tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41868902872795688082024-03-16T18:51:53.429+00:00Unlocking PotentialRob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-73797687572899975022024-01-07T17:55:00.000+00:002024-01-07T17:55:51.136+00:00Further Delay to the Secure School <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It looks like the new Secure School is unlikely to take its
first children until April this year at the earliest. The need to replace the
boilers at the Medway site means that construction will only be completed this
month after which the building will be handed over to Oasis Restore, the
charity which will run the new custodial centre for 12-18 year olds.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/34470/documents/189898/default/">Justice
officials told MPs last March</a> that they were hoping that the first
children could be placed there next month , with the <a href="https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1671105279/oasisrestore/mxbkyvmll51clrrv6bg2/SecureSchoolsFundingAgreement-OasisRestore-ConsultationDraft.pdf">draft
funding agreement</a> specifying an opening date of 5 February. But this
timetable involved the provider occupying the site for frontline training and
systems set-up from October 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Justice Minister Ed Argar said last month that the Secure
School was <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-12-05/5313">“on
course to open by Spring.”</a> But further delays seem possible. According
to the latest timeline, the facility will only apply for registration as a
Secure Childrens Home in March. This process can take <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-open-a-childrens-home/introduction-to-childrens-homes">up
to 4 months</a>, although hopefully this much delayed project will be fast
tracked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/05/a-secure-future-stcs-and-secure-schools.html">I
hope</a> that the Secure School proves to be a workable model which might
eventually take the place of Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training
Centres. By the end of last year, the Ministry of Justice intended to
commission <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/41333/documents/203049/default/">an
independent external evaluator</a> to assess whether this might be
possible. I do not know if the evaluation is yet underway. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbIWFNkvKRco52btb8dv101ZjmF6y915-H0KDX2-pFjHRp6DoDx_8J1X8kL4nj65nwB6B7i_-D4B870Ng7FgbFQQbEmQxU91rZC7sXaunqngbXYiq8O2gd7jP0pKEiGUC_zIsDkUuzI5pTd1xxiVB-K6ZSkSJFQsNB5evh_iKOeTOY6I7c3N4pjQ5k-zf/s905/Screenshot%20(554).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="905" data-original-width="870" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbIWFNkvKRco52btb8dv101ZjmF6y915-H0KDX2-pFjHRp6DoDx_8J1X8kL4nj65nwB6B7i_-D4B870Ng7FgbFQQbEmQxU91rZC7sXaunqngbXYiq8O2gd7jP0pKEiGUC_zIsDkUuzI5pTd1xxiVB-K6ZSkSJFQsNB5evh_iKOeTOY6I7c3N4pjQ5k-zf/s320/Screenshot%20(554).png" width="308" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s disappointing to see on the Companies House website, that
the confirmation of information about Oasis Restore is <a href="https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14489313">overdue</a>.
They could face <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/confirmation-statement-guidance">prosecution
or being struck off</a> if they don’t provide the information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Let’s hope it’s just an administrative
oversight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-81038694893980333662023-12-30T18:00:00.000+00:002023-12-30T18:00:56.957+00:00Will 2024 be the Year of Prison Reform?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">There’s growing recognition across the political spectrum that
radical change is needed in criminal justice. This year’s converts to the cause
include <a href="https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/sir-john-major-we-over-use-prison-and-under-value-alternative-sentences/">John
Major</a> who argued in May that “we over-use prison and under value
alternative sentences; ” former Labour Home <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/12/28/community-sentences-prisons-vital-lord-blunkett/">Secretary
David Blunkett</a> “struck by the genuine meltdown in the criminal justice
system”, and perhaps most surprising of all, leading Brexiteer <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/12/27/criminality-thrives-in-our-disgusting-prisons/">Lord
Frost</a> who recently wrote of a duty to revamp our disgusting prisons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But how should a new government set about addressing the myriad
problems facing the penal system?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Some, like Justice Committee Chair <a href="https://x.com/neill_bob/status/1740499452585247142?s=20">Bob Neill</a> think
we need a “proper and honest debate about what prison should be for, who should
go there and the costs”. While it might be tempting to try to persuade the
public that the approach we’ve been taking for decades is not working, there’s
no guarantee what conclusion they’ll reach. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After all, for Frost, getting a grip on the crime problem means
sending more people to prison, not fewer, for short sentences and “minor”
crimes. Neill himself supports a proposal from think tank <a href="https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/The-%E2%80%98Wicked-and-the-Redeemable.pdf">Policy
Exchange</a> for mandatory minimum prison terms of at least two years to be
imposed on ‘Hyper-Prolific Offenders’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
measure which could overwhelm prisons with people convicted of theft. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There may be little evidence behind Frost’s view
that unless people think they might actually end up in prison, there will be no
deterrence - but many probably share it .<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Instead of a debate, what’s needed is some systemic change to
drive and oversee reform. As former Lord Chancellor <a href="https://x.com/DLidington/status/1740418260800258162?s=20">David Lidington</a>
put it, t</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">he politics of prison reform “ is horrendously difficult
for governments of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>any party”, if it
means spending more on prisons at expense of other, more popular public
services and/or reducing significantly the numbers <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we send to prison. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">So, let’s find ways of
taking the politics out of it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">One way is to look at New Labour’s
post 1997 reforms. They inherited a slow, cumbersome, and inconsistent approach
to children in trouble, both in custody and the community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They set up an expert Task Force to establish priorities,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>subsequently creating the Youth Justice Board
to oversee local multi agency work with offenders and to commission and set
standards for secure establishments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Outcomes haven’t
always been perfect by any means, but it
marked a major structural overhaul which remains in place, focusing attention and investment on a neglected
area and keeping politicians at arm’s length. The prison and probation service arguably
now needs this kind of external supervision and oversight if they are to have any
chance of overcoming the current crisis and adopting a genuine rehabilitative agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A new government should immediately commision a Criminal Justice Task Force to establish what changes are most urgently required. In prisons these are likely
to involve action on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">raining and recruitment of staff, the
development of regimes and improved reintegration. Reducing the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prison-crisis-homelessness-probation-reoffending-b2461968.html">600
people who leave prison each month without a home</a> seems an obvious target.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">On the community side, restoring probation’s place as a
primarily local agency looks inevitable. While a recent report from the <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5804/ldselect/ldjusthom/27/27.pdf">House
of Lords Justice committee</a> cautioned against yet more large-scale
restructuring in the coming years, it’s call for much stronger links between probation
and local treatment and other social services in fact argues for just that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A new government could also alter the ways funds are made available
for criminal justice services in order to create stronger incentives for local
agencies to prevent crime and reduce imprisonment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a macro level, with two proposed new prisons
struggling to get planning permission, some of the funds earmarked for more
custodial places could be switched to strengthen capacity in the community – hostels,
restorative justice programmes and women’s centres would all benefit from
expansion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">At a micro level, if localised multi agency probation
services succeed in keeping people out of prison, a proportion of the costs
they have saved could be transferred to them. Creating such a virtuous spending
cycle would help further enhance the way local communities can safely supervise
and reintegrate people outside prison. A new Criminal Justice Board could be set up in law to monitor the system as a whole, working alongside the current inspectorates. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A further measure would be to
revisit the role of the Sentencing Council whose guidelines were in part
originally intended to keep a lid on the prison population. It hasn’t achieved that
in part because <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New Labour </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">backtracked on explicitly linking
sentencing levels with available resources, in part because courts have found ways
to sentence more and more harshly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Requiring government to submit its criminal
justice proposals for independent scrutiny by the Council could bring down
sentence inflation as could a more rigorous obligation on courts to follow the guidelines.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A <a href="https://www.college.police.uk/research/crime-reduction-toolkit/imprisonment-and-other-custodial-sanctions">College
of Policing review</a> published last month found that on average, custodial
sanctions increased reoffending compared to noncustodial sanctions. It said
that “it is likely that individuals who are in custodial settings are more
exposed to risk factors associated with criminal activity and behaviour and
have less access to protective factors to protect them from this behaviour”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">There are strong reasons for looking to drive
down the numbers who go to prison and drive up the standards for those who do
go. Let’s hope a new government has a plan to make it happen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-65172548620656769982023-12-24T17:31:00.001+00:002024-01-03T12:33:46.963+00:00A Year in Youth Custody<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">2023 has been yet another dispiriting year for most of the
children in custody in Young Offender Institutions (YOI) and the one remaining Secure
Training Centre (STC). Prison Inspector Charlie Taylor <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/11/Children-in-custody-web-2023-2.pdf">reported</a>
that “many spend most of their sentence locked up alone in their cell with very
little human contact. Despite employing hundreds of staff and dozens of
managers, most sites are unable to deliver one meaningful conversation with
each child a week”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In April he found “a complete breakdown of behaviour
management” at <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/04/HMYOI-Cookham-Wood-Urgent-Notification-1.pdf">Cookham
Wood YOI</a> to the point where there was
widespread weapon making and six months later reported that systems for safeguarding
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>children at <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/11/Werrington-web-2023.pdf">Werrington
YO</a>I were in disarray. Over the last 12 months, almost <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-12-05/5300">900
safeguarding referrals</a> have been made about children in custody whose wellbeing
has been a cause of concern. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Parc YOI in South Wales has been an exception to this dismal
picture and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50233173">Oakhill STC</a> has seen “a
tangible change in culture, with children being recognised and treated as
children first and foremost”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the number
of incidents of violence and aggression at Oakhill was still impacting on
children’s day-to-day experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Thanks to parliamentary questions by Labour’s energetic new
Shadow Minister Janet Daby, we have learned that <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-11-28/4262">almost
18%</a> of staff in the youth custody estate have left over the last year– in 2010
the rate was 5%. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This year,</span> the <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-12-05/5295">Minister
for Prisons, Parole and Probation</a> made only three site visits to youth
secure establishments;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Secretary of
State for Justice and the Chief Executive of HMPPS did not make any at all. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">But what about Secure Childrens Homes (SCH) , the third type
of closed setting in which young people on remand and under sentence can be
held?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">As has usually been the case, inspection reports have mostly
been good. This year Ofsted found the overall experience of children to be <a href="https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50235750">inadequate in one SCH</a>
largely because of the inappropriate use of restraint; and <a href="https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50235750">requiring improvement in
another</a> where all new staff were not always subject to the full range of pre-employment
checks such as references. Despite these problems, given the generally more positive
performance of SCH’s it's surprising that the number of children placed by the Youth
Custody Service (YCS) in secure homes has decreased so much in recent years from <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-accommodated-in-secure-childrens-homes#dataBlock-b9f83557-9a0c-4733-15d4-08da9fa1b7c8-tables">146
on 31 March 2012 to 56 this year</a>. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-annual-report-202223-education-childrens-services-and-skills/the-annual-report-of-his-majestys-chief-inspector-of-education-childrens-services-and-skills-202223">This
is despite the YCS commissioning 101 places</a>. Ms Daby should explore why this is the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In the spring, after countless delays, the secure estate
should be augmented by the 49 place Secure School. The prisons minister told Ms
Daby that Secure Schools are a new, innovative approach, and <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-12-05/5313">“it
is important that we take the time to get it right”</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The government has certainly been doing that as the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81a230ed915d74e33ff425/youth-justice-review-government-response.pdf">commitment
to develop two Schools</a> was made more than seven years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">There’s a good deal of uncertainty about the detail of what <a href="https://www.oasisrestore.org/">Oasis Restore</a> will provide at the Medway
site and how much it will cost. HMPPS boss <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/34470/documents/189898/default/">Amy
Rees told MPs in March</a> that their funding agreement would be published by
Oasis this Autumn, but there is only <a href="https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1671105279/oasisrestore/mxbkyvmll51clrrv6bg2/SecureSchoolsFundingAgreement-OasisRestore-ConsultationDraft.pdf">a draft </a>on their website.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Local authorities may be interested to know how much they
will be charged when a child is detained on remand there. This year, (for the
first time I think), <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/310/pdfs/uksiem_20230310_en.pdf">the
cost of a night in a Secure Training Centre (£838) exceeded that in a Secure
Childrens Home (£834).</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Another issue to probe in the New Year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-23878769577785638902023-12-21T16:21:00.003+00:002023-12-21T16:21:48.585+00:00Fire Safety In Prisons: Progress or Delay?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Finally published is the latest <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6582d432fc07f300128d4566/2021+22+CPFSI+Annual+Report+.pdf">Annual
Report</a> of the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI), which
regulates fire safety measures in government buildings including prisons. But it
covers not the last financial year but 2021-22, so up to date it isn’t. It’s
also not clear how reassuring a picture it provides of fire risk in prisons and
the steps being taken to reduce it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Positively, the report says the data on fires “masks some
improvements in fire safety management in the custodial sector which creates a
reasonable expectation that fire risk will be driven down if this continues to
improve.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Yet CPFSI also notes that “the rise in injuries is of serious
concern therefore even more concerted action is necessary to continue to reduce
the numbers of fires.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">On the face of it, the chart below shows injuries to
prisoners and staff have doubled in a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWoflopqMvK1o1qhFIIGtXHqTwscmZnM7JL68O9CGMje6QEMJoZGmf5a8DpmnpqwwGC4_9x5-GpfmOdGktrjO7zaGCtO3zhcTLe4bZp_lLWgki5vIobWR5voRv3TsZKoFs5PosvsGoMBf4YAJqHJHYRa0EJbkMHKeGvJ6yIUr6tCrkEnd7Qdx2sCIghHg/s940/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="940" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWoflopqMvK1o1qhFIIGtXHqTwscmZnM7JL68O9CGMje6QEMJoZGmf5a8DpmnpqwwGC4_9x5-GpfmOdGktrjO7zaGCtO3zhcTLe4bZp_lLWgki5vIobWR5voRv3TsZKoFs5PosvsGoMBf4YAJqHJHYRa0EJbkMHKeGvJ6yIUr6tCrkEnd7Qdx2sCIghHg/w491-h249/Picture1.png" width="491" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">But this is apparently due to the recent inclusion of ‘Precautionary Assessments’ in the data, which cover cases in which no injuries are reported, but a check is made by prison medical staff to confirm this. The breakdown of injuries chart shows that 87% of “injuries” fall into this category. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0Mrj_D-5pqS26hSK3BWjfmFGDwjAxKP7mry6LcMYbbaOXfkYGXYHxKIYn3oJMgZQrdMKviG83xBJ7U5cMn_-PqzCBr7TjnjcMd0J1ksEIsd69u-lnsJ5hatCojqduEQyNiSXi7us_L_PnfJd_8wDm4MImivgZN5CA0FF3tdfWW54zEKlyZsedKOmxRpg/s666/Picture2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="666" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0Mrj_D-5pqS26hSK3BWjfmFGDwjAxKP7mry6LcMYbbaOXfkYGXYHxKIYn3oJMgZQrdMKviG83xBJ7U5cMn_-PqzCBr7TjnjcMd0J1ksEIsd69u-lnsJ5hatCojqduEQyNiSXi7us_L_PnfJd_8wDm4MImivgZN5CA0FF3tdfWW54zEKlyZsedKOmxRpg/s320/Picture2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">CPFSI say that the overwhelming cause of fires in prisons is deliberate
ignition. This is driven by a range of factors – "such as status, regime
challenge and self-harming".</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Beyond the ignition itself, the lack of suitable in cell fire
detection has been the biggest cause of injuries, something which the prison
service has a major capital programme to address. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The latest (much timelier) 2022-23 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/656869f25936bb000d316783/15.85_HMPPS_annual_report_2022-23_WEB.pdf">Annual
Report by HMPPS</a> noted there were still 26,000 places in need of investment in
March this year with a target of meeting fire standards by the end of 2027. An
interim solution of placing domestic smoke detectors in or just outside cells
has, say CPFSI “proved to be a major managerial challenge for prison staff to
prevent tampering and vandalism.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">There are other challenges too – the inadequacy of smoke
control systems and fire-fighting equipment; and of course neither the staff
nor the prisoners can escape from fire as easily as in other types of buildings.
