In this month's edition...
In September, Clinks joined a group of infrastructure organisations in writing to the new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng regarding the cost of living crisis and the role of the voluntary sector. In the letter, sent on 21 September, we asked that in the forthcoming fiscal statement and budget that the Chancellor consider uprating benefits in line with inflation and funding charities to deliver support.
The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) met on 13 June for its quarterly meeting. The group heard from Jane Trigg, Head of Drug Strategy Development for the Substance Misuse Group at HM Prison and Probation Service, following Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announcements of a drive to combat drug use. The group also heard from the Prison Safety Policy: Policy and Strategy Group at the MoJ, about their plans for an Innovations Taskforce to identify and pilot new interventions on violence and self-harm in prisons.
The RR3 has convened a special interest group on future regime design, advising HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) as they develop a new National Regime Model for prisons. The first meeting was held on 02 September, where the group heard from the HMPPS Future Regime Design team about their designs for the tiered regime. Minutes from both RR3 meetings will be available on our website in due course.
Clinks has launched the third phase of our Stronger Voice project, which aims to empower the voluntary sector working in criminal justice to develop a unified and influential voice at both a regional and national level. Phase three, ‘Strengthening your voice’, aims to empower organisations to mobilise their campaigns and finesse their influencing skills with a programme of free training to be delivered in October and November. Training sessions have booked up fast, but we still have spaces for the Using the legal system to achieve change and Influencing select committees sessions. Find out more about Stronger Voice in our blog.
Bookings are now open for our annual conference and AGM 2022: What next? Building strength and unity in a changing criminal justice system [22 November, Drapers' Hall, London, from £50]. At this year’s conference, we will hear from keynote speaker Phil Copple, Director General of Operations for Prisons and Probation, and we will be running panel discussions and workshops showcasing best practice and sharing ideas and recommendations from some of our member organisations. The conference will be followed by our AGM and a drinks reception. Early bird tickets are available until 20 October. Book your place here.
The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition, of which Clinks is a founding member, has appointed Liv Corbishley as its new Chair. Liv will join the coalition in September, following a competitive recruitment process led by Peridot Partners, the MEAM board and an individual with lived experience of multiple disadvantage. Liv said: “I am looking forward to contributing my skills and experience to the coalition’s development and to working closely with the board, staff team, local and national partners, and people with lived experience to improve policy and practice and to change people’s lives.” Read more on this change here.
In September, Clinks was pleased to welcome Bronte Jack to the organisation. Bronte is our new Policy Officer.
Ministers confirmed at the Ministry of Justice | The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) ministerial team has been announced. The Rt Hon Brandon Lewis CBE MP is Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. Rob Butler MP is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for prisons, probation and youth justice. He has been a member of the Justice Committee since March 2020, is a former magistrate, member of the Youth Justice Board, Sentencing Council and non-executive director of HM Prison and Probation Service. This is his first ministerial post. Rachel McClean MP is Minister of State with responsibility for victims and vulnerability, Gareth Johnson MP is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for courts, Mike Freer MP is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for constitution and legal services, Lord Bellamy QC remains Parliamentary Under Secretary of State responsible for MoJ business in the House of Lords. Russell Webster has put together a helpful blog post explaining each minister’s responsibilities.
Lord Chancellor Swearing-in Speech | The new Secretary of State for Justice, The Rt Hon Brandon Lewis CBE MP, gave his inaugural speech on 29 September at the Royal Courts of Justice. He presented his vision of a ‘modern justice system that is built around the people who use it. One where we do more online, with the right guidance and support.’ With regards to prison and probation, he stated that he will continue to prioritise the creation of secure and modern prison places that champion rehabilitation by equipping “offenders” to become active in the jobs market. He also noted that he wants to explore options for reforming the Probation Service and is determined to make public protection the overriding factor in parole decisions.
Funding announced for services that work with women in the criminal justice system | The Ministry of Justice have announced a £24 million investment to support women in the criminal justice system. Three grant funding competitions have now been launched. The first will offer £4 million in each of the next three financial years to pay the core costs of women’s voluntary sector organisations. The second will offer £2.8 million, over the same period, to women’s voluntary sector organisations to offer new services or interventions for women in or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system. For more information on how to apply, read our blog here.
Probation launch grant competition for services to support racially minoritised people | The first round of the probation grant competition was launched on 21 September and is for organisations delivering services to support racially minoritised people on probation. This competition covers all probation regions. Clinks welcomes this significant investment of £12.8 million in services for racially minoritised people and is very pleased to see it being distributed through grants in line with our recommendations on how to best commission the voluntary sector. For more information on the funding allocations in each probation area and the timelines for applications, please read our updated blog.
