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In this month's edition...
The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) held its quarterly meeting on Tuesday 6 June, where the group was joined by Alice Adamson, Deputy Director of Reducing Reoffending Interventions, Operations, and Investment at HM Prison and Probation Service, to discuss the upcoming Rehabilitation Strategy. The group were also joined by Paul Ruff, Deputy Director for Transitional Accommodation, who discussed Community Accommodation Services (CAS-3), and Jane Urquhart, who took a broader housing overview and focused on move-on accommodation for prison leavers. The minutes from this meeting will be published on the Clinks website in due course.
Clinks has responded to the Public Accounts Committee call for evidence on improving resettlement support for people leaving prisons. In relation to commissioning of day-one services, Clinks recommended that the true and full cost of services need to be determined to prevent voluntary sector organisations having to subsidise from their other funding sources. Our response also noted the financial challenges around contract delivery which are compounded by the increase in service user need. Read our full response here.
Today, through Clinks’ role on the Women and the Criminal Justice System Expert Group, we presented to the Group on the sector’s concerns around the barriers to employment faced by women leaving prison and women with criminal records. Held at the Ministry of Justice, the session focused specifically on employment outcomes for women in the criminal justice system. Key concerns raised included the need to improve pre-release planning, greater support in helping women to navigate the disclosure system, the requirements for a more individualised approach to reflect differing needs, as well as the greater provision of holistic, women-centred support reflecting that women often have multiple unmet needs on release from prison that require addressing, separate to support helping them into employment.
House of Commons debate on draft Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 Order 2023 | The Ministerial Committee has debated the draft Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2023, which looks at the criminal records disclosure regime. A profession to be added to the exceptions order is justice system intermediaries, due to the nature of roles involving unsupervised access to vulnerable adults which add to the safeguarding risk. The government urge that employers exercise a balanced judgement to employment of those with convictions, taking into consideration a person’s age, how long ago the offence took place, nature of offence and its relevance to the position in question.
Victims and Prisoners Bill | The Victims and Prisoners Bill received its Second Reading in the House of Commons this month, and the House voted in favour of a carry-over motion with regards to the Bill, meaning that it will not fall if the current parliamentary session ends before the Bill is passed. The main points raised from the Front Bench speeches were that the government remains positive about all aspects of the Bill, but there is recognition of changes around the Parole Board that may need to be addressed to ensure they are operationally effective.
Preparing for devolution of justice | The Welsh Government has written on preparing for devolution of justice. Made by Mick Antoniw, Council General and Minister for the Constitution, and Jane Hunt, Minister for Social Justice, the statement notes work is being commissioned in the spheres of youth justice and probation to understand how the devolution of these areas could happen in practice and how the positive impacts of devolution could be maximised.
Body-worn video cameras for every prison officer | The Ministry of Justice has issued a press release announcing that every prison office in England and Wales now has access to a body-worn camera while on shift. The release also notes a pilot study published in 2020 found these cameras can improve trust and confidence between staff and people in prison.
Employment on Release statistical release to March 2023 | The Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service have published an ad hoc statistical release on employment at six weeks and six months following release, for April 2021 to March 2023. It shows that employment at six weeks following release has increased, rising by 4.5% to 19.4% between April 2022 to March 2023, an increase of 30.2%. The proportion of persons released from custody at who were employed at six months from their release also increased, rising by 7.2 percentage points to 30.4% between April 2022 and March 2023. This is an increase of 31.0%. Across a two-year period, from April 2021 to March 2023, the proportion of persons released from custody who were employed at six months from their release rose by 16.3 percentage points, an increase of 115.6%.
Weekends in Prison Thematic Action Plan | HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has published an action plan in response to the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons’ thematic review of weekends in prison. In response to the finding that 60% of prisoners have less than two hours out of call each day at weekends, meaning they are locked up for longer than on weekdays and the situation is worse than before the pandemic, HMPPS has commissioned a Workforce delivery project to refresh the current staffing model. The action plan also references the new National Regime Model which will incorporate a new purposeful activity measure, which will include structured enrichment activities alongside traditional ones.
