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In this month's edition...
Clinks has submitted evidence to the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into the ‘future prison population and estate capacity’. The evidence has been published on Clinks’ website, here. The evidence argued that instead of managing the projected demand for prison places, resources could be re-directed towards reducing prison use in the first place. To achieve this reduction, Clinks highlighted that voluntary sector organisations are already providing a range of services that intervene before a custodial sentence becomes an option. These services focus on addressing many of the underlying issues that can lead to people having contact with the criminal justice system and, through appropriate resourcing, can contribute to a significant reduction in the current prison population.
Following the inclusion of several criminal justice-related bills in this year’s King’s Speech, Clinks has written a blog taking a deeper look at the Sentencing and Criminal Justice Bills. The blog explores specific measures within the bills, including the welcome presumption against short custodial sentences of 12 months or less. It also explores the expansion of Home Detention Curfew, contained within the Sentencing Bill, along with the overseas prison rental scheme and the replacement of the vagrancy act, contained within the Criminal Justice Bill.
The first meeting has now taken place of the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group’s (RR3) and the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Commissioning. An interim update paper, following the session, has been shared with the National Strategic Contract team at HMPPS. The first and second meetings of the SIG on Employment have also taken place. Both SIG’s will produce a final paper in the New Year, alongside a paper exploring the barriers to accessing accommodation for people leaving prison – which will be produced following the conclusion of the Accommodation SIG, with a final session to be held on 14 December.
Clinks has re-launched Clinks Thinks, which sets out our key principles, ambitions, and recommendations. This was developed in consultation with Clinks members and networks, and in line with our vision, mission, and objectives. The principles, ambitions and recommendations are rooted in evidence and expertise, and are the foundation on which Clinks seeks to influence governments, funders, and other key stakeholders, on behalf of the criminal justice voluntary sector.
Please note that due to the holiday period, the January Policy Briefing will be sent out on Tuesday 16 January 2024.
Criminal justice legislation | MPs debated the Criminal Justice Bill (which includes provisions for renting overseas prison places) at second reading on 28 November 2023. You can read the debate in full here. The Bill will now be considered line by line in Committee over the next few months. The Victims and Prisoners Bill has now passed through its remaining stages in the House of Commons. Read the latest debate here. The House of Commons library has also published a briefing providing an overview of debate from the Bill’s earlier stages. Finally, the Sentencing Bill (which includes the presumption against prison sentences of 12 months or less) has also passed its second reading and so moves to be considered in Committee. See the full debate here.
Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPPs) | New reforms have been announced as part of an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, in relation to people still serving abolished indefinite sentences. This will mean those serving IPPs in community will be reviewed for termination of their licence three years after their first release, as opposed to the current period of 10 years. If a licence is not terminated at the three-year mark by the Parole Board, it will automatically terminate after a further two years if the individual has not been recalled to prison in that time.
Discretionary Friday/Pre-Bank Holiday Release Scheme Framework | The Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service published operational guidance for prison and probation staff on the implementation of the Discretional Friday/Pre-Bank Holiday Release Scheme. The policy enables people in prison to be released up to two days earlier where a release date falls on a Friday or before a bank holiday, to support their access to resettlement services. The presumption to release earlier can be overridden at the discretion of the Governor where there are exceptional circumstances.
New CEO of the Youth Justice Board | The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has announced its new permanent CEO will be Steph Roberts-Bibby. Ms Roberts-Bibby has been undertaking the role on an interim basis since June 2023 and has now achieved the permanent role. The Chief Executive takes operational responsibility for carrying out the YJB’s statutory responsibilities and strategy, while managing the non-departmental public body and accounting for its funds.
Murder sentencing consultation | The Ministry of Justice is seeking views on the sentencing starting point for murders preceded by controlling or coercive behaviour against the murder victim and all murders committed with a knife or other weapon. The consultation is aimed at all those with an interest in or views on the subject in England and Wales. It will be open for 14 weeks and will close on 4 March 2024.
Annual Reports and Accounts 2022-23 | The Ministry of Justice has published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2022-23. It provides a summary of activities and set out the department's performance against its strategic objectives, governance arrangements and an account of its use of resources for the year. HM Prison and Probation Service has published its Annual Report and Accounts, considering the agency’s financial performance, as well as performance against key indicators and strategic priorities to progress the four principles of its Business Strategy.
Offender Equalities Annual Report | The Ministry of Justice published a report providing statistics on people in prison and serving sentences in the community and their protected characteristics. The report focused on the nine protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010. The statistics detail the prison population, transgender people in prison, mother and baby units and pregnant people in prison, as well as accredited programmes in custody.
