The Guardian  said,  I would not hold out any great hopes for the recycled and tired initiatives announced by Liz Truss. Leroy Smith quoted I spent years in a prison believe me more prison officers  will not solve  the crises .further hiring £9 hour prison officers want produce safe, humane prisons. GP I've seen the crises in jails and half the inmates should not be there.

"Start asking question,s."

Just after Liz Truss speech on her recycled reform along and tired initiatives  I  noticed prison  after  prison  rioting   why?  Inmates retaliating enough is  enough there  tied of the old record in the reform . Inmates  are frustrated  with the  humane conditions  the poor justice system, no legal aid. The disability act  ignored and poor medical health, being a snap shot."

 

"We need prisons to be safe......" 

The Prison project says the prison and probation services in England and Wales are failing to protect the  public because they do not rehabilitate offenders, and that they should be radically restructured. They are failing to protect the prisoners.

 

 

 

Inspectors reported crowded conditions and rising levels of self-harm and that not going to change over night so what's the   answer? The   answer is to to let those out that should not be there. The public don't want there tax money wasted on prisoners  that should  not be there at  no  fault of there own. The public want a safer and educated environment.

 

Tired initiatives

The Report in  May 2016  states we will take urgent  steps to improve the security in our estate and the safety of staff and prisoners. But since this reporting  early 2016 we have had nothing but riots and more deaths."

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmjust/647/64702.htm

However  it still ignores the central issue of population.

In January, 2016 the RSA and Transition Spaces embarked on the Future Prison project, which sets out how prisons in England and Wales could better support rehabilitation. Stresses that this needs to form the foundation of wider and deeper system change.  

 Work was grounded by a number of principles

• Recognition that loss of liberty is punishment and that what follows should be driven by the aim of returning people to their community in a state and to conditions most likely to reduce risk and increase community safety.
• Courageous and strategic political leadership informed by evidence and articulated through a consistent and compelling narrative.
• Safety and security to be managed effectively by using not just the best technical tools and intelligence available but also through culture change that reduces risk through enabling rehabilitation.
• Policy and practice that drives deeper and wider integration of justice and resettlement services;
• Approaches to rehabilitation that create the conditions for positive relationships that support progress in custody and beyond.
• That prison leaders, staff and service users have access to the resources, opportunities and capabilities needed to fulfil their potential and strengthen rehabilitative cultures.

There reform agenda we set out is focused on creating community-based rehabilitative prisons that are part of, and that contribute to, their local communities. Governors will be able to use their budgets to purchase goods and services locally and will be empowered to work with employers to match training to the skills that are needed in that area.

Returning officer grade old levels alongside a 2020 skills strategy, would provide the opportunity to create a new, rehabilitative prison workforce able to do the difficult job that prison officers undertake on our behalf. This should be supported by creating a Centre of Prisons Excellence that will train existing staff, alongside their new colleagues, and make this vital job more appealing to potential employees and more rewarding for those that work in the system.

In the longer term, placing the budgets in the hands of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will incentivise a local discussion about the purpose of prisons and their relationship with probation, with their local economies and communities. PCCs will not only be responsible for dealing with crime once it has happened, the onus will also be on them to prevent crime and, if they wish to save money, to think harder about who we are sending to prison and what happens while in custody and on release.

In supporting this change we propose that prisons and probation be subject to a new legal duty to rehabilitate and a clear central strategy driven by the Ministry of Justice ?but supported by other departments including the Treasury.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) should become a smaller arms-length body that sets minimum national standards and focuses on population management and the high security estate. An enhanced and integrated inspection regime would enable autonomy to be managed safely.

As shown in the below diagram, prison governors, guided by local boards, will be given new freedoms to commission services such as food, education, and energy. The diagram attempts to convey the opportunity for prisons to work together, and form clusters (when they feel this is appropriate), but this will be their choice and, ultimately, they will be held accountable for the outcomes, alongside local prison boards

The Report Recommendations

 

The Ministry of Justice should publish a 2017–2020 National Rehabilitation Strategy.

This should focus on reducing risk and strengthening rehabilitation, prioritise integration between prisons and probation and have the explicit support of other departments, including the Treasury, the Department of Health, the Home Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions. The strategy should seek to drive long-term system change and prioritise the following 10 key changes:

 

Create a Rehabilitation Requirement — The government’s white paper should include a rehabilitation requirement for prisons and probation. This should be a legal duty and require prisons and probation to track individual and institutional progress in relation to rehabilitation

 

Return frontline staffing to 2010 levels — As a foundation of reform, additional investment is urgently needed to reduce security and safety risks and to protect prisoners and frontline workers.

