Last week the Ministry of Justice published the annual probation performance statistics covering the year up to the end of March 2022. As regular readers will know, this means that the stats cover the last three months of the Transforming Rehabilitation era and the first nine months of the reunified… Probation performance has been predominantly above target during the latest quarter according to MoJ figures....
Inspectors said they were disappointed by a lack of progress in safety, respect, and purposeful activity with the 520 men held in the jail were spending long periods locked up in dirty conditions, with very limited access to work, education, or activity. The Chief Inspector, Charlie Taylor, has repeatedly complained… A report by the prison inspectorate into conditions at HMP Lewes, a category B prison in Sussex, repeated many of the same issues which have plagued the prison estate since the pandemic....
The report looks at the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) preparations for the reunification of services and their transition back into the department, highlighting successes, challenges, and areas of focus for the longer-term improvement of probation services. In 2019, the government announced it was bringing the management of medium- and low-risk… A new report from the Institute for Government on the reunification of the probation service concludes it was delivered as planned with virtually no disruption ...
Yesterday (18 August 2022), Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) published its latest quarterly workforce statistics, showing staffing levels at the end of June this year. They make for pretty grim reading. The main concern is a big jump in the number of staff leaving both services. Prison staffing… Attrition rates for the probation and prison service are causing growing concern....
Today’s edition of the quarterly criminal justice statistics for England and Wales (covering the year up to 31 March 2022) show that while business at the courts is increasing, it is still a long way from getting back to normal. Headlines 1.36 million individuals were dealt with by the criminal… There has been a significant change in the profile of offences going through the courts over the last two years....
The Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab recently issued new rules which prohibits probation staff from offering explicit recommendations (either for or against release) when they submit reports to the parole board. The rules were followed up by new guidance attempting to restrict probation officers’ ability to answer… Regular readers, particularly anyone involved in the world of probation, will be aware of the recent major changes taking place in the parole process. ...
What are separation centres? The Separation Centre model was introduced in 2017 as one part of the government’s response to a review into the management of extremism within the prison estate. The aim was to prevent prisoners with extreme views from radicalising their fellow inmates, presenting a risk to national… The Prison Inspectorate has today published its first ever inspection into two separation centres – which hold very small numbers of prisoners with extreme views to prevent them radicalising their fellow inmates....
The Commission has been asked by the Government to examine the need for reforms to the appeals system, to ensure that the courts have the right powers to enable the effective, efficient and appropriate resolution of appeals. The Law Commission The Law Commission is a non-political independent body created by… The Law Commission of England and Wales has today announced that it will launch a wide-ranging review of the laws governing appeals for criminal cases. ...
Just Get on with it A research team from the University of Lincoln (led by Dr Lauren Smith) conducted a qualitative exploration of the health and wellbeing of prison operational managers and Governor grades on behalf of the Prison Governors Association (PGA). The researchers interviewed 63 PGA members to explore… New research shines a fascinating light on just how stressful a job being a prison governor is. ...
Its purpose is to “promote discussion on issues related to the work of the Prison Service, the wider criminal justice system and associated fields”. The Journal is published every two months at HMP Leyhill and is sent to every Prison Service establishment in England and Wales. Staff don’t have to… If you are interested in the latest penal research, then the Prison Service Journal should be top of your list. The PSJ (as it is widely known) is a peer reviewed journal published by HM Prison Service of England and Wales....