Issues, challenges, and opportunities for trauma-informed practice | His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation published the latest paper in its Academic Insights series on trauma-informed practice, presenting ten critical questions including, whether the criminal justice system is conducive to trauma-informed approaches and what good trauma-informed work looks like. Based on a series of scoping interview and roundtables conducted, the paper scopes out points for consideration to better understand how ‘trauma informed’ is being used across the health and justice sector, and to identify the extent and nature of trauma-informed practices for individuals who have experienced trauma but also have convictions for sexual offences.
Remand
Remand Decision-Making in the Magistrates’ Court | JUSTICE has published a report exploring demand decision in the magistrates’ court, following the sharp increase in the remand population in recent years. Using data collected from 742 hearings the report examines the processes and outcomes of remand decisions in magistrates’ courts across England, revealing several concerning tends. It shows that processes for determining bail do not appear to be properly followed, undermining the fairness of remand decision-making, and increasing likelihood of custodial remand being imposed unnecessarily. Disparities in outcomes with regard to race and ethnicity of defendants, including foreign national defendants, are also noted, suggesting biased decision-making driven by perceptions of risk. Recommendations include further data collection on the practice of remanding individuals in custody for their own protection and better engagement from the government with academics in measuring racial bias in remand decision-making in the magistrates’ courts.
Race
The disproportionate impact of PAVA spray on Black, Muslim, and disabled people in prison | The Prison Reform Trust has published a report on the disproportionate use of PAVA spray in prisons on Black, Black British, and Muslim people in prison. The briefing reveals that since PAVA spray was introduced, the scale of disparity in its use against Black/Black British men in prison has increased, and by September 2023 the disproportionality had become ‘normalised’, accounting for 41% of all incidents where PAVA was deployed. The briefing calls on HM Prison and Probation Service to suspend further expansion of PAVA, publish its data on use of force data and PAVA, as well as publish its steps taken to reduce disparities and commission further research in live sites specifically to determine the reasons for disparities in the use of PAVA, by protected characteristic.
Resisting Racial Injustice | A report entitled Harm to Healing has been published, exploring the purpose, role, and experiences of Black-led ‘by and for’ groups and organisations that are working at the intersections of racial injustice and the criminal justice system of England and Wales. The research aims to map the grassroots organisations operating in the sector, consolidate evidence on why supporting these specialist organisations is important and inform funding by donors. It puts forward several recommendations including a commitment from funders to resource an expansive ecosystem designed to effectively address racial injustice and criminal legal system harm, and investment to infrastructure necessary to nurture meaningful partnership and collective working.
Women
Developing gender-sensitive support for criminalised young women | Agenda Alliance and Alliance for Youth Justice have published a briefing paper entitled, A Call to Action, highlighting the severe mental health problems facing young women in prison. The report draws on alarming evidence that in 2022, the number of self-harm incidents in custody 21-24-year-old women surpassed all other female age groups, with 138 women in this age group self-harming, on average, self-harming 34 times during the year. Despite the alarming numbers, young women’s specific mental health and social needs whilst in prison are not being addressed. The organisations demand better collaboration with young women with lived experience to design future policy as well as funding for culturally responsive special support, with further funds for organisations which are led ‘by-and-fore’ racially minoritised communities.
Youth Justice
Children in custody 2022-23 | His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons has published a report analysing 12–18-year old’s perceptions of their experiences in secure training centres and young offender institutions. The report explores who the children in custody are, their perceptions of care, and progress following recovery from the pandemic. Findings show significant challenges around safety, purposeful activity, and education, with children still spending limited time out of cells. To use Chief Inspector, Charlie Taylor’s own words, the report highlights the impact of several years of failings in children’s custody and “it is unsurprising that most (children) do not feel so not feel care for by staff”, with 55% of children thinking their experiences of custody made them less likely to offend in the future.
A joint thematic inspection of work with children subject to remand in youth detention | A report has published following the joint inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation, HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Ofsted, on children remanded in youth detention. Children remanded in youth detention are some of the most vulnerable, with many experiencing neglect, abuse, and trauma. The inspection found that nearly half of the children in the cases reviewed had no previous convictions and some of the remands lasted more than a year. Not all children in the inspection’s sample needed to be remanded, with a quarter being released on bail prior to sentencing, and inspectors judged that more of them could have been safely managed in the community. The inspection points to several recommendations including better collaboration with bodies representing youth justice services to streamline and review processes for children who are remanded.
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This month's edition was written by...
Clinks Policy and Communications Officer, Bronte Jack
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