Response to Education Committee prison education report | Following the Education Committee report: Not just another brick in the wall: why prisoners need an education to climb the ladder of opportunity, the government has published a response. Of the 37 recommendations, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) accepted 20 recommendations, accepted nine in principle and rejected eight. Amongst the recommendations, MoJ and HMPPS agreed that Governors should be required to provide adequate prison education as part of their core responsibilities and that prison officers should receive training to ensure that they understand the importance of education in supporting people in prison to find employment. The government rejected recommendations to allow businesses to direct the Apprenticeship Levy towards prison rehabilitation schemes, to add criteria to the Ofsted inspection evaluation framework to ensure that they examine how prisons engage with civil society, and to extend the length of Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) contracts beyond the current two years.
How the Parole Board uses evidence to assess the risk of reoffending | The Science and Technology Committee held an oral evidence session focusing on the scientific basis of parole policy and how the Parole Board uses evidence to assess the risk that a person in prison will reoffend, and the
frameworks and processes employed to ensure that this is done consistently and effectively. Giving evidence were Martin Jones, the CEO of the Parole Board; Dr Jo Farrar, Second Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Justice; Dr Jo Bailey, head of Psychology Services Group and Deputy Director of HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS); and Sonia Flynn, the Chief Probation Officer of HMPPS. You can watch the session here.
Draft Victims Bill won’t achieve Government’s aims | The Justice Committee published a report on its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Government’s draft Victims Bill, finding that it will have limited effect on police and other agencies’ delivery of victims’ rights. The cross-party Committee points to flaws in the way ‘victims’ are defined, a lack of enforcement powers, and the need for additional resources for the Bill’s proposals to be effective, particularly around victim liaison and counselling. It also finds that the sharing of victims’ immigration status by the police with the Home Office acts as a barrier to justice and calls for the practice to end. Read the report in full here.
Letter from Dame Vera Baird to the Justice Secretary | The Victims’ Commissioner wrote to the Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis to inform him of her intention to end her term as Commissioner on 30 September 2022. She writes that little of the evidence and recommendations her office carried out was reflected in the Victims Bill and that ‘[t]he lack of engagement from the top at a time of great upheaval for victims reflected poorly on the Ministry of Justice’s priorities and the government’s approach.’ She writes that little has been done to effectively tackle the court backlog and calls for the Victims’ Commissioner not to be allowed to lie dormant.
Letter from Dr Jo Farrar to Meg Hillier MP | Dr Jo Farrar, the Second Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), has written to Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, to respond to the Committee's recommendations on the government’s plans to implement the Female Offender Strategy over the next three years, Whole System Approaches, and the new governance arrangements for the Strategy. She writes that the MoJ remains committed to the three aims set out in the Strategy, but has concluded a fourth should be added, focussed on effective resettlement in the community. This will be set out in a forthcoming Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan, due for publication in Summer 2022.
Deaf jurors supported by sign language interpreter for first time | For the first time in England and Wales, Deaf people can serve on a jury, supported by British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters. The move follows changes brought in through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which allow BSL interpreters into the jury deliberation room. It is expected that this will open up jury service to over 80,000 Deaf people across England and Wales. Guidance on working with jurors supported by BSL interpreters was provided to court staff, judges and other jury members on the changes.
Enhanced Support Service introduced | A scheme offering extra support to reduce violence in prison is to be introduced at 18 prisons in England and Wales over the next three years. The Enhanced Support Service takes a 'preventative approach' to reduce the risk of assaults and self-harm by allocating individuals to a team of staff: a prison officer, a mental health nurse and a psychologist. A trial of the approach at one prison saw 35 people in prison take part over a two-year period, during which 'incidents of aggression and rule-breaking showed a significant decline.'
Prison
Justice Committee finds IPP sentences “irredeemably flawed” | The Justice Committee has called on the government to re-sentence all people in prison subject to Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. The Committee found that the current regime for managing people on IPP sentences is inadequate in supporting their specific needs and calls for swift improvement in the quality of support they are given. It notes that IPP sentences cause acute harm to those subject to them, with the prospect of serving a sentence without an end date causing higher levels of self-harm as well as a lack of trust in the system that is meant to rehabilitate them. IPP sentences were introduced to prevent serious offenders being released when still a danger to the public. Despite being scrapped in 2012, nearly 3,000 people remain in prison having been given an IPP sentence. Read the full report.