CPFSI have also found that “the smoking ban in prisons has, somewhat
surprisingly, negatively altered the nature of fire risk. Whilst opportunistic
fire-setting has reduced, we have seen an increase in serious fire injuries
linked with substance abuse. The repeating nature of those incidents has raised
a fresh challenge for prisons in their duty to safeguard those in custody.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">CPFSI conclude that HMPPS are aware of the problem of the
lack of automatic detection at least and “are taking urgent steps to address
this problem more quickly.” But are they?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The HMPPS report says that in 2022-23 4,000 cells were
upgraded. They’ll need to accelerate this pace of progress considerably if they
are to finish by 2027. Troublingly, the HMPPS report also notes how “capacity
pressures have restricted our ability to take places out of use for
refurbishment and compliance works”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, the Custodial Capital Maintenance
Programme which pays among other things for fire safety improvement “has
undertaken a review of all major maintenance projects across the adult male
estate in preparation for potential decisions to halt or defer”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The Justice Committee should check with HMPPS and
with Peter Holland the Chief Inspector of the Crown Premises Fire Safety
Inspectorate that fire safety work has not been halted or deferred because of population
pressures. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-89602924072072409032023-11-23T16:16:00.000+00:002023-11-23T16:16:56.576+00:00Improving Fire Safety in Prisons: The Need for Better Scrutiny<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">There’s rightly mounting anger and concern about declining safety in prisons
with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-june-2023/safety-in-custody-statistics-england-and-wales-deaths-in-prison-custody-to-september-2023-assaults-and-self-harm-to-june-2023">latest
statistics</a> showing increases in self-inflicted deaths, self-harm and serious
assaults. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too often neglected is a
further dimension of safety - that which relates to fires. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fires-in-crown-premises-attended-by-fire-and-rescue-services-and-non-fatal-casualties-and-fire-related-fatalities-in-those-fires-england#full-publication-update-history">Data
released separately</a> about casualties resulting from fires shows that there
was one “fatality” and 105 “non-fatal casualties” in custodial establishments
in England in the last financial year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
fatality was the sixth in a prison fire since 2011-12. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The numbers of non-fatal casualties have shown
a welcome fall since 2015-16 but there is no reason for complacency. As <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/08/fires-in-prisons-latest-data.html">we
have known</a> since the summer, Fire and Rescue Services attended 1,012
incidents in English prisons last year up 20% on 2021/22. 21 incidents were
also recorded in what are referred to as Young Offender Units, up from 11 the
year before. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many more fires are started
without the need for the Fire Service to attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>The reduction in casualties may reflect greater attention
being given to addressing fire risks by the prison service. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038765/prisons-strategy-white-paper.pdf">The
2021 Prison Strategy White paper</a> promised to “Build on our work to reduce
the harm caused by prisoners starting fires, with the aim of equipping all
prison cells with automatic fire alarm systems”. A <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6243119ce90e075f1088f5c1/ps-11-fire-safety-march-2022.pdf">revised
Prison Service Instruction</a> on Fire Safety was introduced in March 2022.<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2022/08/fires-in-prison-neglected-issue-of.html">Last
year however, the Prison service admitted that 35,000 prison places</a> did not
meet fire safety standards. They were aiming to bring 7,000 of these up to standard
by March 2023. But according to their 2021 <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-0376-Response-from-HMPPS_Published.pdf">correspondence
w</a>ith the Coroner following the last fire related death in prison (in 2019) the
overall improvement programme was not forecast to be finished until 2026-2028.
There has been no update on progress that I have seen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is clearly a lot of work going on. Lord Chancellor <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/13550/pdf/">Alex Chalk</a>
told MPs in July this year that the reason for about 1,500 cells being out of
action was “principally about dealing with our statutory fire obligations.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is important that the commitment to meet
those obligations is not watered down during a period of intense demand for
prison places. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The body that scrutinises what the Prison service is doing is
the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/crown-premises-fire-safety-inspectorate">Crown
Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI).</a> It is a Home Office body
responsible for ensuring compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order 2005 in 16,000 government buildings. According to its last <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1105456/Final_2020-21_CPFSI_Annual_Report_.pdf">Annual Report</a> it has just 12 staff. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s little wonder
that they have yet to produce an Annual Report for 2021-22 let alone 2022-23.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The CPFSI has <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/12/MOU-with-CPFIG-2017-final.pdf">a
Memorandum of Understanding with HM Inspectorate of Prisons</a> which reads as
if its main purpose is to ensure the organisations keep out of each other’s
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But maybe now is the time for Charlie Taylor to take over
responsibility for assessing fire safety as part of his remit as Chief
Inspector of Prisons; and for the MoJ to publish data on fire safety to broaden
the way the performance of prisons can be assessed. It's too important to leave out of the picture. <o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-1969406349677691182023-11-09T15:12:00.001+00:002023-11-12T08:26:09.115+00:00Postponements or Cancellations?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Along with
others, I was due to give evidence to the Justice Committee on Tuesday about
prison estate capacity. The hearing was called off because the Committee could
not muster a quorum of three MPs to take part. It’s not clear if it’s postponed
or cancelled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Most of the
committee members probably preferred to enjoy the yah- boo politics that
followed the King’s Speech in the main chamber. Conservatives may have thought that
a day about pre-election messaging wasn’t the right time for a serious look at
what amounts to something of a public policy fiasco. Labour MPs may not have
known what line to take. The hearing would have asked whether the government
could have done more to prevent the current overcrowding crisis, its
consequences for safety, and for mental health and what recently announced
measures will do to fix the problem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">With
hindsight, it was daft to schedule the meeting for the first afternoon of the
new Parliament, not least because of the raft of relevant measures announced
that very morning. But putting off the hearing symbolises how legislators’
seemingly boundless enthusiasm for a greater use of imprisonment often sits
alongside a studied indifference to whether and how it is carried out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">It wasn’t
the only postponement this week. The decision on whether to grant planning
permission for new builds next to existing prisons in <a href="https://harboroughfm.co.uk/decision-on-super-prison-delayed-for-fifth-time/">Leicestershire</a>
and Buckinghamshire were due to be announced by DLUHC on Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll seemingly have to wait another month to
find out how helpful Michael Gove will be to his old department. It’s a
potential further delay or worse to the achievement of the 20,000 new places
hitherto deemed necessary to accommodate the estimated growth in the prison
population.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps it’s
the recognition on the part of Justice Ministers that the 20,000 target is
unachievable which has led them to temper their tough policy with <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/654a21952f045e001214dcd7/The_King_s_Speech_background_briefing_notes.pdf">a
more twin track approach</a>. The result could well be a revision downward of
that projected growth in the number of prisoners. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes,
perpetrators of the very worst offences will serve longer periods in prison but
the numbers are thankfully small. Plans for those convicted of rape to serve
every day of their sentence behind bars will affect more. It brings in for
this offence at least the so called “honesty in sentencing” approach <a href="https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/full-stretch-michael-howard-is-white-paper-on-sentencing-signals-more-work-for-solicitors-/20278.article">first
proposed by Michael Howard</a> almost 30 years ago in the Prison Works era.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">But for many
other categories of offences, extending the range of prisoners who can spend up to the last six months of their sentence at home with an electronic tag and
encouraging the suspension of short jail terms will bring down demand for
places, maybe substantially. We’ll have to wait for the impact assessments when the Sentencing Bill is published to see what the net outcomes might be.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">In the longer term much will depend on whether it's the more punitive response to the most serious offenders which will pull sentencing levels up more widely or if the more lenient approach to less serious ones will push the "going rate" down. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Despite
the short term reduction in demand for prison places, it is likely that continuing concerns about running out of space led to
the cancellation of plans <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/01/shoplifters-who-commit-repeat-offences-to-face-prison">floated
recently for automatic prison sentences for repeat shoplifters</a> and those
convicted of various other crimes. These would almost certainly have wiped out the gains in prison space from tagging and suspension and made the government's penal policy look impossibly incoherent. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">But it's distinctly possible that these measures have merely been postponed until next year’s Conservative election manifesto.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-81675258970064017912023-10-28T11:00:00.000+01:002023-10-28T11:00:32.196+01:00Humane Corrections: What More Can We Do?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Lots to learn at this week’s annual conference of the <a href="https://icpa.org/events/icpa-antwerp-2023.html">International Corrections
and Prisons Association i</a>n Belgium- including for me that Anvers and
Antwerp are one and the same place. 900 people from 70 countries exchanged knowledge,
views and some at least colds in a lively, varied and well organised event.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I’m not sure that <i>Humane Corrections: What more can we do?
