1. IPP Prisoner Ben still in prison an innocent man because of unending promises that words are no longer good enough ...... 2. Prison: the facts published. 3. Drug Misuse: Findings from the 2017/18 Crime Survey for England and Wales

My partner Ben Gayton is currently in Preston prison. He was given the IPP sentence 12 years ago. He served 7 years on a 17 month tariff. He was recalled in January 2017 of an accusation of assault and  all charges was dropped in November 2017, a not guilty verdict was given. 5 month later, he's still sat in prison an innocent man.

He was given a Parole Hearing date for the 10th April , when arrived the parole hearing was differed it to 17th July because the CPS still hadn't met their deadline (29th march) to provide the reports I question why they offered no evidence and dropped the case.

•  The parole also decided on the day they wanted the arresting officer present at the hearing
•  Ben was to see a psychologist.
•  Why was this not organised before his hearing

 It seems they are doing anything possible to keep him in. He's still being punished for a post-date crime, when he was 17. He's now 30! We want Ben and all other IPP prisoners and families heard, its so unfair how they are treated.

Prison: the facts published Our annual pocket guide to prisons and the people in them has been launched this month. Prison: the facts, the more concise version of our flagship Bromley Briefings brings together the facts and figures about our prisons and is now available on our website by clicking here. Launching the briefing last week, we have called on the UK government to follow the Scottish government's lead and introduce a presumption against prison sentences of less than 12 months.  It reveals the current scale of the challenge facing the government, with hundreds of people flowing in and out of the prison system on short sentences every week, placing pressure on an already overstretched and overcrowded prison system. Recent reforms aimed at providing more support on release to people serving short sentences have, perversely, created further instability. The Prison Reform Trust estimates that if a presumption was introduced it could see 13,500 fewer people entering prison each year—allowing vital breathing space for our prison system to focus on those who absolutely need to be there, whilst delivering better outcomes for victims, society, and people in trouble with the law. The publication comes as the Ministry of Justice has announced a consultation on the future of probation, with plans to end the current contracts with Community Rehabilitation Companies in 2020, two years earlier than planned. Friends of the Prison Reform Trust will receive copies of the briefing in the post shortly. To read the full story and to download a copy of Prison: the facts click here. Prisoner Policy Network This month saw the offical launch of our Prisoner Policy Network at an event held at HMP Grendon. The establishment of the network marks an exciting new step for the Prison Reform Trust as we aim to give people with lived experience of imprisonment a voice in influencing criminal justice policy at the highest level. The free to join network of prisoners, ex-prisoners and organisations working with prisoners will bring together their insight and expertise on key areas of criminal justice policy, which will then be presented to officials, ministers and other decision makers in a final report. As the Secretary of State for Justice, David Gauke seeks to reform the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme, for our first topic we are asking "What incentives work in prison?" Click here to view the visual minutes from the launch, and click here to find out more and how you can get involved. The impact of maternal imprisonment Children are often devastated when their mum is sent to prison but their interests are rarely considered by a justice system which is blind to their needs, a new report published by the Prison Reform Trust this month reveals. For most children, their mother is their primary carer. Every year an estimated 17,000 children experience their mum being sent to prison. Women are more likely to commit non-violent offences, and many face short spells behind bars which do little to tackle the causes of their offending. The report, launched exclusively with ITV's Loose Women, shows that a mother’s imprisonment not only damages the child’s relationship with her, but can affect every area of their lives, including their housing, education, health, and well-being. Among the report’s recommendations­—many of which would also be relevant to situations where a father is imprisoned—is a call for child impact assessments to be conducted as soon as a parent enters the criminal justice system, to ensure that any children affected are identified and their needs addressed. It also recommends the introduction of a presumption against short prison sentences of less than 12 months, and better investment in women’s community support, including women’s centres. The report was also covered in the Daily Mirror, The Independent, and by Loose Women panellist Saira Khan. Report author, Sarah Beresford, has also written blogs about her research on The Justice Gap and St Martin in the Fields' Frontline Network. Click here to read more and to download a copy of the report. Writing competition—final call A final call to our readers to submit their entries to our annual writing competition. The deadline is Monday 6 August and we'd love to hear from prisoners, prisoners’ families and friends, and former prisoners. We have three categories: comment; short story; and lyric/rap. You can download the competition leaflet with more information on the categories, rules and guidelines by clicking here. Parole Board review Earlier this year the Prison Reform Trust submitted evidence to the Ministry of Justice to inform its ongoing review of parole, in light of the decision to recommend the release of John Worboys. The review by the Ministry of Justice promised to consult on a mechanism to reconsider Parole Board decisions. The Prison Reform Trust has now submitted its response to the Ministry of Justice's plans. The proposal for a new appeals process carried out within the Board risks pleasing no-one—neither those like PRT who worry about the Board’s independence, nor those who worry about the influence victims currently have in the decision to release. Our suggestion is that the divisional court’s approach in the Worboys case has shown that judicial review can and has provided a remedy that meets legitimate concerns in the rare case where they arise. We are in no doubt that the proposal put out for consultation would lead to substantial new cost and, perhaps even more importantly, reverse the progress the Board has been able to make in reducing backlogs and delays, with all the negative consequences that would have for both justice and expenditure. Cobbling together an appeal mechanism in the absence of a more fundamental change in the Board’s statutory personality—which we understand has been ruled out—will serve only to divert attention from more pressing reforms. Click here to read our letter to David Gauke outlining our concerns in more detail. You can read our full response to the consultation by clicking here. Volunteer with PRT The Prison Reform Trust is looking for an enthusiastic volunteer to assist in the production of its flagship Bromley Briefing Prison Factfile, based at PRT's London office for two days a week between September and December. The Bromley Briefings bring together the latest statistics, research findings and policy developments in prisons and criminal justice. It is an essential part of the Prison Reform Trust’s work to inform Parliament, the media and the public about prisons and the people in them. Click here to find out more.

