Public debate on sentencing 'dysfunctional' say MPs

In its report  ‘Public opinion and understanding of sentencing’, the House of Commons Justice Committee concluded the persistence of the view among the public that the system is not severe enough, represents a “significant long-term public policy challenge that needs to be addressed”. The Committee’s report recommended that the Government… Only 22% of respondents to a poll identified that Parliament was responsible for setting the maximum sentence in law for a criminal offence....

Cost of living crisis has higher impact on prisoners' families

With the prison population now at an all time-high, new research published last Friday (13 October 2023) shows how prisoners’ families and loved-ones are facing their own hidden sentence of financial hardship and emotional strain. Survey results published by the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) show that many families,… ‘Serving a Hidden Sentence’ finds that prisoners’ families are often hit by a ‘double whammy’ of costs ...

Emergency actions taken by Justice Secretary to tackle prison crisis

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk was forced to make an emergency announcement yesterday (16 October 2023) introducing new measures to tackle the ever-growing prison population. Mr Chalk addressed the House of Commons and set out two main initiatives to try to tackle the crisis. These focused on: Releasing some “lower level… The average custodial sentence length was 24.3 months last year compared to 17 months a decade earlier...

Government considering exporting prisoners to 'partner countries'

One line in Justice Secretary Alex Chalk’s speech to the Conservative party conference yesterday caused concern and confusion amongst many penal commentators: “We’re expanding and refurbishing existing prisons and hiring thousands more prison officers…And I can tell you today, conference, that we also intend to look at the Norwegian example… The government will now also enter exploratory discussions with potential partner countries in Europe to rent prison space abroad....

Court backlogs hit highest ever levels

Last week’s (28 September, 2023) Criminal Court statistics covering the state of play to the 30th June this year make from grim reading. The Government has made little progress in reducing the court backlogs since the end of the pandemic but Crown Court backlogs had been reducing very slowly since… The criminal justice system is in reverse according to the latest criminal court statistics ...

MoJ steps up recruitment campaign for prison & probation staff

The Ministry of Justice has launched a major new advertising campaign to tackle recruitment and retention, by showing the reality of life as prison and probation officers. It’s the first time the MoJ has ever invested in a national campaign which includes both TV and radio – a sure sign… The MoJ admits there is a level of cynicism over the ‘sugar-coating’ and aspirational language of recruitment into prison and probation jobs amongst existing staff....

The latest (2023) stop and search and arrest statistics

Yesterday (26 September 2023), the Home Office published the annual statistics on police powers and procedures: Stop and search and arrests for England and Wales for the financial year 2022/23. The statistics contain information from the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, and the British Transport Police (BTP),… The number of searches have increased for offensive weapons, stolen property, going equipped, criminal damage, firearms and “other”...

Ethnicity, care experience and involvement in the justice system

Earlier this month Katie Hunter, Brian Francis and Claire Fitzpatrick, published a briefing based on their research into care experience, ethnicity and youth justice involvement. The research is based on an exciting new government initiative known as Data First which makes available large anonymised datasets from a number of different… The research is based on Data First which makes available large anonymised datasets from a number of different departments....

Chief Probation Inspector makes plea for localism

The outgoing Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell, is calling for an independent review of whether the Probation Service should return to local control, two years on from unification into a national service. The announcement comes as the Inspectorate publishes its annual report today (19 September). This will be Mr… A farewell message from Justin Russell, HM Chief Inspector of Probation services ...

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman raises frustration at rising deaths in custody

The PPO investigates deaths of prisoners, young people in detention, offenders under probation supervision and individuals detained under immigration powers. The work of the PPO In 2022/23 the Ombudsman received 4,472 complaints, an increase of 1% compared to the previous year. The vast majority of these were about prisons (4,211… The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has today published their Annual Report for 2022-23, a year which saw an increase in prison and self-inflicted deaths. ...