 

A 2020 Rehabilitative Workforce Plan — Linked to new recruitment, this should develop a new training offer, skills strategy and career paths for prison officers and focus on developing a rehabilitative workforce with transferable skills across prisons and probation.

 

A Centre of Prisons Excellence — Delivered through an ambitious model for the current training centre, Newbold Revel, this should learn from the College of Policing and consideration should be given to a centre working across prisons and probation.

 

An arms-length, more independent NOMS — NOMS should become a smaller arms-length function with greater independence from the Ministry of Justice. This would focus on resilience issues such as population management, the high-security estate and particular security issues.

 

An enhanced and more Integrated Prison and Probation Inspection Regime — This should include making the prisons inspectorate compliant with the obligations from OPCAT (Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture), which should be put on a statutory footing. The inspectorates should develop consistency on assessing rehabilitative outcomes such as education, employment and family relationships and introduce outcomes on leadership and management. A review of Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) should be undertaken to explore the potential of developing their role to track inspection recommendations.

 

Creation of Local Prison Boards — In developing greater autonomy, stability and ensuring safety and risk are managed, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) should hand over prison funding to local boards and prison governors with some key obligations that ensure that the national resilience work and population flow is mandated. Local prison boards would oversee long-term strategy and should aim to increase governors’ tenure as appropriate. Such a move would retain the national prison service but enable greater local control, including the development of special purpose vehicles to drive innovation and integration, and secure additional funding from private/corporate/charitable partnerships. The local prison board could include representation from a major employer in the area, health providers and commissioners, prisoners’ families, the local authority economic development lead, a housing provider, NGO consortia, Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), the local FE and university, the National Probation Service (NPS), the area criminal justice board lead and a member of the prison’s rehabilitative council.

 

New devolved powers for governors and PCCs — In giving governors greater freedoms and introducing more local autonomy, the government should adopt a staged process of devolution with a focus on expanding the remit of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and ensuring that scrutiny arrangements are in place to take on wider responsibilities and risk. In the interim, Regional Rehabilitation Boards would be responsible for developing Regional Rehabilitation Strategies 2017–2020 in line with the national strategy and vision of the new Rehabilitation Requirement.

 

Integration of Health Services — In addition to involving Public Health England and the NHS in developing more devolved arrangements, the government should ensure that Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA) provide clear statutory guidance on people on licence in the community, and those in custody, and that Health and Wellbeing Boards be instructed to include prisoner populations explicitly in their priorities.

 

Designing in Rehabilitation — The government’s prison building programme should be informed by first principles and by evidence of what supports rehabilitation, including size, locality, available networks and employment.

A Matter of Conviction argues that this model will ultimately serve to create a self-improving, more cost effective and innovative system.


Download the report - A Matter of Conviction (PDF, 5MB)

Read the blog - Rehabilitation is key to reducing risk in the prison system




 

 

 

 COMMENTS

 

Brackenbury What about a Protest outside liz trusses office, let's say April time, in school holidays so children can come too, who's in??? We need at least a few thousand, which is highly achievable if every ipps family brought at least 3-4 people with them, I totally understand some struggle with getting there due to cost or distance, but we are at a point now where we've tried pretty much everything and got nowhere, it's time this lady saw the amount of people it affects, the children, partners, mums, dad's, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and their friends too,
I feel we have to give this a go, I'm sure there are people who can share the journey on here with others, if we all help each other, could organise coaches if there's alot of people from certain areas, it may cost us money, but it's a one off for those we are fighting for, surely they are worth every effort, these men are taking their lives now with still no end in sight, we are all they have and so many of us are doing nothing, so please, grab your family/friends and we can do this, but we need to make alot of noise now! Can people who will deffo come We are going to contact the inside times and ask for a post on their site to spread it to a wider audience, maybe contact a few organisations and the media, if anyone has any contacts or can help with anything that will be great! Also suggestions for an exact date would be good, will have to be a week day as we've all seen she doesn't give up her weekends!!
 If we all write our personal letters explaining our pain and misery and that of our ipps to of course!... We can drop it In her little post box while we are there.As much as Michael Gove  has rattled my cage in recent years, even he has taken the time to give extensive thought to the state of prisons and the rights and wrongs, so for that I applaud him, he's hit every point in this statement....