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Research and publications volunteer

The Prison Reform Trust is looking for an enthusiastic volunteer to assist in the production of its flagship Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile. The Bromley Briefings bring together the latest statistics, research findings and policy developments in prisons and criminal justice. It is an essential part of the Prison Reform Trust’s work to inform Parliament, the media and the public about prisons and the people in them. Applicants should be available to volunteer for two days per week from September to December 2018. Reasonable travel and lunch expenses will be provided.A full person specification for the voluntary position can be downloaded by clicking here.

To apply Email a covering letter outlining your suitability for the position (maximum one side of A4) and a CV (maximum two pages) to alex.hewson@prisonreformtrust.org.uk Deadline: Monday 13 August at noon Interviews: w/c Monday 20 August

http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/WhoWeAre/JobsInternships?dm_i=47L,5RY6Q,EGK2Y1,MJ97Y,1

Drug Misuse: Findings from the 2017/18 Crime Survey for England and Wales  

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/729249/drug-misuse-2018-hosb1418.pdf

RusselWebster

Week in Justice 29 July 2018 

The  major cri inal justice news this week was the MoJ's long awaited announcement on the future of the probation service. The Justice Secretary acknowledged that Transforming Rehabilitation had failed and the MoJ will be radically revising the structure of probation. CRCs will remain in England (not Wales) but their contracts will be ended two years early and from 2020 there will be just 10 CRCs mapped against NPS regions.

There's plenty of other news too including a prisoner's judicial review of parole post-Worboys as well as an interesting new HMPPS study on what prisoners think of being recalled.

As always, click on the link to read the full story.

• Offender management on low and medium risk offenders is to be transferred to the National Probation Service in Wales.
• The CRC contracts are being cut short with the end date being brought forwards from 2022 to 2020.
• CRCs will now be aligned with the NPS areas (making 10 English probation regions) and a new procurement exercise will shortly be launched with the expectation that more voluntary sector organisations will be involved in delivering interventions and unpaid work – an ambition unrealised in the original TR procurement exercise.
• Recognising current under-performance, the MoJ will put additional money into contracts for through-the-gate work in particular.

JUSTICE SECRETARY OUTLINES FUTURE VISION FOR PROBATION

• Government is strengthening offender supervision in existing CRC contracts and investing an extra £22 million each year to improve through-the-gate support
• CRC and NPS areas to be aligned – improving joint working and strengthening ties with key partners, including the third sector, local authorities and PCCs
• Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) contracts will end two years early in 2020, with plans to work with the market to design new and improved contracts

Justice Secretary David Gauke has set out his vision for the future of probation services in England and Wales today, announcing plans to change and improve the current system and invest £22 million in extra support for offenders leaving prison.

A consultation document published today outlines the Ministry of Justice’s intention to strengthen the supervision of offenders and increase confidence in community sentences.

It builds on the recent publication of our female offender and employment and education strategies, to demonstrate the department’s commitment to tackling reoffending by: investing in community provision, strengthening alternatives to short custodial sentences; and boosting rehabilitation and prospects for offenders.

Probation relies heavily on joint working with a range of agencies and today’s consultation outlines plans to create a more integrated and collaborative system, by improving partnerships with PCCs and the third sector.

In the future, CRC and NPS areas will be aligned, with ten new probation regions in England, simplifying and strengthening ties with key local partners and creating opportunities to co-commission rehabilitation services with PCCs.

Reforms to probation in 2015, known as ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’, were challenging, ambitious and have led to 40,000 extra offenders a year receiving support and supervision on release – a positive change for public safety.

This additional monitoring has been carried out by newly formed, ‘Community Rehabilitation Companies’ (CRCs) who manage low and medium-risk offenders, and the publicly funded National Probation Service (NPS), who manage higher-risk offenders.

While CRCs have reduced the overall number of people reoffending, it is clear that probation providers have faced significant challenges. Unforeseen changes in the types of offenders coming to the courts and the sentences they receive have substantially reduced CRC income and affected the quality of frontline services.

That is why the consultation document sets out urgent action being taken to address existing issues with CRC contracts. This includes ending current CRC contracts early in 2020, improving supervision and through-the-gate support in the meantime, and using the lessons learnt so far to put in place improved services in the future, with more effective commercial arrangements.

