Chief Prison Inspector Charlie Taylor made the publication of his 2021/22 annual report (laid before Parliament this morning) an opportunity to highlight two main issues: the continued situation where many prisoners are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day and ongoing staffing crisis. The report The annual report… Work with offenders looks at today’s Annual Report...
Interesting new research by Matt Cracknell, a criminologist from Middlesex University, published in the latest edition of the European Journal of Probation, examines the impact on probation practitioners of supervising large numbers of people released on licence from short term prison sentences. Many readers will be aware that the government’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme… Work with offenders on new research on the pressures of being a probation officer...
Educational provision in prisons and secure training centres is woefully inadequate for children in both quantity and quality, according to a new guide “Education inside penal detention for children in England: An overview”, published jointly by the Howard League for Penal Reform and Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA),… Work with offenders on a new publication from the Howard League...
The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, has used publication of two inspection reports on Category C prisons (HMP Brixton & HMP The Mount) to highlight the issue of a lack of purposeful activity provided across the prison estate. Category C prisons As most regular readers will know, all our… Work with offenders on renewed concerns from the Chief Prison Inspector...
In the week that Barristers in criminal cases have gone on strike, there is more attention than usual on the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly bulletin which covers the first quarter of this year. It is claimed that as many as 80% of criminal trials were disrupted by the strike action… Work with offenders takes a close look at the latest official figures...
The parole board will have the final say – with decisions due to take into account factors including the welfare of the victims. The statutory instrument is being laid today which will mean the measure comes into effect from July 21. The move comes following calls for greater transparency after… Law changes made today will mean that victims, members of the public and the media will be able to ask for a parole hearing to be heard in public. ...
Yesterday the Youth Justice Policy Unit with the Ministry of Justice published a new circular setting out the amendments to the youth remand framework introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act 2022. The circular was only just in time as the implementation of the new measures also… Work with offenders on the detail of the changes to the youth remand framework...
Yesterday, one year on from probation reunification, the Institute for Government think tank brought together a panel comprising MoJ Executive Director for the Probaton Reform Programme, Jim Barton, Executive Director at the Interventions Alliance, Suki Binning, and the Head of Probation Inspection Programme at HM Inspectorate of Probation, Linda Neimantas. … Two and a half thousand trainee probation officers have been recruited in the past two years, and the service is currently recruiting at scale for unpaid work supervisors. The Inspectorate however has said that development training needs to be looked at. ...
The first prison radio station was launched at Feltham YOI in 1994 when, after a rise in incidences of self-harm and suicides, two local residents, Roma Hooper (now Chair of Trustees at Clinks, the criminal justice voluntary sector infrastructure organisation) and Mark Robinson (an advertising executive who is still involved… Work with offenders profiles a charity which provides a valuable lifeline to people in prison...
In addition to managing all offenders, the National Probation Service also now deliver unpaid work, accredited programmes and other interventions. Now however, one year on from the changes, representatives from the voluntary sector and community groups in London have said that difficulties remain with pre-sentence reports, sentence management and resettlement. … A group of rehabilitation and offender management services have spoken out over the work that still needs to be done post the reunification of the probation service. ...