 

dullman I am  going to send a letter to probation he needs to be near us me and kids if release is granted and give them a list of hostels to look at that ain't to far from us. Last thing we need is him  far away  emough 10 yrs and missed out on bringing our kids up they were babies when he went in and toddlers.10 year with a 10 month tariff!

 

Horton And as I've said before, at least  Michael Gove  actually DID something while he was Justice Secretary. He didn't just mouth cliches. As a teacher who saw the mess Gove made of the education system, I was expecting more of the same when he became Justice Secretary. But he surprised me - and he has consistently said all the things in this article, right from the start, and he tried to sbegin putting them into practice. Then he self destructed and we got Liz Truss....

 

Wheeler 

Hello everyone, I have not been keeping up to date for a while, things all got a bit too much and I needed to step back a bit. I can't say too much but this is a bit of a ray of hope for all of us. Someone who was on an IPP from about 10 years ago was up before the Parole Board recently and to his complete shock without warning was released a couple of days after. I can't reveal any more but it renwed my hope that people are albeit slowly getting released and I thought I would share.

EdmeadCant believe a good friend of mine has his parole date..

Reland At least more inside staff are speaking out.

Foster I was planning a protest as my partner wasn't being moved to make the progress he needed to so they obviously didn't want a protest because of riots .

 

Brackenbury

Protest outside liz trusses office, let's say April time, in school holidays so children can come too, who's in??? We need at least a few thousand, which is highly achievable if every ipps family brought at least 3-4 people with them, I totally understand some struggle with getting there due to cost or distance, but we are at a point now where we've tried pretty much everything and got nowhere, it's time this lady saw the amount of people it affects, the children, partners, mums, dad's, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and their friends too,
I feel we have to give this a go, I'm sure there are people who can share the journey on here with others, if we all help each other, could organise coaches if there's alot of people from certain areas, it may cost us money, but it's a one off for those we are fighting for, surely they are worth every effort, these men are taking their lives now with still no end in sight, we are all they have and so many of us are doing nothing, so please, grab your family/friends and we can do this, but we need to make alot of noise now! Can people who will deffo come please comment, and any questions please comment below or ask me or natasha,
We are going to contact the inside times and ask for a post on their site to spread it to a wider audience, maybe contact a few organisations and the media, if anyone has any contacts or can help with anything that will be great! Also suggestions for an exact date would be good, will have to be a week day as we've all seen she doesn't give up her weekends!!
  If we all write our personal letters explaining our pain and misery and that of our ipps to of course!... We can drop it In her little post box while we are there.As much as Michael Gove  has rattled my cage in recent years, even he has taken the time to give extensive thought to the state of prisons and the rights and wrongs, so for that I applaud him, he's hit every point in this statement....

 

 

dullman I am  going to send a letter to probation he needs to be near us me and kids if release is granted and give them a list of hostels to look at that ain't to far from us. Last thing we need is him  far away  emough 10 yrs and missed out on bringing our kids up they were babies when he went in and toddlers.10 year with a 10 month tariff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/reports/a-matter-of-conviction-a-blueprint-for-community-based-prisons

https://medium.com/rsa-reports/a-matter-of-conviction-a-blueprint-for-community-based-rehabilitative-prisons-e56676c96083#.lzclvmxhn

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/03/i-spent-20-years-in-jail-hiring-officers-wont-solve-crisis

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/06/prison-failings-let-down-bleeding-hearts-and-the-bang-em-up-brigade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Discussions on the IPP prisoners with Nick Hardwick on LBC Radio Saturday Jan 14th apox 9;30..

Many may ask what is an IPP ? An IPP is what the government named public protection  indefinite detention  though  they committed comparatively minor offenders. 

The IPP sentence  lacked coherent sentencing policy and the failure to allocate resources so that the most appropriate and effective sentence can be given to each offender. The Inquiries did not include past regulatory failures.   Many prisoners have served more than five times their tariff terms. Prisoners still remaining after that scheme was abolished by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 3 December 2012, Serving  up to ten years beyond.

 

Elizabeth Truss I

seemingly trying to justify poor figures as a comparison to recent figures -as good figures.  Defending poor performance and management by saying they have been working for year to improve? 2016 June  figures 3,859, march  4,133, 2016.

 

The solution 

  

The solution to change the release test Laspo for all IPPs, as she has the power to do so. Prisoners should be assumed to be safe to be released unless there are very strong grounds for believing otherwise. Surely, the solution is to make use of Section 128 of LASPO, the Act to cater to the needs of the backlog of these prisoners still in jail—namely, by changing the test whereby they can finally regain their freedom. At the moment, they have to satisfy the Parole Board that they can safely be released; the Parole Board, perhaps unsurprisingly, has a defensive and risk-averse mindset, conscious that it might be blamed if people then reoffend.