Secretary of State, David Gauke said:

I am determined to have a probation service that protects the public, commands the confidence of the courts and ultimately reduces reoffending.

So we are taking decisive action now to improve the delivery of probation services in England and Wales.

We want to see less reliance on ineffective short prison terms, and in order to achieve this courts must have confidence that probation services will deliver tough community sentences – sentences that punish, but also help those who commit crime to turn their lives around and stop offending.

I am confident that the proposals set out in this consultation will play a major role in helping us to achieve this aim.

To improve services in the next two years, the Ministry of Justice is investing an additional £22 million a year in through-the-gate support for offenders when they leave prison, as part of wider changes to contracts to stabilise CRC delivery until the end of 2020 and allow CRCs to continue to deliver the level of service required.

The Ministry of Justice will also work with London and Greater Manchester to co-design future services in those areas as part of existing devolution arrangements.

In addition, the devolved responsibilities of the Welsh Government and existing arrangements in Wales make the delivery of probation services fundamentally different to England.

To reflect this, the consultation sets out proposals to bring the supervision of all offenders in Wales into the NPS and explore how wider partners can help to improve rehabilitative support for offenders, by better joining up with health, housing and other local services.

Alongside the structural and contractual changes, a new professional register will be introduced, helping staff to move between roles and develop their careers. The consultation also seeks views on improving the training and development of staff.

The consultation will seek to gather views and expertise from a range of potential providers, including the voluntary sector, as well as other stakeholders, and will inform the future delivery of probation services in England and Wales.

Although the MoJ is not consulting on the main re-design of probation, it has issued a consultation on how best to make the changes outlined above.

Click to go straight to the consultation paper entitled Strengthening probation, building confidence, which is seeking opinions on:

• Improving continuity of supervision
• Frequency of offender contact
• Post-sentence supervision
• Engagement between courts and CRCs
• Improving staff career progression with more interchange between NPS and CRCs and the possible introduction of a professional register for offender managers (similar to the social worker/nurse arrangements).

I know many will be disappointed that the probation service is not being fully re-integrated and re-nationalised, although more are probably not surprised that the “mixed economy” is being preserved. Nevertheless, this is a clear recognition that fundamental reform is needed.
The consultation will only be running for 8 weeks so I urge everyone with an interest in getting our probation service back on track and focused on protecting the public AND promoting desistance to respond.

Continued  http://www.russellwebster.com/probconsultation/

Prisoner experiences

 """very little attention to date"""". In this post,

I want to focus on the experiences of 68 male prisoners who completed a survey and which the authors structure into five themes:

1:Perceptions of unfairness and mistrust

The majority of prisoners (68%) believed that the recall process was unfair, and more than half believed that the

reasons for not being re-released were also unfair. When asked what recall was for, free text responses related to unfairness, benefits to Probation (e.g. recall being easier for OMs) or ulterior motives (e.g. to make money). When asked about barriers to re-release, respondents also reported believing staff power was being abused, and that staff were unwilling to complete paperwork.

2: Poor understanding and communication

Most prisoners understood the reasons for their recall, but over half did not understand why they had not been

re-released. 62% reported receiving no advice or information about how to achieve re-release.

3: Little contact with, and help from, staff

The majority of prisoners knew who their OM was and how to contact them (over 75%). However, 32% reported

having had no contact since returning to custody, and a similar percentage had had no contact with their

Offender Supervisor. Although the majority of prisoners did not believe their OM or prison staff were helping them to progress, many really wanted this and were open to engaging.

4: Progression – barriers and positive thinking

Over half of prisoners felt positive or hopeful about the future and being able to progress to re-release. They

identified a range of barriers to progression. Most of these were external barriers, such as Parole Board

decisions, lack of help from others and lack of community accommodation. Although lack of help was commonly

cited as a barrier, approximately half of the prisoners did not view help from others as necessary for them to

progress. A small number of prisoners reported that it was their own behaviour that was affecting their rerelease.

5: Effect of recall – positive and negative

A small number of prisoners identified positive effects; the most frequently cited was an improvement in their

motivation to progress and understand their risk factor. They reported that recall gave them time to reflect on

their lives and look forward to a positive future. Most prisoners felt that recall had had a negative effect

however, particularly on their personal relationships, accommodation and trust in the system. The most

commonly reported negative effects were loss of family, anger at the system, perceived injustice and lack of help. 39% reported preferring to stay in prison until their sentence end date, or were unsure whether they wanted re-release. The main reason given for wishing to stay in prison was to avoid working with Probation and such restrictions again.

Analytical Summary 2018 analytical summary

Comments

Dziesinski We have just been knocked back on parole for a further 2 years, how stressful it is.

Petitionwhttps://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/free-the-remaining-ipp-prisoners

  
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/723265/Understanding_the_process_and_experience_of_recall_to_prison.pdf
http://www.russellwebster.com/hmppsrecall18/

http://www.russellwebster.com/transforming-rehabilitation-resource-pack/