The recent White Paper on sentencing reform includes a pledge to simplify Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) with the ambition of ensuring that “very low-level offenders can be dealt with swiftly and proportionately, without coming before a court”. We have known for a long time that keeping low-level offenders out… Work with Offenders looks at a new briefing from the Centre for Justice Innovation...
We have long known that prosperity and its opposite pole deprivation vary considerably across the country. The need to rebalance investment in different regions has become an increasing political priority, most recently demonstrated by the debate over the “Northern Powerhouse” and over which cities and towns are placed in different… Work with Offenders looks at a new study which reveals a significant north-south divide in rates of women’s imprisonment...
It has been getting harder for people to get to court over the last ten years. Whether you are a lawyer, defendant, witness, victim or jury member, your nearest court is much less likely to be local. The House of Commons Library reported in May this year that 164 magistrates’… Work with Offenders looks at the findings from a recent national report...
A veterans’ charity, the Forces in Mind Trust, has called for a better deal for ex-service personnel who come into contact with the criminal justice system. In a recent policy statement, the charity makes the point that although the majority of ex-Service personnel make a successful transition into civilian life… Work with Offenders looks at work done by the Forces in Mind Trust to deal with former services people who end up in custody ...
A new report published today (3 December 2020) by Crest Advisory concludes that looked are children are being exploited by County Lines drug dealers because of our broken care system. The report which is based on interviews and focus groups with police officers, child protection experts and charities, and analysis… Work with Offenders profiles a new report by Crest Advisory...
Last Thursday Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak unveiled the government’s spending plans for the coming year. The Spending Review included details on public sector pay, NHS funding and money for the devolved administrations as well as setting out the extent of the damage done to the UK economy by… Work with offenders digs into the detail of the Chancellor’s statement...
Given the very difficult challenges to public finances in the wake of coronavirus (and Brexit), many people were surprised to hear Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that he was going to find £4 billion to spend on building new prisons (with 18,000 prison places) “by the mid-2020s”. It is clear that… Experts are predicting that increases in police numbers will start having an impact on prison numbers from this December. Work with Offenders examines the detail ...
Prison discipline A new report from the Howard League for Penal Reform (Monday 23 November) claims that the disciplinary system in prisons creates a pervasive sense of injustice, fuelling conflict and overcrowding, and should be overhauled, as figures show that the number of formal hearings has risen to a record… Work with Offenders looks at a briefing from the Howard League on problems with the prison disciplinary system...
Last week the Howard League for Penal Reform a sentencing toolkit to ensure better outcomes for children facing sentence in the criminal courts. The toolkit was developed through work with 80 young people in contact with the criminal justice system and draws on the expertise of the Howard League legal… Work with offenders profiles a new Howard League resource invaluable for our readers working in youth justice...
HM Inspectorate of Probation today (24 November) published its annual report, Inspection of Youth Offending Services 2019-20 in which it concluded that improvements are required in more than half of the 16 youth offending services inspected this year. Inspectors found inconsistences in performance remain, with assessment of risk of harm… Work with Offenders examines the probation inspectorate’s annual report on youth offending services...