In this month's edition...
This month, Clinks’ CEO, Anne Fox, gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into the future prison population and estate capacity. You can watch the session, here. Clinks has also submitted written evidence to the inquiry. Clinks’ oral evidence focused on the support that the voluntary sector provides for people, both in prison and on their release, and provided recommendations as to how the prison population could be reduced further. This follows the Lord Chancellor’s package of measures announced in October and the subsequent, and ongoing, passage of several criminal justice-related bills through Parliament. Clinks’ CEO and Head of Influence & Communications will be meeting with the Minister for Sentencing, Gareth Bacon MP, alongside the Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation, the Rt Hon. Edward Argar MP, at the end of the month to discuss the Sentencing Bill and the Criminal Justice Bill.
Clinks’ Senior Development Officer for Wales, Bryn Hall, is giving oral evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee’s inquiry – Prisons in Wales – on Wednesday 17 January. This follows Clinks’ written evidence to the same inquiry. Clinks will also, this week, be submitting written evidence to the Welsh Government’s consultation on its White Paper on ending homelessness in Wales. We will publish this in due course.
The Special Interest Group (SIG) on Accommodation – set up as part of the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) – has now met for the final time, holding a session focused on designing solutions to the barriers to accessing accommodation faced by people leaving prison. We will share plans for the next steps in this group’s work in next month’s briefing. The SIG on Commissioning will be meeting for a final time in February (date TBC) in preparation for the publication of a report on the recommissioning of the commissioned rehabilitative services. The RR3’s final SIG of this financial year, on staffing, will be holding its first session on Wednesday 24 January. We will also update on the next steps of the Employment SIG in next month’s briefing.
Clinks will also be focusing on early intervention and diversion for women in contact with the criminal justice system in conjunction with the Women in the Criminal Justice System Expert Group. We will be producing a paper, supported by members of the Expert Group and Clinks’ Women’s Network Forum, highlighting best practice in this area. If this work is of interest to your organisation, then please do get in contact with our Head of Influence & Communications, Sam Julius – sam.julius@clinks.org
Care Experience | HM Prison and Probation Service is updating their strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system (CJS). This will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experience and outcomes for those with care experience in the CJS and will link to wider departmental efforts to address racial disproportionality in the CJS.
Running of HMP Lowdham Grange | In December the Ministry of Justice announced that it has taken over the running of HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire for an interim period to improve stability and security. This decision follows slow progress to improve standards following the unannounced inspection by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in the Summer of 2023 which showed the prison was unsafe and failing to rehabilitate people. The Prison Service will work closely with the operator Sodexo to take immediate steps, including bringing in a new governor and experienced HM Prison and Probation staff to stabilise the prison.
Preferred candidate for HM Chief Inspector of Probation announced | The Ministry of Justice has announced its preferred candidate for the role of HM Chief Inspector of Probation. Following an assessment process conducted following the Governance Code on Public Appointments, Martin Jones has been selected as the preferred candidate. Mr Jones has been the Chief Executive of the Parole Board since 2015. Previously, he has also been Deputy Director for Sentencing Policy between 2012 and 2015, and as Head of Crime for HM Courts and Tribunal Service from 2008 to 2011. Mr Jones also appeared before the House of Commons Justice Committee on Tuesday 12 December 2023 for a pre-appointment hearing.
Consultation on drug prevention policies and landscapes across UK | The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has been commissioned by the government to provide advice into drug prevention for young people. Supporting the government’s wider 10-year National Drugs Strategy. The ACMD Preventing Standard Committee has been established to provide advice and aims to publish by Spring 2024, consisting of a whole-system response embedded with national and local measures. The call for evidence for this report seeks insight into current government-led drug prevention measures and the prevention landscape across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, to support in the ACMD making recommendations regarding effective interventions and service models. The deadline for this consultation closes at 11.59pm on 13 February 2024.
Prison Population Statistics 2024 | The latest prison populations figures have been published for 2024. As of 5 January 2024, the total prison population was 87,448 (83,877 for the male estate and 3,571 in the female estate), with the total useable operation capacity at 88,956 places. This time last year the total population was 82,212.