</i>was the ideal theme for <a href="https://www.complianttechnologies.net/">the
US exhibitor</a> looking to sell delegates electrical weapons (albeit low
voltage) to prevent escapes and assaults. But the conference programme as a
whole included many positive and thought provoking experiences from across the
globe on how to use prisons less, organise them more compassionately and
prevent people going back after release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Some of the most impressive involved efforts to overcome
huge challenges of congestion and understaffing to <a href="https://www.healththroughwalls.org/index.htm">improve healthcare</a> and <a href="https://rwi.lu.se/where-we-work/regions/africa-kenya/">human rights
compliance</a> in Africa; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and to keep
the system functioning <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/frontpage/2023/July/prison-management-should-be-included-in-emergency-relief-and-crisis-response-efforts-in-ukraine--says-international-forum.html">in
Ukraine</a> where 11 prisons have been wholly or partly destroyed since the
Russian invasion. There were some encouraging signs of innovation in richer and
more stable countries too, despite the often populist and punitive political climates,
(referred to by Belgium’s <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/760007/van-tigchelt-announced-as-new-belgian-justice-minister">brand
new Justice Minister</a> in his opening remarks).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">So what were my takeaways from the event? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On using prison as a last resort, <a href="https://www.cep-probation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Capacity-Building-Report-Preview-for-CEP-1.1.pdf">we
were reminded that</a> the expansion of probation and similar services by no
means guarantees a reduction in the use of prison; and that community
corrections impose burdens on people subject to them which can often
be underestimated. <a href="https://www.governancejustice.org/prison-audit">Innovative
ways of getting legal aid to people in prison</a> who might be eligible for
release may be a more direct way to reduce overcrowding in low income countries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As for prisons themselves, small scale detention houses for young
people (<a href="https://seehaus-ev.de/prisonfellowship/">in Germany</a>) and
adults in <a href="https://www.regiedesbatiments.be/fr/projects/maison-de-detention">Belgium
seek to p</a>rovide a normal living experience for residents, achieving
security through staff relationships, resolving conflicts by discussion and promoting
community reintegration. Such a model is costly up front but not long term if it
prevents recidivism. But do the residents need to be locked up at all? There’s much
in common with a halfway house approach although applied at the start rather
than the end of a sentence. Promoted by <a href="https://www.rescaled.org/the-detention-house/">Rescaled</a>, the movement is well worth watching, not least for its focus on <a href="https://www.penalreform.org/blog/nature-based-detention-houses/#:~:text=RESCALED%20is%20a%20European%20movement%20with%20the%20mission,on%20three%20pillars%3A%20small%20scale%2C%20differentiation%2C%20and%20community-integration.">ecology
and sustainability.</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A similar philosophy lies behind the new Brussels prison <a href="https://justice.belgium.be/fr/themes_et_dossiers/prisons/prisons_belges/prisons/adres_gevangenis_haren">at
Haren</a> which is trying to create a fairly open regime for a mainstream, non-selected
and more difficult population. Small living units of 30 people, a softer
approach through personal officers and giving prisoners the regime they can
handle as soon as possible mark it out from the three prisons it has replaced. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In neighbouring Netherlands, efforts are underway to
humanise even deeper forms of custody by <a href="https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/news/study-finds-thoughtful-attitudes-austere-conditions-solitary-confinement-units-dutch">reforming
solitary confinement </a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on the back of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an independent study – an excellent example of
open and transparent engagement with research. Impressive too are Dutch efforts
to improve the quality of food for prisoners and extending opportunities for
them to be involved in preparing it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There was not such good news about how people come out of prison. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Questions were raised about the proper role of individual risk assessment in determining
whether someone should be released early, notwithstanding its crucial role in
deciding how best they should be managed once back in the community. Sadly, lack of suitable
and stable accommodation all too often undermines successful reintegration
efforts, not least in the UK. We can look forward to inspiration on this at next
year’s event in Singapore, a global pioneer in <a href="https://www.yellowribbon.gov.sg/">second chance programmes</a>
involving a wide range of government,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>civil society and private sector partners.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Such organisations were reasonably well represented in
Antwerp, with an impressive keynote from Penal Reform International setting the
scene for the deliberations and important contributions from the ICRC, and from
a US advocate promoting voting rights for prisoners. It was heartening to see
UK NGO <a href="https://onesmallthing.org.uk/">One Small Thing </a>win the ICPA President’s award.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But to answer the Conference’s question, more can be done to
give a voice to people who have themselves been in prison. Not just of course
at an event like this where there was some but perhaps not enough. But in the development of policies, practices and oversight
relating to people in conflict with the law.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-63092273202015953392023-10-16T22:09:00.000+01:002023-10-16T22:09:44.776+01:00Prison Capacity: Two Oddities <p> </p><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Lots of historical precedents for Alex Chalk’s <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-10-16/debates/50D29A75-C1E4-4FFC-A77D-11BBC20BCD99/PrisonCapacity">policy
manoeuvrings</a> today. William Whitelaw introducing short sharp shock
detention centres to offset more generous parole arrangements came to my mind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And two
oddities in Chalk's speech have stuck there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">First his totally false claim that the reason the prison
population is nearly double the level it was three decades ago “is not
principally because of the growth in the sentenced population”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f9959aae90e0740770c85af/Story_of_the_Prison_Population_1993-2020.pdf">Ministry
of Justice</a> wrote three years ago that “virtually all of the prison
population increase since 1993 has been due to the increased number of
prisoners sentenced to immediate custody.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’m genuinely puzzled why Chalk either doesn’t know this or
if he does why he would wish to mislead Parliament about it. And why civil
servants would allow him to say something which is factually untrue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Second his wheeze on early release. He told MPs he’s decided
to use the power in <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/44/section/248">section 248 of
the Criminal Justice Act 2003</a> to allow the Prison Service to move some less
serious offenders out of prison on to licence up to 18 days before their
automatic release date. This section allows the Secretary of State to release a
fixed-term prisoner on licence if he is satisfied that exceptional circumstances
exist which justify the prisoner’s release on compassionate grounds. <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/44/notes/division/4/12/6/12">Explanatory
notes</a> say that the kind of exceptional circumstances are where the prisoner
is suffering from a terminal illness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I wonder if it’s even lawful to use the power in the way he
now wants to. </span><o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-29076472455893496432023-10-12T12:49:00.001+01:002023-10-13T06:18:41.372+01:00Prison Places : Emergency Measures and Long Term Sustainability<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I’m currently involved in work on a
strategy to prevent and combat prison overcrowding. Its themes are familiar enough
- keeping people out of prison through more diversion, less pre-trial detention,
and better community based sanctions; encouraging shorter and more consistent se<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">ntences; and developing opportunities
for safe and, where necessary supervised, early release. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yes, there’s a strand on developing the prison estate, but much more
focus is on reducing demand for prison places than increasing their supply – and
on the need for b</span>etter planning and coordination across the criminal
justice system. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Needless to say the work is not in
the UK but in Eastern Europe. But as England and Wales runs out of prison
space, the strategy could be useful closer to home once it’s finalised next
month.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">None of the short- term options for
the government here to deal with the crisis they face are palatable. The one
announced so far- delaying sentencing people who have been on bail -must look
the least bad and should produce an immediate impact on receptions in prison. If
that happens, in some cases it might be possible for the Probation service to
use the time to fashion a community based sentence that avoids the need for
prison altogether. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">What else could be done? About a
thousand people a month enter prison serving sentences of six months or less. Suspending
more short sentences could reduce demand in local prisons. But many short term
prisoners have long histories of offending and have, for whatever reason, not
responded well to community supervision. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">One reason may be the parlous state
of probation which, like the prison service to which it is nowadays organisationally
yoked, is <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/09/2022-2023-HMIP-Probation-Annual-Report-v1.0.pdf">lacking
staff, and performing poorly</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electronic
tagging too has failed to fulfil its potential and has faced <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/41581/documents/204905/default/">some
logistical problems</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this, <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/02/raab-letting-prisoners-out-early.html">making
yet more prisoners eligible</a> for Home Detention Curfew at the end of their
sentence could be on the cards. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Freeing prisoners a few weeks early
would certainly create headroom and Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk may have to
announce it when he faces MPs on Monday. But he will be reluctant to
reintroduce anything too much like Labour’s End of Custody Licence which from
2007-10 gave prisoners serving less than four years a further 18 days off the
length of their sentence. The Conservatives said at the time the scheme <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04851/SN04851.pdf">“risks
public safety, sends the wrong message to criminals and further undermines
confidence in sentencing”</a>. But it freed up 1,200 much needed places.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Other countries use a range of
measures to reduce prison pressures, most of which one can’t see working here. <a href="https://justiceandprisons.org/?p=5445">The Coronation in May</a> would
have been the time for an amnesty of some kind but I dare say it didn’t cross
anyone’s mind. In 2012 Brazil gave prisoners the chance to cut their sentence <a href="https://www.prison-insider.com/en/articles/brazil-reading-books-can-reduce-prison-sentence#:~:text=The%20law%20published%20in%20Brazilian,off%20their%20sentence%20each%20year.%E2%80%9D">by
48 days if they read 12 works of literature</a>. But administering any schemes
which directly reward individual prisoners with time off for work, education or
rehabilitation can give rise to unfairness and take up staff time.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Norway used to allow certain prisoners
to wait at home before starting to serve their sentence- the so called queuing
system. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/60/2/363/5529487">Research
f</a>ound it allowed prisoners to prepare for their imprisonment, but they suffered
uncertainty and powerlessness. Political pressure to end the queue led to the
deal to rent space abroad which Chalk quoted in last week’s surprise <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/10/unfree-movement-of-people.html">announcement</a>
of a similar plan here. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Whatever steps are taken to get
through the immediate crisis, a more sustainable approach is surely needed for the
future. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Labour’s answer in 2007 was the <a href="https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/publication/the-sentencing-council-for-england-and-wales-brake-or-accelerator-on-the-use-of-prison/">Sentencing
Council</a> which it hoped “would provide a more effective, integrated and
transparent planning mechanism that reconciles prison capacity with criminal
justice policy.” That role was effectively removed from its mandate, and it has
done little to slow the seemingly inexorable process of sentence inflation. It
needs to play a <a href="https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/publication/the-sentencing-council-and-criminal-justice-leading-role-or-bit-part-player/">much
more leading role</a> in doing so. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Greater sustainability could also be
achieved through Justice Reinvestment - <a href="https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/publication/close-to-home-the-case-for-localising-criminal-justice-services-in-england-and-wales/">a
more devolved approach</a> to the organisation and funding of prison and
probation which incentivises local agencies and organisations to prevent crime
and <a href="https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/publication/justice-reinvestment-empty-slogan-or-sustainable-future-for-penal-policy/">reduce
demand for imprisonment</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The House of Commons Justice Select Committee
produced <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmjust/94/9402.htm">an
excellent report on it 2009</a> which argued that “the prison population could
be safely capped at current levels and then reduced over a specified period to
a safe and manageable level likely to be about two thirds of the current
population.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Whoever forms the next government should
dust it off. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-34207583611278471312023-10-03T21:46:00.001+01:002023-10-04T06:52:30.617+01:00Unfree Movement of People <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I’m not surprised by much in penal
policy but today’s plan to rent prison space abroad is astonishing in many ways.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Politically, the headline “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-prison-rental-to-ensure-public-protection#:~:text=The%20Justice%20Secretary%20Alex%20Chalk,be%20locked%20up%20for%20longer.">Foreign
prison rental to ensure public protection”,</a> appears to make safety
contingent on the availability of cells overseas- an odd position for a tough
on crime party which its opponents are bound to seize on. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">After all, the commitment is to “enter
exploratory discussions with potential partner countries in Europe” about as
far as you can get from a done deal. Necessary laws will be passed as soon as
parliamentary time allows, usually code for some time /never.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Administratively, negotiating the arrangements
will be fiendishly difficult. How will prisoners be chosen, whose laws will
apply to their imprisonment, what systems of complaints and inspection will be
in place? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">If the scheme ever did get off the
ground how would host state prisons ensure rehabilitation, prevent linguistic
and cultural isolation, and enable contact to be maintained with families? And
then there’s the costs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">It smacks of desperation born <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/09/new-prisons-update.html">of
planning delays for three proposed new prisons</a> and an unwillingness to
contemplate the kind <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04851/#:~:text=The%20End%20of%20Custody%20Licence,convicted%20of%20certain%20violent%20offences.">of
emergency early release programme</a> which the last Labour government were forced
to introduce in 2007. It marks a spectacular failure on the part of the Justice
Ministry and arguably of the <a href="https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/publication/the-sentencing-council-for-england-and-wales-brake-or-accelerator-on-the-use-of-prison/">Sentencing
Council</a> whose original purpose was to help align supply and demand for
prison places. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">A few days after the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/charlie-taylor-hmp-pentonville-wandsworth-prison-victorian-london-b2418238.html">Chief Inspector called for the closure of one in ten prisons </a>in England and Wales, there will
be wry smiles as Europeans read that Brits would be moved to their country’s jails
only if they meet British standards. They’ll be asking if they have any poor enough
to pass the test.<o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-3978253923547814692023-09-29T12:29:00.002+01:002023-09-29T12:55:12.855+01:00New Prisons Update<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The government’s stock response to the
recent flurry of interest in the state of prisons is that they are in the midst
of building 20,000 modern new places which will ease population pressures and
raise standards. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7929/future-prison-population-and-estate-capacity/">Parliament’s
Justice Committee</a> will be providing welcome scrutiny to their plans in a
new inquiry, which will be asking if the commitment to deliver the new places by the mid-2020s is achievable and sufficient to manage projected demand.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/06/prison-plans.html">There is
certainly progress</a> with HMPs Five Wells and Fosse way up and running and
HMP Millsike being built. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/29/plan-for-20000-more-prison-places-in-england-and-wales-wont-be-complete-until-2030?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">But the Guardian reports today that the 20,000 new places will not be available until 2030</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Decisions about three proposed new builds are still in the balance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earlier
this month, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael
Gove was due to decide on appeals by the Ministry of Justice against planning
refusals in Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire. Inspectors have reportedly
given Gove the evidence from their hearings about the proposed new 1,715 place category
B prison <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66628036">at
Gartree</a> and the 1,468 place category C prison near Grendon. But more time
is needed to reach a decision in each case. They are now promised by 8 November.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBJ-VL1e4hyphenhyphenWOIz1rTxQhAbJ5LpaarEW5JyVls3KimPkeBXG-Faz9AVQeogMXsUDDu5OPJ2pFMaNRBy5w5zCFJfdjRdRLN-6dV-CYIE9gZUhEU9taFE98Yg1eWaXGr9e_XMCyYfVi7RFt0_fwWlzPHs0rM6AYXMsNl94KQeHrs3Uly5LG1dSEBVmOMjPL/s667/Screenshot%20(523).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="667" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBJ-VL1e4hyphenhyphenWOIz1rTxQhAbJ5LpaarEW5JyVls3KimPkeBXG-Faz9AVQeogMXsUDDu5OPJ2pFMaNRBy5w5zCFJfdjRdRLN-6dV-CYIE9gZUhEU9taFE98Yg1eWaXGr9e_XMCyYfVi7RFt0_fwWlzPHs0rM6AYXMsNl94KQeHrs3Uly5LG1dSEBVmOMjPL/s320/Screenshot%20(523).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">As for
the 1,715 place Category C prison on land next to Garth and Wymott prisons in
Lancashire, an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-66947245">inquiry was
due to resume on 19 September</a> to consider whether hazards and risks within
the local road network had been acceptably addressed. But the planning
inspector who oversaw the earlier stages of the inquiry became unavailable for
personal reasons, so the timescale has slipped. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The back up possibility of using the
old RAF site at Wethersfield in Essex looks unlikely. The Home Office have got
in there first, with <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-66918246">94 asylum seekers
held there at the end of August</a> with plans for 1,700. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Braintree
District Council in Essex are due to challenge the plans in the High Court on 31
October.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">The Justice Committee
will be looking not only at proposed new builds but planned expansion in existing
prisons, the introduction of Rapid Deployment Cells and the use of Police cells
under Operation Safeguard. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Importantly
too they will look at the resources required to manage prisons safely and effectively
and the impact of an ageing infrastructure particularly in Victorian prisons. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an important and overdue piece of work.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-10712830501913661832023-09-08T17:53:00.002+01:002023-09-10T08:05:22.509+01:00Prisons Post Wandsworth<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">When late lamented Lord Ramsbotham
was appointed Chief Inspector of Prisons in 1995 he was told <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2008-06-26/debates/08062689000005/Prisons">“that
a good day for the Prison Service was one on which no one escaped, and no one
was locked out and held in a police cell for which it had to pay.” </a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">He was also told that improvements
were only made by implementing recommendations made by outsiders following
disasters. Could some long term good come from Wednesday’s troubling events in
south west London? Prisons are certainly getting some overdue political,
public and media attention, for good or ill. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">In the short term we are likely to
see heads roll at Wandsworth and possibly in headquarters. Expect too
detainees charged with terrorist offences to be placed in (and moved to) top
security jails other than in exceptional circumstances. In the medium term,
there may be some broader changes to the categorisation framework which has
been in place for more than fifty years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">For the longer term, much depends
on who Justice Secretary Alex Chalk appoints to lead the independent inquiry
into what happened and their terms of reference. We could get something like
Lord Woolf’s report after the 1990 Strangeways riot. It roamed widely across
the criminal justice terrain and urged a balance between security, control, and
fairness in prisons.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Or we could get the narrower focus
of the inquiries which followed the escapes of six prisoners from the
high-security Whitemoor prison in September 1994 and of three prisoners from
Parkhurst four months later.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Highly critical of the ‘yawning gap
between the prison service’s ideals and actual practice’, these noted the mixed
ideologies within the Prison Service, intent on increasing physical security to
prevent escapes but wishing to provide the greater element of care and positive
relationships which Woolf wanted to see.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">In particular, Sir John Learmont’s
comprehensive review of security recommended nationally agreed building
standards, together with the installation of up-to-date electronic devices such
as CCTV, electronic movement detectors and electronic locks. These were widely
implemented across the estate and have arguably contributed to the prison
service’s generally good record on escapes since then. But they swallowed high
levels of resources during a period of rising imprisonment and put the brakes
on the Woolf agenda.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Ramsbotham’s comments were made in
a debate in which he proposed a Royal Commission on the state of
prisons. <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comment/lost-world-royal-commissions">This
form of public inquiry</a> which “take minutes and waste years” is out of
fashion and would be an indulgence.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">But a time limited and wide ranging
exercise like Woolf’s is long overdue. All but one of his 12 key
recommendations were accepted by the government in 1991. The one
that was not accepted was that no prison should hold more prisoners than its uncrowded
capacity, with parliament to be informed if it did. Woolf later came to see
overcrowding as a cancer of the system which limited implementation of his
comprehensive agenda for reform. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">At the end of last month, the
uncrowded capacity was 950 at Wandsworth. It actually held 1,617 men. That is
fundamentally why it’s holding one fewer than it should
today. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-35575156796524717082023-08-03T18:52:00.001+01:002023-08-03T19:02:15.850+01:00Fires in Prisons: Latest Data<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Last month Justice Secretary Alex Chalk <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/13550/pdf/">told MPs that</a>
“One of the last things that a Prisons Minister or Lord Chancellor worth their
salt thinks about as they go to bed is fire. It is important that we do what we
can on that to bear down on it, quite apart from the fact that there is a
statutory requirement on us”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-incident-level-datasets">Latest
figures</a> show that Fire and Rescue Services attended 1,012 incidents in English
prisons in the last financial year up 20% on 2021/22. 21 incidents were also
recorded in what are referred to as Young Offender Units, up from 11 the year
before.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Home Office data is detailed but not as informative as
it could be about the seriousness of the incidents. For example, there were 92
fatalities/casualties recorded in the prison data but the category is wide
covering “those with injuries requiring hospital attention, those requiring
first aid at the scene and those given advice to have precautionary checks
(whether they then take that advice or not)”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 250 cases there was no fire damage, and in 414 damage was
limited to the item first ignited. In 312 incidents fire spread was limited to
the room of origin. Yet, in more than 400 incidents more than four vehicles
attended suggesting a high level of concern on the part of firefighters. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It goes without saying that in responding to reports of fire
it is better to be safe than sorry. The Prison service is undertaking a wide
range of much needed work to improve fire safety. The Home Office data reports that
in three quarters of prison incidents an alarm was present and raised the alarm. But in the remaining cases an alarm was absent, or
present and did not raise the alarm or operate. While expert work is needed to
fully understand what this means, we do know that in April <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crown-premises-fire-safety-inspectorate-enforcement-notices/register-of-enforcement-notices-issued-by-the-crown-premises-fire-safety-inspectorate">Crown
Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reported that <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>three prisons- two private and one public- had
enforcement notices in force, meaning necessary safety improvements of some sort were
outstanding.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fires have claimed many lives in detention facilities around
the world and its encouraging to see Chalk take the problem seriously. It is
more troubling to read that his cabinet colleague the deputy Prime Minister
considers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2023/aug/03/oliver-dowden-asylum-seekers-bibby-stockholm-uk-politics-live?filterKeyEvents=false">concerns
about fire risks in asylum seeker accommodation</a> to be politically motivated.