Prisons & Probation Ombudsman publishes first Policy into Practice | The Prisons & Probation Ombudsman has published its first ‘Policy into Practice’ publication, designed to share learning from their investigations with frontline staff. They recognise that while securing changes to policy is important, it does not always mean practices change in prisons. The first publication focuses on some of the important changes that have been made to the External Escorts Policy Framework, highlighting cases where older or unwell people in prison have been escorted to hospital in handcuffs.
Prison Education and Accredited Programme Statistics | The Ministry of Justice has published its overview of accredited programmes in custody and education in prison, covering assessment, participation, achievement and people in prisons’ demographics in England. In the year April 2021 to March 2022, 49,855 people in prison participated in courses. Overall, 27% of people in prison who took an initial assessment had a learning difficulty or disability confirmed through an assessment. This varied across ethnic groups and was highest for people in prison from white groups at 29% and lowest for those from the ‘other’ ethnic group at 17%. There were 2,297 Accredited Programme starts, a 209% increase when compared with the previous 12-month period.
Making Progress? What progression means for people serving the longest sentences | A new report from the Prison Reform Trust presents the findings of a consultation of people in prison carried out by its Building Futures programme. Around 100 responses were received from people in prison sentenced to at least 10 consecutive years in custody. The report looks at progression in terms of risk, offending behaviour courses and the personal progression of people in prison. The report recommends that HM Prison and Probation Service develop a long-term prisoner policy framework, equip staff working with long-term prisoners to assess risk, communicate this effectively with prisoners and other criminal justice professionals, and give explicit guidance and direction on what kinds of behaviour may demonstrate lowered and elevated risk in future assessments. It also recommends earlier involvement with the Parole Board in reviewing progress.
Prison Service Journal | The latest edition of the Prison Service Journal explores engagement and co-production with people living in prison or who are under supervision in the community. The edition covers the following issues, among others: Engagement and Co-Production with People with Lived Experience of Prison and Probation; Co-production and digitally-enabled interventions in justice settings; The Integrated Model of Prison Engagement; A different approach to community working: The 3Cs initiative at HMP Guys Marsh.
Probation
Serious Further Offence reviews | HM Inspectorate of Probation has published its first annual report looking at the quality of Serious Further Offence (SFO) reviews undertaken by the Probation Service after people on probation commit a serious violent or sexual offence while under supervision. The reviews aim to find out why those offences happen and reduce the chances of them happening again. This inaugural publication reports on the quality of 64 SFO reviews quality assured by the Inspectorate between April 2021 and April 2022, across England and Wales. Inspectors rated 69% of the reviews as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’, but 31% were rated ‘Requires improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’.
Probation Quarterly | The latest issue of Probation Quarterly includes articles from academics, practitioners, people with lived experience and the voluntary sector. This issue covers the following subjects, amongst others: The case of John Worboys, a pivotal point in Probation Victim Services; Lived experience in service delivery; Breaching non-compliance: proactive practice or ignoring the complexities?; Lived experience voices: building better relationships.
Youth justice
Thematic review of outcomes for girls in custody | HM Inspectorate of Prisons, HM Inspectorate of Probation, Ofsted, Care Quality Commission and Care Inspectorate Wales, published a joint thematic inspection of outcomes for girls in custody. The review found that the national system in place for girls is ‘frail’, with secure children’s homes required to refuse a place if they felt they could not meet a girl’s needs. This resulted in a number of girls being sent to Wetherby YOI, which had the lowest level of resources to support them. At the time of the inspection, there were 14 girls in custody in England and Wales. Russell Webster has written a helpful blog post summarising the review.
The identification of safety concerns relating to children | HM Inspectorate of Probation has published the latest in their Research and Analysis Bulletin series. The bulletin focuses on the assessment stage of youth justice work, recognising that it is vital to identify all potential safety concerns and sources of harm in order to mitigate and prevent dangers. HMI Probation provide examples of what good and poor assessment looks like in practice, including areas for further attention. The findings presented are based on 43 inspections of youth offending services conducted between June 2018 and February 2020. Across the cases inspected, there was a high/very high safety and wellbeing classification in about three in ten of the cases and a high/very high risk of serious harm classification in about two in ten of the cases. Prevalence rates were higher for court disposals compared to out-of-court disposals. Russell Webster has summarised the bulletin in a blog post.
