences of a restrictive prison regime during the pandemic, where women were often locked up for 23 hours a day and unable to receive visits from family and loved ones. A key theme which emerged from the evidence gathered, was the importance of contact with family. Accounts from women also underline the missed opportunity the government had to prevent suffering, were it to introduce a more generous and efficient early release scheme at the beginning of the pandemic. The briefing also makes recommendations as normal regimes are restored including increasing the number and duration of visits, and exploring how the recovery process needs to differ for women.
Equalities
How do independent monitoring boards report on equalities in prisons? The Zahid Mubarek Trust has published a report focussing on how the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) monitor equalities work in prisons and Young Offender Institutions in England and Wales. By analysing 115 annual IMB reports from 2018 and 2019, Zahid Mubarek Trust aimed to better understand the extent of the IMB’s reporting on equalities work, and their potential impact on improving transparency, accountability, and standards. The analysis found some inconsistencies and gaps in how the IMBs report on equalities on prison, including on the number of areas that are reported on and the depth of reporting. Some reports were published a long time after the end of the IMB reporting period, raising concerns about the timeliness of the reports.
Judicial review and courts
The criminal justice aspects of the Judicial Review and Courts Bill Transform Justice has produced a briefing on the Judicial Review and Courts Bill. Amongst other things, this briefing highlights that measures in this Bill are likely to increase the number of defendants taking part in legal proceedings without representation; evidence from the single justice procedure suggests that few defendants will effectively participate in the proposed online criminal court; and disabled defendants are likely to suffer discrimination from the increased use of online plea and automatic online conviction processes as there is no screening or identification process, nor reasonable adjustments for people who do not understand how to engage with the online plea form.
State of the Sector 2021 survey: why your response matters Senior Policy Officer Will Downs has written a blog detailing the four main reasons your responses to our eighth annual State of the sector are so important to us, and wider voluntary sector working in the criminal justice system. This is your chance to share your experiences, and help us influence key decision makers on your behalf. All of your responses will form the basis of an in-depth report to be published early next year and will help us to understand the challenges and opportunities for organisations working to transform the lives of people in the criminal justice system as we regroup from the Covid-19 pandemic.
First new probation hostel for 30 years Rob Allen has written a blog about the opening of the first probation hostel in 30 years. Eden House in Bristol is a 26-bed approved premises for women that opened in September 2021. Over the past 30 years, Allen notes that the expansion of the prison estate has far outpaced the creation of additional approved premises places. An Approved Premises Expansion Programme is aiming to deliver 200 extra places, but the prison estate is continuing to expand. Allen sees this as making the case for a more ambitious expansion of probation hostels, noting the Probation Inspectorate said, in 2017, that additional beds and hostels could easily be filled enabling some people to be released earlier.
How do you make a culture? The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor has written a blog ahead of the opening of HMP Five Wells, that is due to be begin operating in February 2022. Five Wells, which will operate as a category C prison, will be run by G4S. He describes a rehabilitative culture as something that is difficult to articulate because it is made up of so many different components. However, at its centre will always be a staff team that expects the best from the people in prison, treats them with kindness and care, and maintains clear boundaries, and is consistent in its responses. Above all, there must be trust between people in prison, officers, and leaders.
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Written monthly by...
Clinks' Policy Officers Franklin Barrington and Noorjehan Piperdy
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