<o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-68716639906883113022023-06-16T16:50:00.004+01:002023-09-01T14:52:27.266+01:00Prison Plans<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How
is the government doing on its pledge to create 20,000 new prison places by the
mid 2020’s? With prison numbers projected to rise from the current 85,000 to
between </span><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1138135/Prison_Population_Projections_2022_to_2027.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">93,000 and 106,000 by 2027</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, what’s been touted as </span><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038765/prisons-strategy-white-paper.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the largest prison building programme for 100
years</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> deserves close monitoring. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Prisons
</span><a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-06-02/187210"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Minister Damian Hinds</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> wrote this week that “at least c.6,400 new
prison places are anticipated to be delivered by the end of May 2024, rising to
c.8,200 by the end of May 2025.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in
the absence of one published master plan setting out when and where the new cells
are expected to come into being, it’s not as easy as it should be to keep track
of progress. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
this first of three blogs, I describe where things stand with the
largest component of the programme- the building of new prisons. The next one will look at how <i>existing </i>prisons are being expanded and converted to
produce more space; and a third will offer some reflections on the process of
planning, designing, and constructing additional prison places. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/6062/documents/68202/default/">The
MoJ are aiming</a> for 9,800 places to be built in six new prisons built from
scratch. Of these, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way, both Category C
resettlement prisons are already open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="https://hmpfivewells.co.uk/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Five Wells</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> run by G4S, built on the site of the old Wellingborough
Prison took its first prisoners early last year. It should have the space to
accommodate 1,680 men, though at the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I5SIr6r0wUv_ED-kwy3-dNK61qP7_x1g/view?usp=drive_link">end
of May 2023, it</a>s population was 1,407 and operational capacity 1,420. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Serco
run Fosse Way opened its doors at the end of last month despite </span><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/40189/documents/196313/default/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“minor construction activity”</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> continuing on what was formerly the Leicestershire
site of HMP/YOI Glen Parva. Fosse Way will eventually hold 1,715 men with plans
already agreed for a further 250 places to be added.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Further
north, construction work is underway on one further Category C men’s prison,
<a href="https://pceltd.co.uk/projects/current-projects/hmp-millsike">HMP Millsike</a> (situated on land opposite the existing HMP Full Sutton in the
East Riding of Yorkshire). After it opens in 2025, it will have a capacity of 1,440.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
three Cat C prisons will add up to 5,085 places to the prison estate. For the
MoJ, so far so good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">More
problematic is that planning permission for three further new prisons has not
yet been granted with the MoJ in the midst of appeals against each of the refusals
by the local authorities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">First,
in December 2021, Chorley Council<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="https://chorley.gov.uk/media/1983/A100-Decision-Notice/pdf/A100_-_Decision_Notice.pdf?m=637909141328670000"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">refused planning permission</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> for a 1,715 place Cat C prison on land next
to Garth and Wymott prisons in Lancashire due to the impact it would have on
the Green Belt and on road safety. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The local
councillors’ decision was made against the advice of their officers, but reflected
strongly held concerns of local residents, expressed via the <a href="http://www.no3rdprison.org.uk/">Ulnes and Walton Action Group</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPO0tqcQK_k2iAgQP3j9dGtLouIjEAcfaXjNLeTwhozK2WzQLR22ziKn21YBqyfJiLh-PAhEPW2cMREZ1OZx6Paw--S-csHT1_ieuC_ah4dwRdcbzC-Jd1DJvVO7w6zgFz6E3visf5jbcIo5VstAVgogKi5rzWsyduVeqpqvwg0KGhFNBDzL-w6Ot_kw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="1218" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPO0tqcQK_k2iAgQP3j9dGtLouIjEAcfaXjNLeTwhozK2WzQLR22ziKn21YBqyfJiLh-PAhEPW2cMREZ1OZx6Paw--S-csHT1_ieuC_ah4dwRdcbzC-Jd1DJvVO7w6zgFz6E3visf5jbcIo5VstAVgogKi5rzWsyduVeqpqvwg0KGhFNBDzL-w6Ot_kw" width="320" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Following
<a href="https://www.chorley.gov.uk/article/2612/Planning-appeals-HM-Prison-Wymott">an
inquiry in July 2022</a>, the Planning Inspector recommended the MoJ’s appeal
be dismissed. But ministers in the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and
communities disagreed. </span><a href="https://chorley.gov.uk/media/2676/23-01-19-DL-IR-Land-Adjacent-to-HMP-Garth-and-HMP-Wymott-Leyland-Lancashire-3295556/pdf/23-01-19_-_DL_IR_Land_Adjacent_to_HMP_Garth_and_HMP_Wymott_Leyland_Lancashire_3295556.pdf?m=638143174015530000"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Secretary of State, former Justice
Secretary Michael Gove, “is minded to allow the appeal</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> and grant planning permission”, subject to
the hazards and risks within the local road network being acceptably addressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The inquiry will re-open on 19 September 2023
to consider whether they have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Second,
in March 2022, Buckinghamshire Council’s turned down plans for a 1,468 place
Category C prison next to HMP Grendon, concerned about limited transport access
and adverse impact on the local environment. The MoJ appealed and </span><a href="https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/having-a-say-and-reporting-issues/public-inquiries/hm-prison-grendon-springhill-road-grendon-underwood-public-inquiry/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">an inquiry</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
was held in January 2023, with a </span><a href="https://publicaccess.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/online-applications/files/17D8F5B944CAF0526DA3A469B5E0D85D/pdf/22_00125_REF-TIMETABLE_LETTER_6.6.23-2513651.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">decision expected by 4 September</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally,
</span><a href="https://publicaccess.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/online-applications/files/17D8F5B944CAF0526DA3A469B5E0D85D/pdf/22_00125_REF-TIMETABLE_LETTER_6.6.23-2513651.pdf"></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Harborough Council decided on 7 April 2022
that the</span><a href="https://www.harborough.gov.uk/info/20001/planning_applications/480/gartree_prison_appeal_inquiry"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> proposed 1,715 place Category B prison, south
of HMP Gartree in Leicestershire, </span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was unsustainable by
virtue of its location and would have a harmful impact on the character and
appearance of the rural surroundings. No decision has been reached following
the MoJ appeal and inquiry held in October last year. The <a href="https://gartreeaction.weebly.com/">Gartree Action Group</a> formed by
local residents told the inquiry that the Leicestershire countryside is no
place for an industrial scale infrastructure project of this size. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Following
Mr Gove’s decision about Chorley, the MoJ is probably fairly confident of a positive
outcome there and in all three sites. In all they would provide 4,898 new
places.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Should
Grendon 2 and Gartree 2 fail to get off the ground, there is one back up possibility
in Essex. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-new-prisons-in-wethersfield-public-consultation">Consultations
were held in 2021</a> about the possibility of two new prisons – one Cat B, one
Cat C -on the RAF site at Wethersfield. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
result of the consultation does not seem to have been published and no planning
application has been submitted to Braintree District Council.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There seems considerable <a href="https://www.thefieldsassociation.org/"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>local opposition</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
option may be off the table since three months ago, the Home Office announced
their intention to use the site to house 1,700 asylum seekers, using powers the
Crown has in cases of national security and emergencies. <a href="https://www.braintree.gov.uk/wethersfieldairfield">The Council’s attempt
to obtain an injunction to stop the plan was refused and an outcome of their
appeal against that decision is awaited following a hearing this week.</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Beyond
that, despite exhaustive searches of central and local government land in 2020
and again in 2022, there look to be no other site options. A search of private
sector land in 2020 yielded no real possibilities – presumably as anticipated
by the civil service wag that named the exercise Project Emu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.harborough.gov.uk/downloads/file/7604/e7_-_needs_case_rebuttal">A
senior HMPPS official</a> told the Gartree inquiry that “From a planning
decision, it would take about 5 years to build the prison”. If he’s right, none
of the three sites under appeal will be ready until 2028 at the earliest. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> So there may yet be some sleepless nights in Petty France. <a href="https://chorley.gov.uk/media/2052/E3-Need-Proof-of-Evidence-by-Mr-Robin-Seaton/pdf/E3_-_Need_Proof_of_Evidence_by_Mr_Robin_Seaton.pdf?m=637909777945600000">As another official said to the Chorley Inquiry</a> "the forecast rise in prison population is unprecedented territory for HMPPS."</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-86251106111937691372023-06-09T14:43:00.003+01:002023-06-09T18:07:50.851+01:00Crowded House<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Pressure on the prison system <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2023">eased
a bit</a> this week, with the population falling by 161 from 85,407 last Friday
to 85,246 today. It’s because since Tuesday, it’s been possible for prisoners <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/02/raab-letting-prisoners-out-early.html">to
be released</a> on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) up to 6 months early rather than
the previous four-and-a-half months. Because of the initial backlog of people immediately
eligible for the revised electronic tagging scheme, the number on HDC this week – 2,059 - is
239 higher than last week. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Justice
Ministry <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2023/24/pdfs/ukia_20230024_en.pdf">expects
“a spike of up to 400-450 in the estimated HDC population</a>” over the next two
months, which will further help to alleviate demand for prison places. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">By how much is not clear, however. About
a quarter of people on HDC are referred to the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1106711/cas2-policy-framework.pdf">Community
Accommodation Service </a>, known as CAS-2. Run by <a href="https://www.nacro.org.uk/services/nacro-community-accommodation-service-cas-2/">NACRO, CAS-2 </a>provides a place to live for
defendants on bail and offenders after release from prison if they lack their
own housing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Increased demand for places
for people on HDC could reduce availability of beds for bailees, thereby inflating
the already high remand population in custody. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s important that plans to increase the
number of CAS-2 beds from 650 to 850 are implemented this financial year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">On the supply side, <a href="https://www.serco.com/uk/sector-expertise/justice/hmp-fosse-way">HMP Fosse Way,</a>
operated by Serco, received its first prisoners on 29 May, although its
Operational Capacity <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I5SIr6r0wUv_ED-kwy3-dNK61qP7_x1g/view?usp=sharing">seems
initially to be just 20</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Numbers
will ramp up over the next year until the Category C prison reaches its full
capacity of 1,715. Construction of an <a href="https://www.blaby.gov.uk/your-council/news-and-awards/news/hmp-fosse-way-prison-extension-approved/">additional
block with 250 more places</a> will start later in the year. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-NWr_vRg36-3zqSFYwrhHIDvRwyCudGVepYVRfFHo8TKSv4Ach5xJoG_xBy2dVVdXvuLYuZ-orONOPXhi-XMm4bc6p86sjNLVX7wkHg6XV-lYnL0Owpvt16Zt51uz24XaQKK87i9M0u-txZVDCqVi8WNmgK9OmVw0QVpX9JU1GqmJVZymDsxb1ThrGg/s1600/Fosse%20way.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-NWr_vRg36-3zqSFYwrhHIDvRwyCudGVepYVRfFHo8TKSv4Ach5xJoG_xBy2dVVdXvuLYuZ-orONOPXhi-XMm4bc6p86sjNLVX7wkHg6XV-lYnL0Owpvt16Zt51uz24XaQKK87i9M0u-txZVDCqVi8WNmgK9OmVw0QVpX9JU1GqmJVZymDsxb1ThrGg/s320/Fosse%20way.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/40189/documents/196313/default/">Prison
minister Damian Hinds</a> told MPs that “Some minor construction activity
continues on site, with no impact on the prison operation.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the prison’s twitter feed
construction was approaching completion <a href="https://twitter.com/hmpfosseway/status/1643965610764713986?s=20">in early
April </a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">While these developments should
help reduce overcrowding, the government expect prisons to be operating close
to capacity for some time yet. Former Justice Secretary <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SKpHdfgS0av_QlGTk3luC92KUZvVwegJ/view?usp=sharing">Dominic
Raab informed the Lord Chief Justice</a> in February that “the volume of cases
going through the criminal justice system will result in significant pressure
for at least the remainder of this year”. Raab hoped that “keeping the judiciary
informed of the pressures in prisons will enable judges to take all relevant
factors into account in the daily work of the courts”. When doing just that in
a case in March which quoted from Raab’s letter, <a href="https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/crim/2023/232">the Court of Appeal</a>
remarked that “it will be a matter for government to communicate to the courts
when prison conditions have returned to a more normal state”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">We still have some way to go before
that is the case. <o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-63894766438973193362023-05-16T21:58:00.000+01:002023-05-16T21:58:55.571+01:00A Secure Future? STCs and Secure Schools<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The last of three blogs about Secure Training Centres (STCs) to mark 30
years since they were first announced in March 1993.</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">30 years
after Kenneth Clarke announced to MPs that new Secure Training Centres for
child offenders would be “<a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1993-03-02/debates/e5d134c4-ed12-4a96-8449-737ef89edaf8/JuvenileOffending">different
from anything ever provided before</a>”, we now await the “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/construction-begins-at-revolutionary-first-secure-school">revolutionary
first secure school</a>,” ironically on the site of the first STC at Medway. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">After a
series of delays, the 49 place Secure School is due to open early next year, ten
years after the Coalition government launched and then thankfully scrapped its own
plans to “transform” youth custody through a 320 place Secure College in the
East Midlands. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">While dreaming
up better ways of locking up children looks increasingly like the triumph of
hope over experience, is there anything to be learned from the history of STCs which
might give Secure Schools a fighting chance of success? There are six main
areas where things will be done differently.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">First the
provider. <a href="https://www.oasisrestore.org/about-us/vision-and-values">Oasis
Restore,</a> part of the <a href="https://www.oasisuk.org/who-are-oasis/our-ethos/">Oasis Charitable Trust</a>
is a much more values driven organisation than the <a href="https://www.g4s.com/en-gb/who-we-are/our-purpose">security companies</a>
and prison providers that have run the STC’s. Its status has been controversial,
with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-factsheets/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-secure-schools-factsheet">legislation
needed</a> to ensure that operating a Secure School can be a charitable
activity at all. The parent charity’s first objective is “<a href="https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/1026487/governing-document">the
advancement of Christianity”,</a> which has raised eyebrows too. But its ethos,
and its experience in running academies, housing and community projects make it