 

We want all IPPs released Now

 

but the first point would make a big difference - innocent until proven guilty, not the other way round. We have to remember IPP prisoners have severed in many cases FIVE times there sentence handed down by the judge. Besides ending the basic injustice of imprisonment, we would end the nightmare of uncertainty and hopelessness suffered not just by these prisoners—many of whom over the years, alas, have committed suicide but their families, too. We would free up places in our already grossly overcrowded prisons and save countless millions of pounds which could then be devoted instead to some of the many other calls for prison reform.

 

A well as reintegrating released prisoners into society is helping them to get a job. 80% are in prison for non-violent offences. Prisoners should not be locked up in their cells for most of the night and day, yet about one-fifth of prisoners spend 22 hours out of 24 in their cells.

According to Ofsted “Inadequate” standard and in  education provision 2 five require improvement, skills in 74% of prisons were found inadequate That surely raises the question of whether it is not high time for more joint working to promote good practice.

 

Mental health 

 

There are grave concerns from of the health and safety of those with an IPP; First, It is well known that IPPs are suffering from mental health issues as a direct result of the hopelessness and injustice of the sentence.

 

Vice reported

 

16 IPP prisoners killed themselves not including the population of other prisoners at its highest ever.Mental health often going without diagnosis treatment or support leaving those with now hope.

 

The Families Overlooked 

  

2500 letter sent to Elizabeth Truss from IPP prisoners families they emphasized their fears and observation in there Letters sent via 38degrees and delivered to Elizabeth with no reply . Elizabeth Truss may feel all too often the safe thing for the public point of view is keep prisoners locked up. The only trouble with that is that if you return a prisoner untouched by of rehabilitation your likely get the same person back. Prison should be a social dumping ground.

 

Michael Gove quoted in 2010

 

”we should not compel those who have made mistakes to live forever defined by those mistakes. "He did not understand 2 strike IPP lifers are forced to live defined by their mistakes." 

 

IPPs Trapped in the revolving door.

 

 privatising the probation service is making more people subject to licence conditions and has sped up the revolving door returning people to prison and putting more pressure on a system that fails everyone.“ In the majority of cases the initial decision to recall to custody is made by a single probation officer often for non-offences related and invariably rubber-stamped by the Secretary of State for Justice. Who likely never got to know you. Recalled for the same injustice for the rest of their life, trapped by the 99year license and the clutches of probation 7 years after their release as each prisoner becomes a wage. There is no incentive or hurry to move prisoners on that would be a loss. 

  

The lack of urgency

 

Failing to address the central problem identified with the 2012 act. We feel there has been a covering of secrecy and an inability to get to the truth. I fear lesson have not been learned and those being held on indeterminate sentences still don’t know when they will be released causing the mental health issues and hope-less-ness. 

 

IPP has long been debated  by government now it is time to act

 

Elizabeth Truss was give the options by professor Nick Hardwick the  chair of the  parole board. Its time to act . Prisons are overcrowded and understaffed, which has led to safety issues with  4 riots in 2 months.

 

 

 

The numbers of IPPs in prison on recall I was  increasing significantly. On 31 March 2016 there were 565 people on recall in addition to the 4133 prisoners not yet released. - There is currently no data on how long IPP prisoners spend on recall. - In 2015 whilst 512 IPPs were released from prison a total of 344 were recalled back to prison. - In 2015, the MoJ has started to include Foreign National releases/deportations in its statistics. These prisoners do not go before a Parole Board and are released automatically at the end of their tariff if they are suitable for immediate deportation.    

                              

We must  understand  

 

 IPPs have not committed the kind of crimes for which IPPs were designed, but less serious ones.

 

Secondly, there was inconsistency in sentencing even for serious crimes – some prisoners who have committed identical crimes are IPP prisoners, some are not. This is clearly unjust.

 

Thirdly, IPP prisoners have “indeterminate” sentences, which means that they never know exactly when they will be released, unlike normal prisoners. The effect of living under this level of stress and uncertainty means that IPP prisoners are significantly more likely to suffer mental health issues than other prisoners.

 

Research indicates that they may be twice as likely to suffer such issues. Through no fault of their own, therefore, many IPP prisoners are unable to “prove” that they are no longer a danger.

