Clinks Light Lunch | Issue 713 | 10th December 2021

Light Lunch

In this week's edition...

CLINKS NEWS: our initial reaction to the Prisons Strategy White Paper

The government has published its 10-year strategy for prisons in England and Wales. The strategy includes a long list of proposals, including positive commitments around supporting better resettlement pathways for prison leavers. However, the repeated commitment to build more prison places and the absence of measures to address unequal outcomes for racially minoritised people in prison are highly concerning. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has provided an opportunity for people to respond to these proposals, after Clinks raised concerns with the Minister of State over the lack of formal consultation to develop the strategy. Clinks will engage with the voluntary sector to shape our response and we encourage as many voluntary organisations as possible to submit a response before the deadline on 4th February 2022. We will publish a blog with further analysis in due course. Read our initial thoughts on Twitter here. Read the strategy and submit a response here

CLINKS NEWS: RR3 quarterly meeting and new members

The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) recently convened for its quarterly meeting on 7th December. The group heard from Claire Fielder, Director of Youth Justice and Offender Policy, Ministry of Justice (MoJ); Matt Grey, Executive Director, Reducing Reoffending, Partnerships and Accommodation, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS); and Duncan O’Leary, CEO of the New Futures Network. The group also welcomed two newly appointed members to the RR3 through an open recruitment process: Carolyn Houghton, Rethink Mental Illness, will take the Mental Health seat and Pippa Goodfellow, the Alliance for Youth Justice, will take the Youth Justice seat. The RR3 is a voluntary sector advisory group to the MoJ and HMPPS. See all members of the group and their seats here

CLINKS NEWS: notes from RR3 Covid-19 SIG

Meeting notes from the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) Covid-19 Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting on 6th October are now published. The group heard from David Liddemore, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and discussed regime recovery progress across the secure estate towards fewer Covid-19 restrictions. The group also heard from Razina Khan and Daniel Bell from the Ministry of Justice to discuss the ending of regime mitigations across the secure estate. These mitigations included: additional pin credit, supplementary food packs, limiting the use of basic prisoner pay, no TV rental charge and temporary mobile pin payments in the male prison estate and a variation across the rest of the estate. Attendees expressed concern about the removal of these mitigations without consultation with the voluntary sector. Read more here

NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE ARTS ALLIANCE NEWS: access to prisons

Join the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA) for a network forum to discuss and share experiences around access challenges faced by arts practitioners working in secure settings [13th December, online, free]. At the forum, we will be joined by Good Vibrations Executive Director Katy Haigh and Only Connect CEO Simon Pellew sharing how they have approached issues of access to deliver projects in prisons during the Covid-19 pandemic. Also joining us will be Clean Break’s Joint Artistic Director, Anna Herrmann and Geese Theatre Company’s Artistic Director/CEO Andy Watson to lead discussion on some of the wider access and safeguarding issues practitioners are faced with. Book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: multiple disadvantage, offending and system failure 

Fulfilling Lives Newcastle Gateshead has published a report, A Criminal Waste, examining the links between multiple disadvantage and offending, and making recommendations for a whole system approach to reduce the human and financial costs of involvement with the criminal justice system. Carried out in partnership with Opportunity Nottingham and West Yorkshire Finding Independence, the research analyses Fulfilling Lives programmes’ data to look at the demographic profile of people who offended while being supported by Fulfilling Lives, the types of offences committed and potential reasons and challenges that increased the risk of offending. Read it here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: cell street repeat

Nacro is running a campaign #CellStreetRepeat, calling on the government to ensure everyone leaving prison has somewhere safe and secure to live. Being released from prison into homelessness is setting people up to fail. As a result, two thirds of people who are homeless after prison reoffend within a year of release. The campaign calls for the government to: extend the current accommodation pilots in five regions for people leaving prison to all regions with long term funding commitments; guarantee longer-term accommodation and move-on options after initial short-term housing; and provide flexible support alongside accommodation to ensure people are able to overcome barriers, stay in their homes and thrive. Watch the campaign video and sign the petition here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: broke but not broken

Revolving Doors has published a report combining a literature review and peer-led qualitative research to demonstrate how the issues of poverty, trauma and policing interact for young adults aged 18-25. The review argues that there is significant scope to extend our understanding of how different aspects of inequality combine in young adults’ lives, and how these relate to offending and relationships with the police. Thereafter, the peer-led qualitative research brings together important, close-up, lived experience accounts to demonstrate the complex interplay of the various dimensions of inequality that impact young people’s lives, engagement in crime and interaction with the police. Read it here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: award for social impact

RIFT Social Enterprise, a voluntary organisation which supports people with convictions who are interested in becoming self-employed, has been awarded the National Enterprise Network (NEN) Social Impact in Enterprise Award for 2021 and was highly commended in the NEN’s Enterprise Support Organisation of the Year category. The NEN Awards were established in 2007 to recognise excellence and impact in the enterprise support sector. Read more here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: awards for frontline practitioners