well suited both to run a therapeutic establishment which integrates
education, health, and care and to reintegrate young people afterwards. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">But, and it’s
a big but, it has no experience of having done this in a closed setting. As they
admitted when <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HQZMCiq3mQyagI8FOs9kpS-UXleSb1oz/view">they
bid to run the school back in 2018</a>, “none of the Oasis component
charities…. have been involved in leading secure provision. We have much to
learn.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Second the building.
Almost £40 million is being spent at Medway to create a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HQZMCiq3mQyagI8FOs9kpS-UXleSb1oz/view">“beautiful
physical environment for staff and students”</a>: This will comprise 12 flats
with up to six bedrooms, a laundry room, living area, small kitchen dining room
and staff room, mostly open plan. Each flat will have garden. Careful thought has
reportedly gone into the design, furniture, colour schemes, branding, and
landscaping.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Much bigger
windows than before will let in lots of natural light and students will be able
open and close their own bedroom windows through a secure panel, giving a small
but important element of control. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">When I was a
member of the Youth Justice Board efforts were made to soften the harsh environment
in the custodial estate, but to limited effect. It's so much better to get it
right from the off, so while the costs of remodelling the STC may have rocketed,
they should pay dividends. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Third, the operating model. The bid to run the Secure School submitted in 2018
outlines a detailed multidisciplinary approach and busy daily timetable supervised
largely by residential “coaches”. <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/search?q=wing+and+a+prayer">Much of
it looks highly promising if at times ambitious</a>- for example the idea of enabling
students to practice newly acquired vocational skills in outlets at the school open
to the public as customers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">STCs often struggled
with much more basic problems such as finding ways to cope with challenging behaviour.
While Oasis founder Steve Chalke has promised “<a href="https://www.oasisrestore.org/news-and-events/latest-news/news-post-page/~board/news/post/young-offenders-to-be-called-students-in-britains-first-secure-school">no
guards, no uniforms, no clanging keys”</a>, the 2018 bid envisages a role for
security officers who will be trained in restraint. The bid outlines a token
economy with each student receiving a pay cheque on a Friday reflecting how
they have behaved. This can be cashed in for “Oasis Dollars” to buy privileges
and to be forfeited in cases of poor behaviour. Similar incentive schemes have
had a mixed record in youth custody. In cases where a young person needs to be
removed from a classroom or house for their own safety, they will be taken to a
Reflection Room, with a coach. How different will this be to the use of
separation in STCs?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">No doubt
the operating model will have developed since 2018, in negotiation with government,
following the appointment of the senior management team last year and <a href="https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1671105280/oasisrestore/io43xkypms9pwbk4u60t/ConsultationInformationBooklet.pdf">a
public consultation (although no outcome of that appears to have been
published).</a> It’s encouraging that Oasis has employed three young people
with experience of custody, as “Co-Creation Workers” to help design the regime.
As a backstop, the Secure School must accommodate, educate, and care for the children
to the standards required by law of a 16 to 19 Academy and a Secure Children’s Home.<br />
<br />
Fourth, the children. Asked what had gone wrong with STCs, Ministry of Justice
bosses told MPs last year that nowadays the children they took were older and <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/10294/default/">“more
difficult to manage”</a> than in the past and had committed far more serious
offences. It’s true that the STCs were originally designed for 12-14 year olds but
the age range was extended many years ago- as was their role in holding
children charged with or convicted of the most serious offences. Of course the
welcome fall in the numbers of under 18’s in custody</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-custody-data"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">, from 2000 in 2010 to just 450 at the end of March</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> has heightened the concentration of these most
challenging children in individual establishments, but they’ve always been
there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The Secure School
will take up to 49 children aged 12-18, male and female, on remand and serving
sentences. The <a href="https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1671105279/oasisrestore/mxbkyvmll51clrrv6bg2/SecureSchoolsFundingAgreement-OasisRestore-ConsultationDraft.pdf">draft
funding agreement</a> says it “shall use its best endeavours” to accept all of
those referred to it by the Youth Custody Service. But as with other Secure Children’s
Homes, the Secure School will not be required to accept everyone referred to it.
This may provide some essential flexibility in respect of its clientele,
particularly in its early weeks and months. Particular attention will need to
be given to the very small number of girls likely to be there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Fifth, the
staff: In 2016, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577103/youth-justice-review-final-report.pdf">Charlie
Taylor’s youth justice review<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>found that many staff working in STCs (and
Young Offender Institutions) “do not have the skills and experience to manage
the most vulnerable and challenging young people in their care, nor have they
had sufficient training to fulfil these difficult roles”. Once it became clear STCs
were not a growth area, it’s been harder still to attract and retain highly
skilled people to work in them. Short term initiatives to increase the
knowledge and skills of staff have had mixed results.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The 2018 Oasis
bid sets out a range of initiatives to recruit and retain high quality staff,
including impressive looking training and professional development
opportunities. The challenge is likely to be much greater in the post Brexit,
post Covid world, but it’s the one which will probably determine the success of
the programme. Recruitment is underway now, with the site available to staff
from the Autumn. There should be indications by then as to whether the Secure
School has the people it needs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Finally
there is the relationship with government. One of Charlie Taylor’s criticisms
of STCs was that <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577103/youth-justice-review-final-report.pdf">“operators
can become slaves to the myriad terms of their contract”.</a> The draft funding
agreement seems much less prescriptive for the Secure School <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>than for STCs and all the better for it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">On the
other hand, Secure Schools will be accountable to both the Ministry of Justice
and the Department for Education (and within the DfE to the two divisions responsible
for Academy Trusts and Secure Childrens Homes). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inspection it seems will be by Ofsted alone
rather than jointly with the Prison Inspectorate as was the case with STCs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Time will
tell whether these arrangements prove beneficial. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Oasis Restore website says that “<a href="https://www.oasisrestore.org/about-us/ofsted-reports">in most
instances, Ofsted will not select new schools for a first inspection
until they are in their third year of operation</a>”. This seems much too long
to me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">While it is
important to allow any new institution to overcome inevitable teething problems,
it will be important to form a view about whether the fine words and intentions
expressed by the provider are being translated into good practice. I hope they will
be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.85pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">However, in the light of history, it has to be a case of “Trust but Verify”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-10156129761983172372023-04-11T07:52:00.000+01:002023-04-11T07:52:08.636+01:00Secure Training Centres at 30: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The second of three blogs about Secure Training Centres
(STCs) to mark 30 years since they were first announced in March 1993.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Plans for the new STCs didn’t get an easy ride in Parliament,
opposed both by Labour and in the Lords. Former Tory Home Secretary Lord Robert
Carr led efforts there to allow Secure Training Orders (STO) to be served in
local authority secure units as well as STCs- but what amounted to wrecking
amendments ultimately came to nought. Provisions
enabling STOs and STCs became law as the first part of Michael Howard’s Criminal
Justice and Public Order Act in November 1994.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But delays in finding suitable sites, selecting providers and
finalising what were novel private financing arrangements meant the first Centre
had not been built, let alone opened, by 1997 when New Labour came to power. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Faced with the prospect of buying out costly contracts, Labour
stuck with the STC programme. Medway, the first Centre opened in April 1998,
Hassockfield in County Durham, and Rainsbrook in the Midlands a year later. As
part of a comprehensive youth justice reform, the STO disappeared, wrapped into
a new Detention and Training Order- and STC’s were opened up to the full range
of children remanded and sentenced by the criminal courts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Home Secretary Jack Straw, who’d previously described private
prisons as “morally repugnant”, hatched a plan with the Chair of the new Youth
Justice Board (YJB) </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/crimeandpunishment/story/0,,461071,00.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">to create 400 places in STCs</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">. In the end, only one additional centre
was built, Oakhill in Milton Keynes, though the existing ones increased their
capacity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rainsbrook created a mother
and baby unit specifically designed to care for detained young mothers and
their babies, and those in the final stages of pregnancy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As a YJB member, I’d reluctantly backed more STC places in
order to reduce the numbers of children held in prison establishments. But with
several other Board members, I was uneasy that part of the price was also a
reduction in places in secure childrens homes, including the closure of the only
two secure units in Greater London. When STCs were first proposed, Tony Blair,
then Shadow Home Secretary, wrote that it was ‘insane to set up these new
centres at the same time as the local authorities are having to close some of
their facilities for disturbed young people in communities throughout the
country’. Yet the government he was leading was doing just that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Competitions to run Medway and Rainsbrook had been won by
security company Group 4 (now G4S) who had been running the UK’s first private
prison The Wolds since 1992 and were, for reasons I’ve never fully understood, keen
to expand into childrens custody. There was money to be made of course but
serious risks of reputational damage if things went wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When working on secondment in the Home Office, I’d been
concerned that the company didn’t fully appreciate the challenges of
undertaking such a complex task. At one meeting at their Worcestershire HQ, they’d
argued that professional training for staff was much less important than the
ability to faithfully follow procedures as set out in a manual. So it wasn’t a
great surprise when Medway got off to a difficult start and when the evaluation
of its first two years’ operation found staff confused about the purpose of the
Centre and ill-prepared to deal with the trainees. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">While improvements followed, 16 years later
Charlie Taylor’s youth justice review found that many staff working in STCs “do
not have the skills and experience to manage the most vulnerable and
challenging young people in their care, nor have they had sufficient training
to fulfil these difficult roles”. Promising recent initiatives to provide such
training have proved too little too late.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So how should the lifetime performance of STCs be assessed? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The early years were overshadowed by the tragic deaths of two
boys. 15 year old Gareth Myatt lost consciousness and died following physical
restraint by three staff members at Rainsbrook in April 2004.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four months later, </span><a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/ppo-prod-storage-1g9rkhjhkjmgw/uploads/2014/07/091.04-Death-of-a-Boy.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">14 year old Adam Rickwood</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> hanged himself not long after being
restrained at Hassockfield. Inquests on </span><a href="https://www.inquest.org.uk/gareth-myatt-close"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Gareth</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> and </span><a href="https://www.inquest.org.uk/adam-rickwood-second-inquest-concludes"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Adam</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> each returned a damning verdict, not
least about the failure of the Youth Justice Board to monitor the lawfulness
and safety of restraint techniques used in STCs at the time. The Board, me
included, should have been much more alert to what was going on and started
work on the vexed question of physical restraint much sooner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">What could be termed the middle years saw positive
performance reported in each of the Centres with Ofsted rating Medway and Rainsbrook
“good” or “outstanding” after each visit between 2007 and 2015, with G4S run Oakhill
the same between 2009 and 2015. Serco’s Hassockfield was slightly more mixed
but “good with outstanding features” in its final inspection in 2014 shortly
before it closed, deemed surplus to requirements given big falls in the numbers
of children in custody. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Through this period however, levels of restraint remained
high with a series of efforts to minimise its use achieving limited success. Routine
strip searching was replaced by a risk assessment process in STCs in 2011 but
still widely used. There were probably spells when the STCs provided levels of
care and education comparable to that in secure childrens homes, although it is
likely that a <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/investigation/custodial.html">culture
of control was prioritised over rehabilitation and safeguarding even then.</a><br />
<br />
But it’s the years since 2015 which have been a disaster for the three STC’s
that remained open. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In 2015, </span><a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2015/05/rainsbrook-scandal-requires-woolf.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Ofsted reported</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> serious incidents of gross
misconduct by staff and managers at Rainsbrook with young people subject to
degrading treatment, racist comments, and care from people under the influence
of illegal drugs. Following its transfer to new provider MTC NOVO in 2016,
Rainsbrook had problems recruiting and retaining staff with matters coming to a
head during the pandemic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In 2020 Rainsbrook was subject to an “urgent notification”
(UN) to the Secretary of State when inspectors found children receiving a bleak
and Spartan regime, with little encouragement to get up in the mornings and
senior managers unaware of what was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inexplicably, </span><a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2021/06/rainsbrook-secure-training-centre-what.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Rainsbrook deteriorated further</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">, receiving another UN in 2021 after children
and staff told inspectors of their concerns that a child or adult would be harmed
or die as a result of the poor practice and management in the centre. The
contract with MTC was terminated in December 2021 and Rainsbrook’s closure was
confirmed at the end of last year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">At Medway, in January 2016 </span><a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2016/01/i-couldnt-watch-last-nights-panorama.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">an undercover Panorama documentary</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> showing apparent mistreatment of
young people and descriptions of deliberate falsification of records by staff
prompted a police investigation, dismissals and resignations. Medway was transferred
to the Prison service, who, incredibly, was unable to account for all of the
keys on handover from G4S. Despite some initial improvements, Inspectors continued
to rate Medway as requiring improvement, or in its final inspection, inadequate,
due to ineffective strategies to manage serious and significant incidents.
