IPP Families and prisoners - identifying specific actions project

Workshops are in  LATE FEB / MARCH

Many of you may have met Harry Annison Associate Professor at Southampton Law School through his research on IPP families to raise awareness on the ongoing problems related to the IPP sentence.

myself Ann Horton and Martin Ford attended a parliament meeting arranged by Harry and discussed support for families, in October 2018 a report was published ‘The Pains of Indeterminate Imprisonment for Families of IPP Prisoners’ (available here: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/425364/)

Harry has now informed me that he is

For this project, there are plans to hold some workshops with family members of IPP prisoners. We are interested in a range of experiences: including those with relatives who remain in prison; those who have been recalled; and those who have successfully stayed out on licence. Every contribution will be welcome, and we aim to create a safe and inclusive space where everyone feels heard and respected.

He is planning for each workshop to be quite small – a maximum of eight people. And we will look to hold them in different parts of England and Wales, including

Workshops are **LATE FEB / MARCH  https://www.facebook.com/groups/ippkatherinegleeson/

• London
• Manchester,
• Cardiff,
• Southampton.
• Beyond that probably Southampton, Oxford, Newcastle. And we can look at other locations if there is interest.
  
  
  He will gather together the recommendations that emerge from the workshops, produce a Report, and present them to the organizations. They will respond to them, and we will then work with them – and you (if you want) – to refine ideas further and to ensure that action is taken.
  if you would be interested in being involved? (And whether there are other people that you know locally who would also be interested?)
  He cannot promise that our project will suddenly resolve the problems faced by IPP prisoners. And, of course, sadly the loss of prisoners.
  But he has been assured by senior representatives of the Parole Board, prison service and probation service that they are committed to doing more for families of prisoners, and in particular families of IPP prisoners – and to take seriously specific actions that our project recommends on the basis of your experiences and suggestions.
  Dates for workshops: possible February/early March.  He is waiting to identify an initial bunch of interested people, before suggesting specific dates/times to them. I’m well on the way to doing this.
  There is a  plan to give each participant a £40 Amazon voucher to recognise their participation. This should cover most people’s costs,” but if there is exceptional need for additional financial support then we are certainly open to doing this. (And we’ll provide some tea/coffee, and some snacks, for the workshop).
  Involvement of representatives from government agencies: We have talked to various people about this. For the initial workshops it will just be families. In particular to try to make sure that everyone feels able to participate (we are hearing from quite a lot of people who have had no engagement with organizations before, so would find it very stressful to do so). But the project as a whole will absolutely involve representatives from government agencies, and there is commitment by them to learn from the findings from the workshop and to try to improve things.

Please do contact harry email if you have any questions or would like further information Or just want to have a brief chat before you make a firm decision.

Emails to Harry ippfam@soton.ac.uk  Tel: 02380 594372 and 07814687149. You can also email myself if you have any questions Email katherinegleeson@aol.com

Dr Harry Annison

Associate Professor

Co-Director Centre for Law, Policy and Society (CLPS)

Year 2 Co-ordinator

Southampton Law School

University of Southampton

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/law/about/staff/ha1y12.page

Southampton Law School is on LinkedIn. Connect with us https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/11043417/

You might like to know he has published the following pieces.

Inside Time piece: https://insidetime.org/collateral-damage-2/

Inside Time piece: https://insidetime.org/achieving-release/

Prison Service Journal article: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/publications/psj/prison-service-journal-241

Justice Committee submission: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/justice-committee/prison-population-2022/written/95032.html

They have also spoken with a number of journalists and directors about the issues faced by IPP prisoners. And are in regular contact with the Parole Board, Prison Service and Probation Service, encouraging them and assisting them to do more for IPP prisoners and their families