Neurodiversity
The relationship between neurodiversity and the revolving door of crisis and crime | Revolving Doors has been working with its lived experience Neurodiversity Forum since October 2021 to inform the development of the Ministry of Justice’s first Neurodiversity Action Plan, published in June 2022. Subsequently, Revolving Doors expanded its neurodiversity work to further explore the links with criminal justice involvement and multiple disadvantage. This position paper has been co-produced with its lived experience members through regular consultation. It finds neurodiversity is misunderstood and misinterpreted, and can intersect with problematic substance misuse. It also finds navigating the criminal justice system when neurodivergent is challenging, and neurodiversity can exacerbate trauma. The paper makes several recommendations including that training to support frontline workers must be improved, and sentencers must receive neurodiversity awareness training, ensuring sentencing decisions take neurodivergence into account.
Women
No safe space | The Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) has published a report looking at lessons for national policy and local practice from the West Midlands multi-agency response to women involved in offending, or alleged offending, who are victims of domestic abuse. Based on insights from women with lived experience and front-line practitioners, the report makes a total of seven overarching recommendations. One of these recommendations is for the Ministry of Justice and local agencies to provide a safe space for victims to disclose domestic abuse and receive support. The CWJ argue this should include investment in voluntary sector women’s specialist providers, co-located, women-only probation teams as standard everywhere, and improved pathways for women into gender-informed healthcare services.
Charities and the voluntary sector
Funders for Race Equality Alliance Racial Justice Audit | The Funders for Race Equality Alliance has published its second Racial Justice Audit, which enables funders to: identify how much funding is reaching racially minoritised communities and addresses racial justice work; produce a snapshot of current portfolios and create a baseline to track funding on a yearly basis; implement targets and strategies to ensure funders are advancing racial justice work; and allow greater transparency of current foundation expenditure.
What UK charities need to know about inflation| Pro Bono Economics has published a report looking at the impact of the current high levels of inflation on charities in the UK. It raises a number of challenges including the rising cost of energy, increases in staff costs, and the declining value of donations and funding. It is noted that soaring inflation will eat into charities' reserves, as they will be worth fewer months of expenditure. The report offers advice for charities, as well as recommending that donors offer more flexible funding.
Imprisonment for Public Protection: Psychic Pain Redoubled | The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has published an article ahead of publication of its overview of the psychological impact on people in prison serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. They note the ‘raised risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviour’ among people on IPP sentences. Their recommendations include the abolition of the sentence being applied to people still subject to them, with those who have been held past their tariff released without delay. Others should be given a release date, on a case-by-case basis, by judicial or executive decision.
The ‘voice of the Probation Service’ must continue to be heard | Following the publication of their latest round of local probation service inspection reports, HM Inspectorate of Probation has written a blog noting that two-thirds of the probation delivery units inspected since reunification have been rated as 'inadequate', the lowest possible rating. The most common areas of weakness of the individual cases that have been inspected continues to be the assessment and management of risks of harm. The blog notes that the new leadership structure at HM Prison and Probation Service, which merges responsibilities for prisons and probation, must not be allowed to threaten the Probation Service’s recovery.
The end of probation? | Following the announcement from the Ministry of Justice about the restructuring of HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)’s senior leadership team, Russell Webster has written a blog about the 'journey to becoming One HMPPS'. He notes that both the Probation Institute and the National Association of Probation Officers have raised concern about the change, particularly given that the new, reunified Probation Service is only 14 months old and ‘very much a work in progress’. He raises his concern that the merger will be the end of probation as a local service that tries to meet the needs of both local communities and people on probation, since the new probation regions do not match up with relevant public services such as the police and local authorities.
Constructive resettlement for children in custody | Russell Webster has published a blog that explores 'Constructive Resettlement', an evidence-based policy framework that empowers practitioners to support children on their journey towards a constructive future. Produced by the London Resettlement Centre, the Youth Justice Board has adopted Constructive Resettlement as its theory of change, championing it as a new, actionable approach for the sector, with a clear, united focus. The aim of the resource is to support youth justice practitioners in implementing Constructive Resettlement in their daily work to achieve sustained, positive outcomes for children.
Get involved Become a Member | Follow Clinks | Join Mailing List
Contact Us www.clinks.org | info@clinks.org | 020 4502 6774
This month's edition was written by...
Clinks Senior Policy Officer Olivia Dehnavi
Click here to manage your subscriptions. For assistance, email info@clinks.org
Registered charity: 1074546 | Company limited by guarantee in England & Wales: 3562176
Registered office: 82A James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Suffolk, IP28 7DE
© Clinks, 2022