Medway closed in March 2020 and is currently being remodelled as the site of
the first Secure School.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Oakhill was also made subject to the UN process in 2021 after
an inspection revealed children living in a dilapidated environment, experiencing
frequent incidents of violence and use of force, and being cared for by
inexperienced staff. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Here at least, the situation has improved with the Youth
Custody Service deciding to remove its post-Urgent Notification oversight
procedures in January 2023 following </span><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/34291/documents/188771/default/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">sustained progress</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is the last STC standing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Despite the historically low numbers in custody, the closure
of Medway and Rainsbrook has put pressure on the wider secure youth estate,
forcing girls once again to be placed in a prison setting, albeit a specially designed
unit at Wetherby Young Offender Institution. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Why did things go so wrong and so fast over the last eight
years? Have children become more challenging? Good staff harder to recruit and
keep? Or did inspection and monitoring arrangements fail? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Or are there more fundamental problems with a privatised model
of care for some of the most vulnerable children? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Next month’s final blog in the series will offer some
possible reasons for the catastrophic failures of STCs and whether they offer any
lessons for the new Secure School due to open next year. </span><o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-90630858537194145162023-03-02T07:12:00.000+00:002023-03-02T07:12:29.690+00:00Secure Training Centres: Not A Very Happy Birthday <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Secure Training Centres (STCs) are
30 years old today, or at least the idea of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was on March 2 1993 that Home Secretary <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1993-03-02/debates/e5d134c4-ed12-4a96-8449-737ef89edaf8/JuvenileOffending">Kenneth
Clarke first told MPs</a> he would give courts a new power to detain children
aged 12 to 15 “whose repeated offending makes them a menace to the community”. A
Secure Training Order (STO) of up to two years would be served in brand new
institutions provided by the public, voluntary or private sectors. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The first STC opened at Medway in
1998 and three more thereafter. Only one remains in operation today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clarke promised MPs that they would be
different from anything ever provided before. If he was proved right, it is only
because their history has perhaps been uniquely troubled in comparison with the
custodial facilities which preceded them. But in truth, they represent an all
too familiar tale of institutional failure in the secure care of children. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">STC’s were a highly controversial measure
from the off and still are. Only a few months before they were
announced, the minimum age at which children could be given a custodial
sentence had actually been raised, from 14 to 15 with the implementation of the
1991 Criminal Justice Act. This had also brought 17 year olds into the Youth
Court for the first time. But the progressive tide was to turn very far and very fast.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">In the run up to the STC
announcement, the usual slow moving consideration through Whitehall’s
policy-making machine had been fast tracked following the terrible abduction
and murder of 2 year old James Bulger by two 11 year old boys in Liverpool three
weeks earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were already powers
on the statute books to impose long periods of detention on children convicted of grave crimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what Clarke’s Labour Party shadow Tony
Blair described as “<a href="https://twitter.com/labour_history/status/1215544087941611521?lang=en-GB">hammer
blows struck against the sleeping conscience of the country”</a> added huge
impetus to demands for a new and decisive initiative on youth crime more
broadly and in particular on persistent young offenders. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">So, on secondment in the Home
Office at the time, I found myself helping colleagues and Clarke to hammer out
the text of a speech that reassured his party and the public that serious
action would be taken to get the problem under control without making too many unacceptable,
unaffordable, or undeliverable commitments.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">When Clarke had become Home
Secretary after the 1992 election, he’d been keen to revive the idea of Approved
Schools as a way of dealing with juvenile offenders. These residential
facilities had operated under Home Office supervision until the 1970’s when
they were renamed Community Homes with Education, integrated into a network of
childrens home organised by local authorities and regulated by the Department
of Health (DH). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Clarke was influenced in part by
his <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/458-000-pounds-bill-for-four-juvenile-offenders-1453950.html">local
Chief Constable in Nottinghamshire</a> and other senior police who blamed
rising crime on small numbers of young people, whom courts were allegedly powerless
to detain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clarke thought that local
authorities, who could apply to lock up these children, too often prioritised
care over control and that anyway there were insufficient secure places
available in which to detain them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Based on research and experience, civil
service advice was cautious to say the least about the value of a new generation
of closed institutions. DH officials with whom we,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>increasingly uneasily, shared responsibility
for juvenile justice policy, were downright hostile- disliking the idea itself
and what they saw as an assault on their territory. Until February 1993, the
Home Office was planning what a senior colleague described as a “very greenish
White Paper” to air some options for the future. The context was changed
inexorably by the horrific events in Merseyside and a mounting public and political debate on
law and order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">During a frenetic three weeks, Clarke
was adamant that both new court powers and new institutions were needed. Some
quick and dirty research suggested 200 places should be created in what were
initially to be known as secure treatment centres- “training” replaced “treatment”
not long before the announcement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
were to be five of these new centres.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">DH officials and even Health
Secretary Virginia Bottomley argued hard that expanding existing local
authority secure units- some, ironically, the successors of Approved Schools -would work far better than creating an untested new type of facility. Their, to my mind,
wholly sensible view was side lined after Prime Minister John <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/major-on-crime-condemn-more-understand-less-1474470.html">Major
publicly argued</a> that in fighting crime “society needs to condemn a little
more and understand a little less.” Furthermore Clarke was determined to give
every opportunity for the private sector to run his new centres. So the STC’s
were conceived.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">After the announcement, we had to
put flesh on the policy bones and come up with a specification and sites for
the new STCs, as well as prepare legislation. To inform this work, with DH
colleagues, we visited existing open and closed facilities run by health, education,
and social services. These included three Training Schools in Northern Ireland
later found to have been sites <a href="https://www.hiainquiry.org/historical-institutional-abuse-inquiry-report-chapters">of
systemic failings and abuse</a> (though not necessarily at the time of our
visit); a deserted former <a href="https://shackleford.org/hamlets/peper-harow/peper-harow-as-a-residential-centre-for-disturbed-adolescents/">therapeutic
community of international renown</a> in Surrey badly damaged by fire a few
years earlier and destined to be sold for conversion to flats not long after; and
several schools for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties which
while offering positive care during term time sent their pupils home in the
holidays. It became increasingly clear that local authority secure units
offered by far the best model; but Clarke had ruled out children subject to an STO serving their sentence in them. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">One of our visits was made with a
junior Minister, Michael Jack, to St Charles Youth Treatment Centre. The former
Approved School in Essex had been converted into a specialist adolescent unit run
directly by DH to fill a perceived gap in provision in the wake of a notorious murder
committed by a 10 year old girl in 1968. On the way into the car park, Jack’s
Special Adviser expressed the view that the staff must be paid too much because
of the quality of their cars. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">On the way back to Queen Anne’s Gate,
Jack said he wished that we had seen all these places<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>before the announcement of the new STCs, rather
than afterwards.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>This is the first of three blogs about STCs:
Next month’s will look at how the Centres got off the ground and their track
record.</i><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-7434899090335570932023-02-17T18:22:00.009+00:002023-02-21T18:18:30.029+00:00 Earlier Release for Prisoners <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Letting prisoners out early is not something you’d
associate with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab. But lack of prison space seems to have forced him
to extend by six weeks the period eligible offenders can serve their sentence at
home monitored via an electronic tag. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2023/9780348244595">The Criminal
Justice Act 2003 (Home Detention Curfew) Order 2023,</a> assuming MPs approve
it, will raise the maximum length of the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) period from 135 to 180 days. Prisons Minister Damian Hinds to<a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/33990/documents/186918/default/">ld the Justice Committee in a letter that </a>"this is a common-sense approach to managing the sentence for a cohort of offenders serving shorter,
standard determinate sentences for less serious offences."</p><p class="MsoNormal">When it
was first introduced in 1999, prisoners could spend up to 60 days on HDC, a limit which has been
raised twice since. The first Johnson
government took steps to raise it again in 2019, but<a href="https://statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk/instrument/EpCeVMfc/timeline/KllWh2NR/"> abandoned the process </a>for obtaining parliamentary approval shortly before the last General Election. Hinds says this was done "so that we could focus on the proposals in our Sentencing
White Paper for tackling serious violent and sexual offenders." Presumably letting prisoners out sooner was seen to sit uncomfortably with the <a href="https://www.conservatives.com/our-plan">Conservative manifesto promise</a> of tougher sentencing for criminals. But Hinds says "the timing is now right to make this change," emphasising that "there should be no doubt that when it comes to managing offenders, protecting the public will always be
our primary concern".</p><p class="MsoNormal">Although Hinds' letter doesn't mention it, it's almost certain that it is rising prison numbers that have prompted the extension of HDC. Population pressures have already forced ministers to authorise the use of police cells to accommodate prisoners. As the top official in the Ministry of Justice <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/12628/pdf/">told MPs last</a> month, on prison places, "we are working through
with Ministers all options to manage down demand and maximise supply". This looks like one of the results. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The MoJ say that this time round tighter eligibility
criteria and improved assessment will in fact <i>reduce</i> the number of
prisoners released on HDC. But those who are freed early will be able to come out up to 45 days sooner
than at present. The net impact of the changes <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2023/24/pdfs/ukia_20230024_en.pdf">is
forecast</a> to be a reduction of between 400 and 600 in demand for prison
places. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In fact, no legal amendments are being made to the eligibility
requirements or suitability criteria. Prison service policy will however be
changed so that people serving a sentence for 11 offences linked to domestic abuse,
including harassment and stalking, will be presumed unsuitable for HDC. I would expect Parliament's Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments to probe the reasons for, and likely impact of these changes if and when they consider them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2023/9780348244595/pdfs/ukdsiem_9780348244595_en.pdf">The
purported objective</a> of longer HDC periods is to enable prisoners to manage better their transition into the community on release from custody. The policy won't save money as
increased costs for tagging, probation and community accommodation will dwarf
marginal savings to the prison budget. But as the<a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2023/24/pdfs/ukia_20230024_en.pdf"> Impact Assessment </a>on the policy says, it “may
contribute to making prisons safer places for both prisoners and staff, by
delivering a modest reduction in prison population thereby enabling staff to be
better placed to work with prisoners”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As such it’s a welcome move which will give prisons a much
needed breathing space when the change is made in June. In the meantime, the Prison Service has introduced Gold Command arrangements for dealing with the capacity crisis, meaning a senior governor in HQ will make decisions about where prisoners should go. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2023">At the end of January,</a> the population in two prisons in the North West, Liverpool and Preston, exceeded operational capacity- that is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424;">The
Criminal Justice System Strategic Command (CJSSC) is also "standing up their
operation" in recognition of the circumstances facing the prisons. This is the body set up in 2020 to coordinate the response to the pandemic. That it is needed once again suggests the depth of the challenge facing criminal justice now. </span></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 16.8pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 16.8pt;"><span style="color: #242424;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 16.8pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 16.8pt;"><span face="Segoe UI, sans-serif" style="color: #242424;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-70444459951661513852023-01-19T18:32:00.001+00:002023-01-22T15:37:03.819+00:00Out of Court, Out of Favour?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">It’s encouraging to
see a renewed focus on dealing with low harm crime out of court, at a well-attended
Diversion Summit in London today and in the latest <a href="https://anchor.fm/transform-justice">Transform Justice Podcast</a>. Lots
of evidence shows that well implemented arrangements for offering community
resolutions, cautions and deferred prosecutions can offer a swifter, more certain
and more effective response to offending than processing cases in the courts-
and one which can be more satisfying for victims. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">But the use of
these options has fallen to a greater extent over the last ten years than has charging. As
Chief Inspector of Police Andy Cooke told the Summit, diversion is essential
and the police could use it more, and more consistently. There’s huge variation
between Police Force areas in the extent to which out of court disposals (OOCD) are
used for children and adults. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Part of the problem
is the politics – OOCDs sound like a soft option- but on this as with sentencing,
the public and victims are not necessarily as punitive as the politicians
suppose- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or perhaps would like them to
be. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Another challenge is
the way police performance is assessed. The Summit heard very promising results
from a trial of deferred prosecution in London about which Met chiefs are wary.
Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because however good the results in
terms of compliance and re-offending, Home Office counting rules don’t recognise
the measure as a positive outcome in terms of clearing up crime. It’s puzzling if what Cooke called a “ridiculous bureaucracy” is discouraging
the roll out of 'interventions before pleas' as recommended by David Lammy’s
review of racial disparities five years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">A third barrier is a
police culture in which charging is the default option and the effort involved
in setting up and monitoring rehabilitation measures puts officers off doing it. Several
forces have developed elaborate and properly resourced programmes and
partnerships to screen eligible offenders, match them to the interventions they
need and track their progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The summit heard
about how a technological platform developed by social enterprise <a href="https://maketimecount.today/">Make Time Count</a> can make these tasks less time consuming although I’d have thought that some
candidates for diversion – particularly young people with low levels of trust
in the authorities- may have reservations about downloading a police app on
their phone. More fundamental perhaps<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is
the issue of what types and intensity of interventions should be available, how
they should be determined in individual cases and who provides and pays for
them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Effective diversion may save the
system money but there needs to be significant front loading of funds to get it off the
ground. <br />
<br />
A recent report by the <a href="https://www.magistrates-association.org.uk/Portals/0/221208%20Report%20-%20Out%20of%20court%20disposals.pdf">Magistrates
Association</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>claimed the “patchwork
of implementation and monitoring of OOCDs has led to a troubling overlap
between the powers of the police and the sentencing powers of magistrates’
courts.” While this may be overstating it, there's a wide range of diversion practice in place. This may be reduced somewhat when a national scheme for
community resolutions and cautions is introduced this year or next. But questions
will remain about what kinds of offender and offence should be dealt with out
of court. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In particular, should
repeat offenders qualify for a diversion option? Proponents of desistance
theory would not want to rule it out and a scheme of rigid escalation into court is not likely
to produce the best results. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Police decisions are made with reference to a
gravity matrix which aims to ensure that the most serious offending goes to
court and the least serious kept out. There may be a need for Police Chiefs <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to consult on the appropriateness of their
current guidance in the matrix for the cases in between – in the way that the Sentencing
Council consults on its guidelines . Minimum standards for the Scrutiny Panels
which provide oversight to local diversion arrangements might also be needed. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Those
changes should help to win over the sceptics and ensure diversion can play the
more central role in responding to crime which the evidence suggests it should
do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-33424424895573803752022-12-27T15:30:00.001+00:002022-12-28T08:59:05.764+00:00Hindsight: Is the new Prisons Minister making a Quick Fix or Long term Plan for Youth Custody?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Just before Christmas, <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/33331/documents/180392/default/">in
a letter from Prisons Minister Damian Hinds to the Justice Committee</a>, the
government slipped out their decision that Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre (STC)
will not be re-opening, for young people at any rate. The Ministry of Justice has spent the best part of a
year deciding what to do with the empty centre since its contract with private provider
MTC to run the child jail <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prisons-minister-announces-end-to-rainsbrook-contract">was
terminated in December 2021.</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rainsbrook was the second STC to open, in July 1999. Five
years later, <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/shine-a-light/15-things-ive-learned-about-child-prisons-since-the-death-of-gareth-myatt/">15
year old Gareth Myatt died there in shocking circumstances</a> while being physically
restrained by staff. Initial contractor G4S continued to manage the centre and
for some time it probably performed the best among the four STCs. But in 2015 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50000138">inspectors reported</a> on serious
incidents of gross misconduct by staff, including managers, with young people subject
to degrading treatment, racist comments, and care by personnel under the influence
of illegal drugs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A year later, US company MTC won the contract to run Rainsbrook
, <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2021/06/rainsbrook-secure-training-centre-what.html">but
Inspectors raised urgent and significant concerns</a> about treatment and
conditions in 2020 and 2021. After being told it was unsafe for residents and
staff, then Justice Secretary Robert Buckland <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/lord-chancellor-takes-immediate-action-to-move-children-from-rainsbrook">removed
the 33 children</a> held there in June 2021. A third of these were “decanted” to
Young Offender Institutions (YOI), including a small number of girls who were
placed at Wetherby YOI. Girls under 18 had not previously been placed in YOIs for
many years. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Earlier this year, the <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Children-in-custody-secure-training-centres-and-secure-schools-Summary.pdf">National
Audit Office</a> (NAO) reported that the MoJ was considering re-opening
Rainsbrook STC <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Children-in-custody-secure-training-centres-and-secure-schools.pdf">at
reduced capacity and with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>increased
staff-to-child ratios</a>, possibly under prison service management. This would
help meet the expected increase in demand for youth custody places. But now it
seems, the capacity is no longer thought to be needed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1035682/Prison_Population_Projections_2021_to_2026.pdf">Despite
projected increases</a> the numbers of children in custody have remained under 500
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-custody-data">during
the course of this year</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, occupancy
levels remain low enough for Hinds to tell MPs that the Youth Custody Service
will keep more young people in the youth estate beyond the age of 18, instead
looking <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/33331/documents/180392/default/"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“to transition young people up to their 19th
birthday where appropriate”.</a> Girls will once again be held in an STC – Oakhill,
the last one operating- although some may stay at Wetherby YOI. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Strangely, annual prison population projections, normally
published in November, don’t seem to have been produced this year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So there’s no update on whether the numbers of juveniles in custody are still likely to rise to 700 by 2025. Given the volatility of the youth
custody estate, any increases could put at risk modest improvements in safety and
regimes seen recently. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the meantime, what will happen to the Rainsbrook site? Hinds
wrote that wider work is taking place to determine how best the site can be utilised
in the future, and, somewhat delphically, that the decision “will allow us to
focus on other areas of our work”. The NAO report suggested that the MoJ had ruled
out turning it into a second Secure School because of the costs and delays of doing
the necessary building conversion.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Turning Medway into a suitable site for the first Secure
School has taken much longer than planned- and Hinds’s letter reveals yet
further delays. The Medway school is apparently on track to open in Spring 2024
- later than the November 2023 to February 2024 window <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/10294/default/">officials promised
MPs on the Public Accounts Committee in May</a> . It seems odd that no funding agreement
has yet been signed with the provider- Oasis Restore- that was <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2019/07/dont-look-back-in-anger.html">selected
back in July 2019</a>. No doubt the MoJ will explain when <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/30265/documents/175188/default/">they
provide the Committee with an update on progress</a> against the timetable in
January 2023.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps Rainsbrook will be used to provide extra places for
the men’s estate which is under so much pressure <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2022/12/cell-therapy-could-shortage-of-space.html">that
police cells h</a>ave been made available to the Prison Service. It’s close to two
prisons and while its design as an STC is not ideal for adults, Medway STC was briefly
used for adults during lockdown, (before work got underway to make it more
suitable for children). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Justice Committee will surely want to question Mr Hinds
early in the New Year about his planning for custodial capacity both in the childrens’
and adults’ estates. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-47284923029428446602022-12-02T06:35:00.002+00:002022-12-02T07:53:29.289+00:00Cell Therapy: Could Shortage of Space Inject a Dose of Reality Into Prison Policy? <p>Wednesday’s <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-11-30/debates/520966EF-BB43-4380-8800-21C46222BE00/PrisonCapacity">announcement</a>
by Prisons Minister Damian Hinds that he had requested the use of up to 400
police cells came as something of a surprise. It’s true that last week, his
boss Dominic Raab told the Justice Committee that “<a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/11598/pdf/">there is a very
significant capacity issue in our prisons</a>.” But nobody followed it up with him.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe that’s because five weeks ago Hinds’ predecessor, Rob
Butler had told the Justice Committee</p><p class="MsoNormal"> <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/11399/pdf/">“ the important
thing is for people to know that there is the capacity, if someone is remanded
in custody, that there will be a place for them and it will be the right
place”.</a> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Quite why Butler gave such a
hostage to fortune isn’t clear – he’s admitted that the sudden growth in the
adult male custodial population started during his brief tenure in the Ministry
of Justice which ended just two days after his unwise words of reassurance in Parliament. <br />
<br />
Hinds tried to convince MPs that this week's statement did not reflect a failure to
plan ahead but a response to “a highly unusual acute short-term surge.” He was
unable to explain the reasons for the timing of this, other than implausibly
blaming the aftermath of the barristers’ strike. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A good part of the problem lies with supply rather than
demand. Hinds said that the additional capacity was needed “to ensure the
smooth running of the prison estate”. Given existing pressures in many local jails,
a sharply rising population could make prisons unmanageable without some form
of safety valve. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Take HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire, where 45% of prisoners
are on remand. <a href="https://imb.org.uk/news/chronic-overcrowding-and-staff-shortages-still-a-major-concern-at-hmp-bullingdon/">The
Independent Monitoring Board who publish their annual report today</a> say the
prison continues to be chronically overcrowded, with 521 cells designed for
single occupancy, mostly occupied by two prisoners. “Overcrowding also puts
great pressure on communal spaces and facilities. It is incompatible with the
fair and decent treatment of prisoners”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The IMB also worry that “chronic staff shortages will begin
to have a greater impact on the safety and stability of the prison”. Levels of
violence, they say are still far too high and despite the introduction of an airport style scanner, the quantity of drugs coming into the prison remains high. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So good on Prison Service chiefs for confronting ministers
with uncomfortable and no doubt unwelcome truths about the quality as well as
quantity of prison capacity and its ability to absorb more and more people at present. Their plans to increase that capacity through more use
of “identified contingency spaces” and postponing all non-essential maintenance
work are not quite so welcome. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If the crisis continues, Ministers will have to consider
more radical measures. They could encourage courts to make greater use of
recently introduced GPS tagging to place more defendants on conditional bail rather
than in custody. Or introduce an <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04851/#:~:text=The%20End%20of%20Custody%20Licence,convicted%20of%20certain%20violent%20offences.">End
of Custody Licence</a> along the lines of the scheme that ran from 2007-2010,
allowing eligible prisoners serving sentences to be freed up to 18 days before their release date.<br />
<br />
More fundamentally still, the <a href="https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/TJ_November_2020_IA_3.pdf">Sentencing
Council</a> could be asked to look at their guidelines to align the
demand for prison places with supply. After all that was its original though
long since diluted purpose. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Moderating sentence lengths wouldn't go down well with former School Standards Minister Jonathan Gullis who is keen to see "<a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-11-30/debates/520966EF-BB43-4380-8800-21C46222BE00/PrisonCapacity">scumbags locked up for a longer period of time".</a> Raab too told the Justice Committee last week that he “could fill the prisons 50%
higher than they are today".</p><p class="MsoNormal">But Raab went on "the reality is that we cannot keep
exponentially increasing the prison population”. Hinds said that for types of crime other than
the worst “i<a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-11-30/debates/520966EF-BB43-4380-8800-21C46222BE00/PrisonCapacity">t is important that we utilise alternatives to custodial sentences”.</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Is it possible for some good to come from the current crisis?</p>
<span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<!--[endif]--></span>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-47638632012954798032022-08-18T07:11:00.002+01:002022-08-18T07:27:32.356+01:00Notes on a Scandal: Why We Need More Secure Accommodation for Children<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Not for the first time, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://careappointments.com/care-news/england/184022/shortage-of-secure-accommodation-for-60-troubled-children-a-national-scandal-high-court-judge/">a
senior judge</a> has described the shortage of secure accommodation for the
most troubled children in England and Wales as a “national scandal” after being
told that last Friday 62 beds were needed and only two available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The girl whose case the judge was considering
was being cared for in an unsuitable hospital setting where most other patients
were adults. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Last summer, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2019-0188-judgment.pdf"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Supreme Court Judge</a> Lord Stephens slammed the
lack of proper provision for children who need to be detained to protect
themselves or others as “disgraceful and utterly shaming". More than four years
ago the <a href="https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2136.html">most
senior family judge</a> was concerned <a name="para88">at how many young people were
having their liberty deprived in units which had not been approved as secure
children's homes (SCH).</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So what’s the position? At the end of March this year, 220
approved places were available in 14 secure childrens homes in England and Wales,
eight fewer places than in 2019; and 71 fewer than in 2010, down by a quarter
in 12 years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>16 SCH’s have closed since
2002.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">105 of the 220 available beds were contracted to the
Ministry of Justice for children remanded or sentenced by the criminal courts,
leaving just 115 for so called welfare cases. These are, in Lord Stephens’
words, “unfortunate children, who have been traumatised in so many ways, are
frequently a major risk to themselves and to others. Those risks are of the
gravest kind, and include risks to life, risks of grievous injuries, or risks
of very serious damage to property”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-annual-report-202021-education-childrens-services-and-skills/the-annual-report-of-her-majestys-chief-inspector-of-education-childrens-services-and-skills-202021#social-care">In
their annual report for 2020-21</a>, Ofsted said that around 25 children are
waiting for a secure placement on any given day, at times substantially more.
