New standards for domestic abuse perpetrator interventions

The Home Office has today published new standards for domestic abuse perpetrator interventions. The standards are intended to foster a consistent approach to determining the quality of perpetrator interventions, particularly on safeguarding and victim and survivor safety. In the 2022 Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, the Home Office set out its intention… The new standards are intended to encourage a consistent approach to an area where the evidence base is weak in many cases ...

New action plan for London Probation

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have today published their action plan to address the major failings of the London Probation service as revealed in a number of Probation Inspectorate reports published in October and November of last year. We covered these reports… A number of London boroughs have received emergency staffing in response to a highly critical report from HMPPS ...

Prisoners train in festive employment roles

Prisoners and ex-offenders across the country have worked in a range of festive roles in the run up to Christmas.  As part of a wider push to drive up employment rates and improve skill sets among prison leavers, individuals have been packing turkeys and serving Christmas lunches.  Prisoners from HMP… Prisoners and ex-offenders have been doing everything from packing turkeys to sorting presents this festive season. ...

Will our prisons ever return to normal?

This week’s inspection report into Norwich prison and Youth Offender Institute is further evidence of the harsh reality that our prison system is nowhere near recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. The report makes it clear that, in common with “the national trend”, HMP Norwich was “struggling to provide meaningful work,… Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, identified the lack of a stable and experienced staff group as a “principal cause” of Norwich prison’s difficulties....

What do the public think of the criminal justice system?

Yesterday, the Sentencing Council published one its regular surveys into the public’s understanding of and confidence in the criminal justice system. The survey was commissioned in January this year and undertaken by Savanta and is a follow-up to a similar survey conducted in 2018 and published in 2019. The findings… The 2022 study found that respondents who have had contact with the CJS were far more likely to say their experience was positive rather than negative....

The treatment of Black prisoners & Black staff

Today’s (13 December 2022) HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ thematic review into the experiences of adult black male prisoners and black prison staff is a landmark report. It highlights the fact that divisions between black prisoners and white prison staff are entrenched throughout the prison service, and that black prison staff… Inspectors interviewed 100 black prisoners, 17 key managers, including governing governors, and 66 other staff of all ethnicities....

Radicalisation and the Internet

Yesterday, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service published a new research  report which  presents findings from a quantitative study exploring the role of the Internet in radicalisation and offending of 437 convicted extremists in England and Wales. The report: “The Internet and radicalisation pathways: technological advances, relevance of mental health… The types of websites, platforms and applications used by convicted extremists has changed over time, with a steady decline in use of specific extremist websites/homepages....

Preventing deaths on arrest and in police custody

A new publication issued last week by the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) says that Police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), and health partners must improve practice to prevent deaths at the point of arrest, during, and after custody. The report has perhaps the longest formal… A new report brings together, for the first time, a wide range of policing practice across England and Wales ...

Focus on rehabilitation not longer sentences, says Ken Clarke

Tory former justice secretary and home secretary Ken Clarke has urged a reversal in the trend for increasing maximum prison sentences and a focus instead on rehabilitation. His comments followed criticism over a move to hold inmates in police cells after a surge in overcrowding in male prisons over the last few… Criticism follows need to use police cells to house people on remand ...

Change to Friday Prison Releases comes closer

Last week (ironically on Friday) Simon Fell MP, the Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness, spoke in parliament on the second reading of his Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Private Members Bill. The Bill, which is supported by the Government,  aims to introduce legislation which means that offenders scheduled… A Private Members Bill is the government’s chosen mechanism to implement the government’s pledge on Friday releases...