50% of operational prison staff do not feel safe at work and less than one quarter of Band 2-5 staff agree that the physical working conditions at their prison are adequate, the House of Commons Justice Committee has found. The chairman of the committee, Sir Bob Neill, has called the… The House of Commons Justice Committee has carried out a survey of Band 2 and Band 3-5 prison staff. ...
Earlier this week the Home Office published the latest statistics from its Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), covering the year 2022. The Unit gave advice or support in just 302 cases, compared to 337 in the previous year, 759 in 2020 and over one thousand in every year of the preceding… In 2022, the Home Office FMU handled cases relating to 25 ‘focus countries’, excluding the UK. ...
A pilot will be launched of Community Payback rapid deployment teams who will attend reports of fly-tipping or vandalism within 48 hours of the Probation Service receiving a report. The six month pilot will see offenders serving community payback sentences being sent out to communities across the country to carry… The teams will be sent to clean up fly-tipping or vandalism within 48 hours of a report being sent to the Probation Service. ...
Based on a survey of more than a third of magistrates’ courts, the report has revealed that a largely inaccessible court estate threatens to undermine the efficiency of courts and equal access to justice. The Magistrates’ Association is the membership body for magistrates in England and Wales and was founded… The Magistrates’ Association has just published a landmark report on the accessibility of magistrates’ courts across England and Wales....
Two years on from the government’s End-to-End Rape Review, far too many victims and survivors of rape continue to be failed, according to a new report released today by Centre for Women’s Justice, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Imkaan and Rape Crisis England & Wales. The Government’s Rape Review… Despite marginal progress, charging, prosecution and conviction rates still fall short of the government’s own targets a review has found....
The research undertaken by Kristina Gray, Rachael Finn, Joanna Gent & Kezia Huttlestone examines the impact of a PSR oral or fast delivery report on the reason that a court order (or sentence) terminated. This analysis specifically looks at adults sentenced to a Community Order or Suspended Sentence Order (with… The Ministry of Justice has just published new research on the impact of oral and fast delivery pre-sentence reports (PSRs) on the completion of court orders. ...
Former probation staff have cited lack of psychological support as well as management style as reasons for their resignation. It forms part of a study conducted by Laura Haggar and Michelle McDermott from the University of Portsmouth and published in Probation Quarterly into probation officers' reasons for resignation. 47 participants… A study has been completed by Laura Haggar and Michelle McDermott from the University of Portsmouth and published in Probation Quarterly. ...
The Probation Inspectorate has today published its second annual report of Serious Further Offence (SFO) reviews, with the headline conclusion being that assessments of the risk of harm people on probation pose remain inaccurate and incomplete. The report also says that not enough is being done to stop people on… Chief Probation Inspector Justin Russell has attributed the declining performance around risk assessment to low staffing levels....
Hiring with conviction Working Chance, the employment charity for women with convictions, has just published a new guide to recruiting and supporting people with a criminal record. The guide is split into four main sections: Why recruit people with convictions How to recruit people with convictions Dealing with disclosure of a criminal… In England and Wales, there are around 12.3 million people with a criminal record....
A new briefing paper from the Prison Reform Trust sets out the concerns of many criminal justice commentators and lawyers around the proposed changes to the parole system put forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill currently under consideration by parliament. The penal reform charity argues that Part Three of… The Prison Reform Trust says the Bill undermines the independence of the Parole Board and its function as a court like body....