They also reported that on average 20 children from English local authorities were
living in Scottish secure homes, having been placed there due to a lack of
places in England. Ofsted said that the Scottish government had decided not to
accept placements from local authorities outside Scotland from 2022, but I
don’t know whether this has happened, further reducing available places. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number of secure beds for <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/10RMwUWBlkNe1NYqCegTOLGHaXel7dJkm/view">children
in the health service</a> in England fell from 222 in 2017 to 188 last year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's also true that some children’s needs are so complex and
demanding that SCHs can’t always run at full capacity. This helps explain
why a third of places in SCH’s were unoccupied at the end of March. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So what have the government been doing to address the long
standing problem?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The 2021 Spending Review announced a welcome £259 million
capital funding to increase both secure and open children’s homes, but details
of the “transformational investment” is hard to find beyond <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transformational-investment-in-childrens-social-care-placements">a
press release</a> from the end of last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This says that final numbers of places in secure children’s homes being
created will be confirmed in due course but as recently as June <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-06-06/13181">the
picture has been opaque</a>. New places require the commitment of local
authorities but a clear plan setting out what is being funded over what timescale
is surely overdue.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the meantime, the <a href="https://childrenssocialcare.independent-review.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/The-independent-review-of-childrens-social-care-Final-report.pdf">Independent
Review of Childrens Social Care</a> has recommended that there should be enough
SCH places not only to meet the needs of welfare cases in every region but <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to end the use of “inappropriate and damaging”
Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres (STCs) for children in
the youth justice system. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-custody-data">At the end
of June</a>, I estimate there were 365 children under 18 in YOIs and STCs, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1035682/Prison_Population_Projections_2021_to_2026.pdf">with
numbers projected to increase substantially over the next few years</a>. While increased
demand may be met in small part by 49 places in the new Secure School due to
open in early 2024, accepting the Care Review’s recommendation would entail more
than doubling the size of the existing SCH estate.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the Care Review put it, “the prospect of recommending an
increase in the number of secure children’s homes, or detaining children for
justice and welfare reasons at all does not always sit comfortably”. But in
cases where depriving a child of their liberty is genuinely necessary, SCHs provide
much higher quality care than other options. Much more urgency is required to
ensure there are sufficient beds to avoid placements in unapproved settings, to
close Secure Training Centres and phase out prison service accommodation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Last year, Lord Stephens thought the scandalous lack of provision contained “all
the ingredients for a tragedy”. We need to know what is being done to avert
that.<o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-28850536724729789702022-08-11T16:37:00.008+01:002022-08-24T10:30:06.000+01:00Fires in Prison- A Neglected Issue of Safety ?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-incident-level-datasets">Statistics
out today</a> show an unwelcome uptick in fires in prison in the last financial
year.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Rob/Desktop/Fire%20Blog%202022.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>According to Home Office data, Fire and Rescue Services attended 840 incidents in
prisons in England (plus a further 11 in what are referred to as Young Offender Units). For
prisons, that’s almost 30% up on 2020-21, though thankfully lower than the year
before Covid. The chart below shows pretty unclear trends over the last
decade- unlike fires in hospitals (the yellow line) which have shown a slow but steady
decline. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_nsHjv6EJ0XW3VbLx4dXmDZYUoMcQEMizHNXu59wPR_W3l1mcMGRKQN_L-PnAgEiqFE3CbjRuSkyrm3d8ZHrvZmEpPjuZ2JRlFu_dQH5t-2tHvm7S0Dr8XmMoWDlttZ4hSW2gOo759ui5-cKl5lpBFaIxPcyurC48K2tim1b_8EAjTki8ctgYx96TmQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="575" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_nsHjv6EJ0XW3VbLx4dXmDZYUoMcQEMizHNXu59wPR_W3l1mcMGRKQN_L-PnAgEiqFE3CbjRuSkyrm3d8ZHrvZmEpPjuZ2JRlFu_dQH5t-2tHvm7S0Dr8XmMoWDlttZ4hSW2gOo759ui5-cKl5lpBFaIxPcyurC48K2tim1b_8EAjTki8ctgYx96TmQ=w563-h303" width="563" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fortunately, fatalities and casualties were reported in only about
one in 10 fires, with "casualties" covering not only those with injuries
requiring hospital attention or first aid at the scene but also those advised to have precautionary checks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the vast majority of fires, either no damage resulted, or
it was limited to an area of less than 5 square metres. In most cases, evacuations
were not necessary although on more than 180 occasions up to 5 people had to be
“<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-incident-level-datasets/other-building-fires-dataset-guidance#variable-by-variable---the-fire">directed
from a dangerous place to somewhere safe”</a> and on one occasion more than 20
people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 170 incidents, people <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-incident-level-datasets/other-building-fires-dataset-guidance#variable-by-variable---the-fire">“received
physical assistance to get clear of the area”</a> involved.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">More than nine out of ten prison fires were started
deliberately with paper/cardboard and clothing/textiles being the commonest
items ignited. Faulty apparatus or leads caused 17 of the accidental fires,
misuse of equipment nine and “playing with fire” three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">87% of fires were discovered immediately or within 5 minutes
of starting, but 52 fires took between 5 and 30 minutes to discover. In 92% of
incidents the fire service were called within 5 minutes. The first vehicle
arrived within 5 minutes in 70% of incidents and within 20 in 97%.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">While most prison fires look to be small scale and the
response generally prompt, it is troubling but unsurprising to find that in 751
out of the 840 fires there was no fire safety system in place such as sprinklers.
In 625 cases an alarm went off but in 81 there was no alarm and in 134 it did
not operate or in fact raise an alarm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Prisons chief Phil Copple <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/10319/pdf/">told MPs in May</a>
that “we have about 35,000 prison places across the system that do not meet
current fire regulation standards, and we have “temporary mitigations” in place
agreed with the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/crown-premises-fire-safety-inspectorate">Crown
Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI)</a> to make sure that they can
continue in use”. CPFSI enforces the 2005 Fire Safety Order in government
buildings. This says that any person who has some level of control
in premises must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from
fire and make sure people can safely escape if there is a fire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/22763/documents/167304/default/">In
June,</a> the Justice Committee asked then Prisons Minister Victoria Atkins about
the temporary mitigations, and when she expected that all prison places will
meet fire safety regulations. They haven’t had a reply – probably delayed due
to the turnover of Ministers, the Committee has explained. CPFSI did tell me that t<span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;">he mitigation they accepted "related to single point smoke</span><span style="color: #201f1e;"> alarms for each individual cell. This was only a temporary measure until the programme to install automatic in cell fire detection is completed".</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;"> CPFSI have previously reported that</span> "<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1028818/2019-20_CPFSI_Annual_Report.pdf">it has proved to be a major managerial challenge for prison staff to
prevent tampering and vandalism to these domestic smoke detectors." </a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We know from Copple’s letter to the Assistant Coroner
for Kent and Medway last year that the rollout of automatic fire safety systems
across the estate “<a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-0376-Response-from-HMPPS_Published.pdf">is
forecast to be delivered and completed within the next <b><i>five to seven years</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b>” His letter was in response to the report of an Inquest into a prisoner who died
in 2019 by smoke inhalation <a href="https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2021/11/more-on-fire-safety-in-prisons.html">when
a fire developed in his cell at HMP Swaleside</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Copple told the Coroner that across the estate, interim safety
measures are in place including- in addition to the portable fire detection devices in all cells
that do not have automatic systems- more water mist firefighting equipment and
portable smoke ventilation fans. There are annual inspections of fire safety
equipment and of arson reduction strategies. There is improved staff training. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/imb-prod-storage-1ocod6bqky0vo/uploads/2022/08/AMENDED-AR-Styal-2021-22-final-for-circulation.pdf">The Independent Monitoring Board</a> at HMP Styal in Cheshire has recently reported that as a result of an Enforcement Notice from CPFSI, the prison had to provide improved fire
alarms and fire doors and remove all non-fire retardant furniture, bedding and soft
furnishings. Moreover, "prison staff have endeavoured to reduce the fire risk for prisoners
in the affected houses by implementing measures such as not locking them into their
cells at night."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In his report, the Kent Coroner suggested that as another interim measure, in-cell fire detectors could be added to a
small number of cells for prisoners that pose a higher risk of self-harm,
barricading and fire setting. This was rejected by the Prison Service as "not
feasible". <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I proposed last year that the Home Affairs and Justice
Committees hold a short inquiry into fire safety in prisons and other places of
detention. The latest figures add weight to the case for greater
scrutiny of a neglected issue of safety. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Committees should also look at whether the CPFSI
has the resources it needs. It has yet to publish an annual report for 2020-21,
let alone 2021-22. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
</span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><!--[endif]-->
</span><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Rob/Desktop/Fire%20Blog%202022.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Prison data is available in the pivot tables in the “Other building fires
dataset” https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-incident-level-datasets<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><br /></p>
</div>
</div>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186890287279568808.post-5124514161853661562022-08-09T20:29:00.003+01:002022-08-14T12:54:50.106+01:00Separate and Silent <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The prisons inspectorate (HMIP) published its <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/08/Separation-centres-web-2022.pdf">first
ever report</a> on Separation Centres for terrorist prisoners today. First established
five years ago, there are currently centres at Frankland and Woodhill high
security prisons with a mothballed unit at Full Sutton. Their aim is to prevent
prisoners with extreme views from radicalising others in the mainstream prison population,
planning terrorist acts or disrupting good order in the prison.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the use of the
centres <a href="https://terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Terrorism-in-Prisons.pdf">“has
never fully taken off”</a> , Prison inspectors possibly haven’t thought it
worth their while to visit up until now. It's true that there are only 28 places in the
three prisons, with only nine prisoners in the functioning units during April’s
inspection visit. In fact there have only been 15 held in the centres over the
last 5 years, all Muslim men; and <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1071324/terrorism-in-prisons-review-response.pdf">only
21 referred for placement between 2017 and the end of last year</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">These are much smaller numbers than are held in the longer established Close Supervision Centres (CSC) which hold prisoners posing </span><o:p>the highest risks to other prisoners and staff and which HMIP visited in <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/close-supervision-centre-system/">2015</a> and <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/close-supervision-centre-system-follow-up-inspection/">2017</a>. </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the Separation Centres should really have been inspected sooner, certainly
well before the Government decided that they, along with the CSCs, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-drive-to-tackle-terrorism-in-prisons">should
be more widely used</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Separation Centres also </span>hold some of the most challenging and dangerous prisoners in the system, who
are rightly subject to high levels of security and control. These can inevitably
raise human rights concerns. Prisoners at Woodhill have in the past made <a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/imb-prod-storage-1ocod6bqky0vo/uploads/2021/10/IMB-Woodhill-Annual-Report-2020_21-for-circulation.pdf">allegations
that institutional racism</a> caused the Prison Service to establish such units
only for Muslim prisoners.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not least as the body leading the <a href="https://www.nationalpreventivemechanism.org.uk/">National Preventive Mechanism
(NPM)</a> which focuses attention on practices in detention that could amount
to ill-treatment, HMIP should have taken more of an interest. Their inspections
are based on international human rights standards, and according to the
Ministry of Justice, some prisoners have used the Human Rights Act to frustrate
their placement in a Separation Centre. Tellingly however,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/02/Separation-Centre-Expectations-FINAL-for-publication-2.pdf">the
decision to locate a prisoner in one of the centres is part of wider national
security and, as such, not within the remit of the Chief Inspector of Prisons
to comment on”.</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Making it easier for the prison service to use the centres
in the future followed recommendations to that effect earlier this year from Jonathan Hall QC,
the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation (who I was surprised to discover
is also a member of the NPM).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hall’s
report on <a href="https://terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Terrorism-in-Prisons.pdf">Terrorism
in prisons</a> implied the centres were underused, blaming a low referral rate on
an undue focus on the damage that separation might cause to the individual’s
rehabilitation, with insufficient attention to the wider benefits of removing a
radicalising individual from the wing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for the centres themselves, Hall was perhaps a little unwise
to rely on a 2019 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/818624/separating-extremist-prisoners.pdf">process
study</a>, undertaken entirely from a staff perspective, to conclude that
regimes were “comprehensive in meeting the needs of the men and ensuring
individuals were not disadvantaged by being separated”. In the study, "staff
reported working tirelessly to provide a regime comparable to that provided in
the main prison.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Three years on, inspectors paint a more troubling picture. At
Frankland “prisoners had collectively decided not to engage with the regime”
and Woodhill’s day to day regime was often curtailed by serious staffing
shortages. The decision by staff and leaders in both jails to describe the
centres as “just another wing” meant that “opportunities were missed to think
more creatively about how to work with prisoners”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s encouraging that in today’s report, the inspectorate find
outcomes to be good on safety- no violence was recorded in the year to April -
and reasonably good on respect. But it’s puzzling that they rate management as
reasonably good when “Governors and the separation centre management committee
did not have a jointly agreed strategy and action plan, setting out the
centres’ specific function that could be understood and acted on by staff”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Less surprising is that work on “progression” - how prisoners
can get back to normal location in the main prison- was not sufficiently good. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most men refused to take part in formal risk
reduction work, which made it difficult to identify any changes in behaviour which
would evidence a case for ‘deselection’ from the centre. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1096574/separation-centre-policy-framework.pdf">with
a new policy</a> leading to an increased number in Separation Centres and the likely
re-opening of the Full Sutton unit, dispersal will rightly remain the predominant
approach, with concentration reserved for the most dangerous few. <a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/Handbook_on_VEPs.pdf">For as the
UN has said,</a> keeping violent extremist prisoners separate from the general
prison population can generate as well as reduce risks, elevating their status
in their own and other prisoners’ eyes, reinforcing radicalised attitudes and/or enhancing rejection or stigmatization. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hall is right that public confidence in the criminal justice
system is shaken if terrorism occurs in prison or if people enter prison only
to come out more dangerous; and the ability of prisons to function is gravely
degraded if prison officers fear imminent terrorist attack. Finding the best
way to prevent these outcomes must be a priority. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/Handbook_on_VEPs.pdf">But as
the UN has said</a>, there is no one right answer to dealing with terrorist
prisoners. What’s needed is more evidence about the effects of the Separation
Centres and of other ways of accommodating them in England and Wales. Today’s
report makes a welcome if overdue start to collecting it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Rob Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09205742107009573223noreply@blogger.com0