The Centre for Justice Innovation has announced the winners of the Justice Innovation Awards, which recognise the work of frontline practitioners in making a fairer and more effective justice system. The winner of The Nick Crichton Award for Family Justice is For Baby’s Sake, a programme which takes a whole family approach to breaking the cycle of domestic abuse and childhood trauma for parents and babies alike. The winner of The Criminal Justice Innovation Award is Aspire, set up by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland to support marginalised young men who are at risk of becoming involved in criminal or paramilitary activity. Read more here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: the government’s 10-year drugs plan

The government has now published its drugs strategy, setting out its approach over the next 10 years. This strategy implements all the key recommendations from Dame Carol Black’s review of drugs, and has a focus on three areas: disrupting supply, providing treatment to people who use drugs, and cutting demand for drugs. This strategy sets out that addiction will be treated as a chronic health condition, and will provide an additional £780 million of funding for treatment services over the next three years. The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP (Minster for Crime and Policing) will have overall responsibility for the strategy and its delivery, presenting an annual report to Parliament on progress. A new National Outcomes Framework and Local Outcomes Framework will hold government departments and local delivery partners to account. Read the full strategy here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: response to Transforming Public Procurement Green Paper

The government has published its response to the Transforming Public Procurement Green Paper. Commitments include the development of a Dynamic Market tool (previously called a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS+)), as well as the development of a Procurement Review Unit to sit in the Cabinet Office. The government also plans to produce resources including statutory and non-statutory guidance on the key elements of the regulatory framework. Clinks responded to the consultation outlining the need to ensure voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system are able to engage as equal partners in procurement processes. We are disappointed that the government’s response makes no commitments to grant funding. Read more here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: racial disparity in the youth justice system

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has published a summary of statistics on racial disparity and how it affects children in their early years and within the youth justice system, pulling together data from a number of sources. It highlights that in the years ending March 2010 to March 2020, Black children in England and Wales were nearly five times more likely to be arrested than White children; for the year ending March 2020, racially minoritised children accounted for 40% of serious offences, but 51% of children in custody; and of the children in custody in the year ending March 2021, racially minoritised children (excluding children from White minorities) made up more than half of all children in custody. Read more here

FUNDING: North East

Grants between £500 and £2,000 are available from the Hadrian Trust for charitable organisations working to improve the lives of people in the North East of England, particularly those working in the fields of social welfare (including people in contact with the criminal justice system and their families), youth, disability, the elderly, women, racially minoritised people, education, arts and the environment. Applications are considered for running costs, project costs, part salaries and basic equipment. Find out more and apply by 30th December here

FUNDING: Merseyside

Grants of up to £10,000 are available from the PH Holt Foundation to small or medium sized charities headquartered in Merseyside with an income under £1 million. The Foundation funds activities under five themes: creating opportunities for people to contribute to local communities; enabling people to overcome barriers; widening access to education for all ages; increasing engagement in the arts for excluded groups; and encouraging care of the natural or built environment. Find out more and apply by 1st January here

RESOURCE: breaking reoffending cycles in the criminal justice system

NPC has created a systems map of the key factors that influence reoffending rates for people in the criminal justice system, with the aim of identifying places that practitioners and funders can intervene to bring about long-term change in the system. It has identified 20 ‘leverage points’ where changes would reduce reoffending. Onto this map, NPC has also layered an analysis of where, within this system, funding to voluntary sector organisations is going. The systems map and funding analysis has enabled NPC to identify some key recommendations for funders and the government. Read more here

SURVEY: inclusion health monitoring system

The newly formed Inclusion Health Analysis team in the Office for Health and Disparities, within the Department of Health and Social Care is reaching out to the voluntary sector to gather views on inclusion health (a catch all term used to describe people who are socially excluded including those in contact with the criminal justice system). The aims of this team are to improve visibility and monitoring of inclusion health groups within health data. One of their first priorities is to improve monitoring of the health outcomes of inclusion health groups. In order to achieve this, they are proposing a publicly-available, interactive monitoring system and would like to hear your views. The deadline to feedback is 17th December and it should take no more than 5-10 minutes. Take the survey here

CLINKS MEMBERS’ VACANCIES

Housing Support Worker with Inspire North [Wakefield], Criminal Justice Resilience Worker with Kaleidoscope Project [Wrexham], Communications and Fundraising Officer with The Welcome Directory [home based], Community Keyworker with ADVANCE [Harlow], Digital and Communications Officer with Koestler Arts [London], Service Manager with Imagine Independence [East Lancashire], Connecting Community Coordinator with Humankind [Morpeth], Support Worker with Mental Health Concern [Gateshead or Newcastle upon Tyne], Support Worker with Companions Real Bread [Bedford], Careers Information and Advice Caseworker with St Giles Trust [London], Peer Researcher with The Howard League for Penal Reform [Nationwide]. For more information about these vacancies, and many more, click here

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EXTRA INFORMATION

 

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