Thematic Inspection of IPP Recall Decisions | HM Inspectorate of Probation published its report on the thematic inspection of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) recall decisions to determine whether recall decisions were proportionate to the risks presented. The inspection found that too often people did not get enough support to prepare for release and to cope in the community, resulting in a breakdown in behaviour and consequently initiation of recall, and in some cases, more could have been down to pre-empt issues resulting in recall. The report puts forward recommendations to increase the prospect of those on IPP license coping in the community and help reduce the numbers recalled to prison. It calls for better continuity in case management as well as better multi-agency management to improve access to appropriate resources post release, to avoid an escalation in risk.
Action Plan for Thematic Inspection of IPP Recall Decisions | HM Prison and Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have published their action plan in response to thematic inspection of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) recall decisions, by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. All eleven recommendations from the inspection report were agreed to, including working with other government departments to ensure that those serving IPP sentences can access healthcare, drug treatment and support with securing employment. In response to this the MoJ agreed to working to ensure the Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme compliments the temporary accommodation service for prison leavers at risk of homelessness, helping to build a pathway from prison into settled accommodation. They also noted the introduction of resettlement passports in December 2024, to facilitate effective delivery of resettlement support.
4O years of INQUEST | INQUEST published a report that reflects on the history of its work over the last 40 years. It provides a snapshot of the organisation’s work, focussing on notable moments and achievements by identifying thematic strands. These include how INQUEST works to support families, the influence and expertise the organisation exerts and shares, and how raising awareness and challenging state narratives has changed the landscape of how contentious deaths are viewed. In the report, INQUEST concludes that it has helped to politicise deaths and ensure more challenging questions are asked around state related deaths and their investigations. However, it also raises concerns for the future including that funding will continue to be hard won, and that the political landscape appears to be in a constant state of flux.
Understanding cultural change | A new study has been published by the Ministry of Justice exploring the cultural changes in one prison which had taken place over a period of transformation with the aim of identifying the mechanisms that had brought these changes about. The study combines retrospective case study design, interviews and focus groups from one hundred and sixty-seven participants, as well as thematic analysis to understand people’s experience of living and working at the prison during different time periods (including the Covid-19 pandemic), and to explore potential mechanisms of change. It found that key change-enabling conditions included readiness and desire for change and improvement, receiving additional investment, togetherness in the face of adversity, people-focused leadership, and in relation to Covid-19, a restricted regime and stability of the population as well as easing of central demands and scrutiny.
Alcohol Monitoring Tags Statistics | The Ministry of Justice published its recent statistics on alcohol monitoring tags, showing that around 2800 people wore an alcohol tag over the Christmas and New Year period as part of their Community Orders or Suspended Sentence Orders. This is an increase of around 1000 people from the same time last year following the Government’s drive to double the number of people on tags at any one time by 2025. Of the alcohol tags used to monitor alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirements (AAMR), as of November 2023 the tags did not register a tamper of alcohol alert 97.3% of the days worn since their introduction in October 2020.
Better Community Sentences | The House of Lords has produced an updated report on community sentencing, putting forward proposals to make the most out of the use of community sentences. This includes a commitment to increased funding, making rehabilitative services more widely available to provide a pathway to rehabilitation. It adds that the adult probation population would benefit from approaches used by the Youth Offending Services which utilised local partnerships, as well as the wraparound support offered to women. The report calls for greater trust from the Probation Service in the expertise and experience of voluntary organisations, particularly in the treatment space as well as improvements to the commissioning and operation of contracts.
Bringing closed worlds into the open | HM Inspectorate of Prisons published a blog looking at the work it has been doing with Royal Holloway to make 20 years of prisoner survey data available to other researchers. Anonymised prison survey data from over 100,000 questionnaire responses is now available to researchers on the UK DATA service, and users can also apply for a more detailed Special Licence version of data via the UK Data Service website. The survey questions used cover all aspects of who people are and their experiences of prison. It is hoped that access to the data will enhance others’ research and enrich understanding of the prison community.
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This month's edition was written by...
Clinks Policy and Communications Officer, Bronte Jack
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