Accommodation Following Release from Custody | The Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service have published an ad hoc statistical release on accommodation at release and three months following release from custody, for April 2021 to March 2023. Data shows that the proportion of persons released from custody who were housed at the point of release decreased by 2.4 percentage points to 86.3% between April 2022 to March 2023, representing a decrease of 2.7%. Similarly, the proportion of persons released from custody who were housed at three months from their released decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 75.5% between April 2022 and March 2023, a decrease of 0.3%.
Criminal Justice Board for Wales Annual Report 2022 to 2023 | The Criminal Justice Board for Wales has published its annual report 2022 to 2023, setting out what it has been doing to improve outcomes for people in contact with the criminal justice system. The key priorities were around meeting the needs of victims and witnesses and people who have offended (including women, ex-armed service personnel, racially minoritised people and young adults and care leavers), early intervention and prevention, and racial equality. Reflecting for the year ahead, the board will continue to strengthen communication and partnership connections as well as focusing on robust data and evidence.
HMYOI Cookham Wood Urgent Notification: Initial Action Response Plan | The Ministry of Justice has published an initial response action plan following the Chief Inspector of Prisons triggering the Urgent Notification process for HMYOI Cookham Wood. The inspection in April 2023 led the Chief Inspector to conclude that “such treatment of children is appalling. This is a scandal and it cannot be allowed to continue.” The action plan includes improvements such as expert teams being deployed to train staff and improve the care provided to children, an intelligence led weapons strategy being developed to reduce the use and availability of weapons as well as steps to improve education, learning, skills and enrichment including additional contract management resource deployed to oversee the delivery of education provision.
First time entrants into the Criminal Justice System and Offender Histories 2022 | The Ministry of Justice has published its latest statistics on first time entrants into the criminal justice system and offender histories, year ending 2022. Data shows there has been no change to the proportion of adults with long criminal careers convicted of an indictable offence, however, there has been an increase in the proportion of people convicted for an indictable offence who have committed an offence for the first time. This has risen year-on-year since 2013, and in 2022 of all people convicted, 22% were convicted for the first time, an increase of 8% since 2012. 43% of juveniles convicted for an indictable offence were first time offenders, representing an increase of 28 percentage points since 2012.
Latest safety in Custody statistics | The Ministry of Justice published statistics covering safety in custody and in the children and young people’s secure estate (CYPSE). In the 12-month period to March 2023, there were 322 deaths in prison custody, a 12% increase from the previous 12 months. Of these, 82 deaths were self-inflicted, a 4% increase from the previous year. The number of self-harm incidents in prison rose 3% in the year to December 2022, with the rate of self-harm incidents per 1,000 people increasing 36% in female establishments and decreasing 9% in male establishments. The annualised rate of self-harm per 100 children and young people in the CYPSE rose 176% in the months October to December 2022, compared to the same quarter last year.
Courts
Letter to the Secretary State for Justice | Sir Robert Neill MP, Chair of the Justice Committee, has written a letter to Alex Chalk KC MP, Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice, following his recent appointment. Sir Neill wrote of his concern for the backlog in cases waiting to be heard across the court system. He pointed to the Committee report on court capacity which made a number of recommendations, and highlights the situation has deteriorated further since. The letter expresses concern for the current capacity pressures facing prisons due to rising numbers of people in prisons which has been exacerbated by understaffing, inadequate facilities and falling conditions for people in prison. This he says, is evidenced by the implementation of Operation Safeguard protocols which suggests that the system is completely unprepared for the expected increase in the prison population to more than 100,000 by the mid-2020s.