 

Fifthly, IPP prisoners, even if released, are on licence for at least 10 years, and can be recalled to prison at any time for even minor offences. They are never allowed to put their crime behind them, because their licence can be extended indefinitely. Their official sentence length is 99 years. In 2012

 

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that indeterminate sentences breached prisoners’ human rights, because of the fact that rehabilitative courses were not being made available even after the tariff had been served, yet still the situation has not improved. 

 

The submission states: “Recent figures from the Ministry of Justice show that IPP prisoners are much more likely and have been self-harm than other prisoners, including those serving life sentences. The prison reform, unsurprisingly the report found that more than half of all IPP prisoners have ‘emotional wellbeing’ problems, and had ‘relatively high suicide rates’, as well as finding themselves stuck in a ‘vicious circle’

 

Branding the IPP ‘absolutely inhumane and unfair’, he said that the sentence ‘totally undermined the fundamental principle of fairness.

 

 

 

Eion mcLennan Murray who said at his annual conference of his association ipp was a blunt injustice release them, unless there is a clear evidence a prisoner is not safe. Lord chief justice it seems to have all the faults, but no one seems to be fighting for them to be dealt with justly.

 

 Lord brown called to postdate Gove top end the terrible scourge. Its a preventative detention, alien to our traditional criminal justice approach.

 

Lord Dholakia the government should be serious about their pledge to tackle the issue. what steps are we talking to end this injustice.

 

“Michael Gove I remember your words we should not compel those who have made mistakes to live forever defined by those mistakes. 2 strike ipp system for lifers are forced to live defined by their mistakes. 

 

IPP prisoner wrote to the inside times if I had a gun I put to my head and pull the trigger, the only way to end it all.

 

Zing, Surely continuing to impose life recall on ipp which is an evil draconian sentence, is a continuation of that same evil, and an unwillingness to stop this is actually an unwillingness to prevent further human rights abuse, the UK government has not ratified article 1 or 13 of European convention human rights (they do not agree to promote human rights nor do they give people the right to a remedy) in hra1998 uk domestic law, they are right wing totalitarian (they believe themselves to be godlike and infallible and should therefore not be challenged in anything other than a circus)

If you are a determinate sentence recall prisoner, have you considered Executive Release?

There are steps that can be taken to ensure that 2017 is a productive year without any delay being caused.

If you are a determinate sentence recall prisoner, have you considered Executive Release?

Alongside the Parole Board having the power to direct re-release of a recalled determinate sentence prisoner, the Secretary of State also has the power to release prisoners.

 

The Secretary of State, who makes the referral to the Parole Board for the consideration of cases can, in certain situations, consider re-release without the need for referral to the Parole Board.

Executive release is an increasingly used power given the current backlog of cases before the Parole Board. It is available where there is clear support for re-release from your Offender Manager and Offender Supervisor.

 

 It is important to note that support does not guarantee that the Secretary of State will release you, as the decision is at the Secretary of State’s discretion. All decisions are made on a case by case basis, taking into account the particular circumstances of the recall and progress made in custody.

 

If you have previously been refused release by the Parole Board, there is no obligation for them to review your re-release for a period of 12 months. If during that 12-month period there has been a change in circumstances, for example the completion of offence focused work, steps can be taken to seek a referral of your case to the Secretary of State for re-release.

 

Alternatively, if you are in the early stages of or part way through a Parole Review and have support from your Offender Manager and Offender Supervisor, Executive Release may be a quicker way of securing your release.

 

Executive Release is often a process that is only instigated by Instructed Solicitors or proactive Offender Managers. A Prison Law Specialist can draft detailed representations and submit them on your behalf – requesting that the Executive Release process be considered.

 

Are you serving an IPP sentence and are looking to transfer to open?

As a result of the leading case of R (Guittard) v Secretary of State for Justice, it is now possible for IPP prisoners to be transferred to open conditions outside of the Parole process. If you have an upcoming Parole Review, a complete Parole dossier and all professionals are recommending open conditions, consideration of the Guittard Principles could allow for a smoother and quicker transition to the open estate by bypassing the Parole Board in the decision-making process.

 

Written representations can be drafted on your behalf by a Prison Law Specialist and can be Submitted; setting out why the criteria for a move under the Guittard Principles is appropriate in the circumstances.

As a determinate prisoner, have you got to grips with your Categorisation?

Understanding the re-categorisation process can be difficult and confusing but it will have a direct effect on your progression to less secure conditions, including the open estate. You should have a review between every six months to one year; dependent on the length of sentence that you are serving.

