Yesterday the Parole Board published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2021/22. This is, of course, something which, like many public bodies, it is required by law to do and, most years, the report would be a pretty dull year. However, this has not been a normal year for the… The Parole Board's annual report shines a light on how it has coped during a difficult year...
Since April 2021, the percentage of those leaving prison who find employment within six weeks has been gradually increasing. In July 2021, it stood at 10.4 per cent, compared with 15.5 per cent in March of this year. Meanwhile, cumulative figures show that between July 2021 and March 2022, 3,863… The MoJ has released statistics which show that the number of former offenders finding work within six weeks of release has increased by almost 50% between last July and March of this year. ...
The title of the white paper: “Swift, Certain, Tough” makes the government’s intentions pretty clear although whether the current Home Secretary Priti Patel will be in place to see it through obviously depends on the outcome of the current elections for Conservative leader and Prime Minister. A Three-Tier approach The… The Home Office has just published a white paper dedicated to reducing demand for drugs by introducing new “consequences” for the possession of recreational ones....
Three ‘Problem-Solving Courts’ (PSCs) are being piloted as part of the Government’s new 10-year Drug Strategy, “From harm to hope”, based on evidence that this approach will most effectively turn such offenders away from crime and protect the public. The Government employs its usual robust rhetoric, saying that the courts… The Ministry of Justice has announced new problem-solving courts designed to tackle crime committed by offenders with drug and/or alcohol problems....
The three main criminal justice inspectorates (HM Inspectorate of Probation, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons) have today published a joint inspection report which concludes that currently MAPPA is under-used and inconsistently applied. MAPPA is the process through which various agencies such… Work with offenders examines a new joint inspection report into the management of high risk offenders....
The Chief of the Magistrate’s Association, Tom Franklin, has said that the move to remote hearings “is something that concerns us”. He clarified that he wasn’t saying that there isn’t a place for remote hearings, but that the “headlong rush into it without proper research” was a concern. From a… 76 per cent of magistrates gave remote hearings the thumbs down during a Justice Committee panel on adult custodial remand. ...
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...