Resettlement
Improving resettlement support for prison leavers | The National Audit Office has published a report examining the government’s effectiveness in resettling people leaving prison, and what needs to be addressed to improve resettlement services. It found that preparing people for release is not done consistently and activities to prepare people for release are not sufficient or at the required standard. Efforts and performance of staff are being hampered by staff shortages and high workloads, and accountability arrangement between department’s work are unclear. Furthermore, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) does not have enough data on its CRS contracts to establish whether they are making a positive difference. The report recommends that HMPPS should consider implementing a revised approach to its future set of CRS contracts to enable providers to systemically report on outcomes achieved for people released from prison, this will help evidence their impact.
The impact of IPP sentences on wellbeing | Following the government’s rejection of the Justice Select Committee’s recommendation for a resentencing exercise for those serving imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences, the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) have submitted findings on the impact of this decision, and the sentence itself, on IPP prisoner’s wellbeing. The briefing summaries findings of 24 IMBs submitted between February- March 2023. It found that three apparently self-inflicted deaths of people serving IPP sentences have been reported in the four weeks since the government’s decision was announced. IPP prisoners reported increased feelings of hopelessness and frustration which is noted as a catalyst for poor mental health and violent behaviour. It also found that progression pathways were poor with many held in inappropriate prisons where courses needed for parole and release preparation were not accessible.
£50m Reducing Reoffending Package Process Evaluation | The Ministry of Justice has published a process evaluation report on its £50 million investment package to reduce reoffending, following the Sentencing White Paper which set out priorities in addressing reoffending, focusing on employment, accommodation, and substance misuse. The purpose of the process evaluation was to provide evidence of the mechanisms of the roll-out, implementation and delivery, capture evidence of people in prison and people on probation’s experiences and capture evidence of how programmes, activities or initiatives have led to improved outcomes. An important element of the investment approach was building internal and external partnerships, and the staff surveyed felt that partnership working had improved, particularly around employment. However, the survey found that investment activity was less effective in building partnership working around engagement in education and accommodation.
Race
Physical health checks for people with severe mental illness from African and Caribbean communities – findings from co-production | Race Equality Foundation has published a report on its findings from a project to better understand whether African and Caribbean people with severe mental illness were aware of and accessing physical health checks, an NHS intervention to detect and treat early signs of physical ill health. From insights gained through co-production sessions, Race Equality Action put together an approach to improving awareness of physical health checks which included; producing accessible information; a training package for voluntary organisations to help improve understanding of physical health checks, there importance and what should happen as a result; and a set of peer navigators/ supporters given the clear value which having people with lived experience has in increasing awareness and in advocating for attendance to physical health checks.
Women
Mental health concerns in women’s prisons | The Independent Monitoring Boards have published a report drawing attention to the high levels of mental health need and self-harm incidents in women’s prisons, sharing findings from seven women’s prisons between April 2021- March 2023. The boards found that in practice, the use of prison as a ‘place of safety’ (under the Mental Health Act 1983), and to remand people for their ‘own’ protection’ solely on mental health grounds (under the Bail Act 1976), has increased in some prisons, despite the current proposals to remove the courts’ power to detain people under such provisions. Findings saw an increase in the rate of self-harm as well as impatient and specialist facilities often being full due to high levels of mental health need which meant some women with severe need were held in segregation.
Youth Justice
Restricted status children and people held in women’s establishments | HM Inspectorate of Prisons has published a thematic review of restricted status for children and people held in women’s establishments. Their findings showed weaknesses in the assessment of women and children’s specific risks before deciding to apply extensive additional security measures. Those held under restricted status found it difficult to access important rehabilitative interventions, critical to the reduction of their risks, and in many cases were denied access because they were deemed too risky, or there were not enough staff to escort them there. Another key concern was that transfers of restricted status children to the adult prison estate were poorly managed and their risks in secure children’s homes or training centres were not assessed or responded to.
