The impact of the justice system on children with special needs

A new briefing from the Centre for Justice Innovation (CJI) highlights the damaging impact on children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who come in contact with the criminal justice system. Recent Government statistics reveal that 80% of cautioned or sentenced children had received a diagnosis of some level… Recent Government statistics reveal that 80% of cautioned or sentenced children had received a diagnosis of some level of Special Educational Need....

Increase in football violence: the figures

There were 2,198 arrests, a big jump on the number from three seasons previously, the most recent realistic comparison since the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons were significantly impacted by the pandemic restrictions meaning that crowds were much lower – or even non-existent. This is significant because there had been a… Yesterday the Home Office published its annual statistics on football related arrests and banning orders for the 2021-2022 season. ...

“Dysfunctional” custody system failing girls

The national youth custody system is failing to provide very vulnerable girls with the environment and support they need, according to a joint thematic inspection by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, HM Inspectorate of Probation, Ofsted, Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) published today. Inspectors spoke to girls… At the time of the inspection, there were just 14 girls in custody across the whole of England and Wales...

Changing Tunes – the rehabilitative power of music

This is the tenth article in our occasional series on key independent organisations operating within the criminal justice sector which profiles the work of the charity Changing Tunes. About the charity Changing Tunes was formed in the early 1987 with the mission to use music to help people in contact… We profile a charity that uses music to help people in the criminal justice system to turn their lives around ...

New resource for youth justice practitioners

The Youth Justice Board has adopted Constructive Resettlement as its ‘theory of change’, championing it as a new, actionable approach for the sector, with a clear, united focus. The aim of the resource is to support youth justice practitioners in implementing Constructive Resettlement in their daily work to achieve sustained,… The London Resettlement Partnership (LRP) has just launched a new resource hub which acts as a central source of Constructive Resettlement guidance ...

Concerns about prison-probation merger

A new leadership model The Ministry of Justice has just announced what it describes as ”a new leadership model” for HMPPS. Two new Director General (DG) posts have been created; DG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a DG Operations. The two new DG posts will replace the existing DG Prisons… A merger of leadership between prison and probation services has heightened fears that the latter is the Cinderella part of the organisation ...

£24m dedicated to support female offenders

£24m has been ring-fenced to support women whose crimes have been “fuelled” by addiction, mental health issues and domestic violence. Over 60 per cent of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse, while 50 per cent have drug addictions. £21m will be invested in women’s services tackling the causes of… The MoJ has today announced funding to support women in the justice system. ...

Probation performance improving

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....

Will prisons ever move on from COVID?

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....

Think Tank congratulates MoJ on successful reunification of probation

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 ...