Young people in transition in the criminal justice system | The Alliance for Youth Justice published an evidence review summarising the policy context and existing evidence on young people turning 18 in the criminal justice system. The review examines young people’s experiences of transition through the lens of racial injustice, safeguarding and exploitation and custody, and shows how policy and practice can be improved. Young people at risk of harm, particularly those affected by criminal exploitation and those in care, face increased risks as transitioning impacts how well services identify victimisation. Racially minoritised young people face cumulative discrimination that impacts their experiences and the support and services around them, including adultification bias, a lack of cultural competency in services and lack of availability of specialist voluntary organisations that play a key role in addressing these shortcomings.
A guide to non-policing solutions to serious youth violence | Authored by a coalition of nine organisations, a new guide; Holding Our Own, outlines a framework to tackling youth violence, by investing in young people and communities as opposed to policing as a response to social problems. The report makes several demands, including calls for immediate action to dismantle harmful practices in traditional mental health systems as well as the decriminalisation of all drugs, and the reinvestment of resources into trauma services, mental health counselling and harm reduction services. It states that reforming the UK’s drug policies “can and must be” a key step towards addressing state violence and the reallocation of criminal justice resources to well-funded, well-staffed and specialist health and welfare services will address the root cause of crime and violence and prevent future harm.
The IDEAS approach to effective practice in youth justice | HM Inspectorate of Probation has produced an Academic Insights report outlining the IDEAS approach to effective practice in youth justice, which comprises the five interlinked elements of influence, delivery expertise, alliance, and support. All elements of the framework are seen as necessary for effective evidence-informed, relationship-based practice, and recognised the importance of drawing on lived experience of children and their families. The report exhibits how the IDEAS approach works as part of individual practice, showcasing examples of good practice, and can contribute to creating a cultural change in which high expectations and outcomes for children becomes the norm.
Employment
Hiring With Conviction - an employers' guide | Working Chance has produced a powerful and comprehensive guide which presents compelling reasons why you should be pro-actively hiring people with convictions, and outlines practical strategies to ensure equitable and risk-managed recruitment practices. This go-to guide speaks not only to organisations in the voluntary sector, but to organisations across all sectors. Clinks was pleased to attend the launch event of the guide to hear about its development and crucial significance.
The vital importance of family relationships for those in prison | HM Inspectorate of Prisons has published a blog by Martin Kettle considering the work by prisons to maintain the vital relationship between parents and children in honour of International Day of Parents. Mr Kettle reflects on the difficulties faced during the pandemic and the fact that many prisons’ regimes continue to restrict visitors, refencing one prison where a third of the population did not receive visits. However, videocall is now in all prisons, and contact between families has been much improved by in-cell phones. Six years after Lord Farmer’s review on the importance of family ties, he found that some prisons are taking imaginative steps to support family relationships, however technological advancements cannot replace traditional visits.
Secure Training Centres and Secure Schools | Rob Allen has published a blog, reflecting on learning from the history of Secure Training Centres (STCs) as we await the opening of a first Secure School due early next year. Looking at the provider, Oasis Restore, seen as a much more values driven organisation than the security companies and prison providers that run STC’s, but has no experience of leading a secure establishment. Allen questions the addition of ‘Reflection Rooms’ whereby a young person is removed from a classroom of house for their own safety, and whether these will be different to the use of separation in STCs. However, he notes the encouraging incorporation of young people with lived experienced of custody, with three young people employed as ‘Co-creation Workers’ to help design the regime.
Companies with digital expertise in the criminal justice sector | Russell Webster has published a blog looking at the Socrates Software company and the use of its Socrates 360 platform on secure tablets in prisons and smartphones for people on probation. The app allows individuals to keep in touch with their families as well as their supervising officers and support services, including video calls and a local services directory. Additionally, service users in the community have access to the same course, careers advice, and health and wellbeing information as those in prison. The platform is only available in a small numbers of UK prisons but also in 10 US states.
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This month's edition was written by...
Clinks Policy Officer Bronte Jack
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