 

There are a number of complex procedures in place, which differ depending on which category prisoner you currently are but it is worth noting that advice and assistance is available by specialists should you need it. PSI 39/2011 and 40/2011 state that there is no automatic progression and that there must be clear evidence of a reduction in risk to a level manageable in an establishment of a lower category.

 

Representations can be submitted to ensure that the prison give full and careful consideration to your categorisation. We can also give consideration to refusals of re-categorisation to see if there are any grounds to appeal against decisions of the prison.

 

EDS Prisoner with an upcoming Parole Review?

Extended Determinate Sentences can be difficult to understand and are often seen as a complex sentence to be serving. Assistance is available by Prison Law specialists to explain whether you are subject to Parole and to assist you in the preparation of your Parole review.

This can include the preparation of written representations and representation at an Oral Hearing if necessary.

 

The Parole Board can only consider release into the community of determinate sentence prisoners and the test for release is as follows: ‘whether or not it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner should be confined.’

 

Good custodial behaviour, completion of core offending behaviour programmes with positive post-programme reports and a fully prepared risk management plan will assist in any application for release. It is therefore important to start thinking about how you would evidence an understanding of your risk factors and their management in the community.

 

IPP Prisoner seeking release on the papers?

In our last article, we explained that changes were being made to the Parole Board rules; including the power of the Parole Board to release IPP prisoners into the community without the need for an Oral

The Parole Board Rules 2016 came into force on 22nd November 2016 and the power to release IPP prisoners on the papers relates to Parole reviews commenced before and after that date.

 

It is envisaged that this power will be used for more straightforward cases, including technical breaches of licence which have resulted in the recall of IPP prisoners. However, it is important that the Parole Board are reminded of their new power and that representations submitted seeking release on the papers.

 

What can we do to help?

We would encourage all prisoners to contact us in relation to ongoing issues during their time in custody. Various issues are covered under the remit of Legal Aid; for those that are not we can offer competitive fees on a private paying basis.

 

If you need help or advice with any prison law issues please contact the Prison Law department at Hine Solicitors on 01865 518971

 

or FREEPOST – RTHU – LEKE – HAZR Hine Solicitors, Seymour House, 285Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7JF.

 

Inside times Jan 2017

 

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Parole board projects that began post date Sept 2016 to reduce delays for prisoners.To address this problem.They have developed 4 trials that they are piloting until the end of March 2017:

1. We will work closer with the Public Protection Casework Section (PPCS) to make more effective use of the option of ‘executive release’. Eligible cases will be considered for executive release at an earlier stage of the parole process, before a case is directed to an oral hearing. We hope this will reduce the number of cases waiting in the queue for an oral hearing date and allow prisoners to be released more quickly.
2.  
3. We are extending the cut off point for determinate cases with an upcoming Sentence Expiry Date (SED). We currently conclude cases directed to oral hearing if the SED is within 12 weeks’ time of the oral hearing directions. This is because there is insufficient time to schedule an oral hearing before a prisoner will be automatically released. This will now be extended to 24 weeks.
4. We will change the listing prioritisation framework so that prisoners who have 12 months or less before their SED will no longer be prioritised. This means most recall cases will no longer be listed ahead of other sentence types, resulting in a fairer system. A full review of the listings framework will take place by April 2017.
5.  
6. We are looking into the possibility of using Ministry of Justice video link rooms across the UK to host hearings for determinate sentence prisoners. Currently, we can only host video link hearings at our London based office which limits our capacity. We hope that by creating regional hubs across the UK, more cases can be heard more swiftly.
7. This will also hopefully ensure prisoners with determinate sentences will not be disadvantaged by the above pilots.

We are taking a flexible approach to these pilots and if any prisoners believe that they have exceptional circumstances that warrant prioritisation of their case they can write to the Parole Board. Such circumstances can include, but are not limited to, medical/mental health issues and/or compassionate reasons for example.



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Year that opened with David Cameron championing prison reform as a great progressive cause in British politics ended with a record number of deaths, a high profile escape, staff walking out and Tornado teams quelling a series of major disturbances.


 The first six months saw Michael Gove promising the earth but delivering almost nothing; the second Liz Truss scrambling for funds and ideas to repair the damage inflicted on the prison service by her predecessors.

 

Her White Paper may not have lived up to its hype, but she quickly recognised that getting more staff onto the landings is a prerequisite for anything more ambitious. Having previously argued that prisons should be tough unpleasant and uncomfortable places, she makes an unlikely reformer but deserves the chance to fix the mess she inherited.

Truss baulked at Charlie Taylor’s extravagant plans to reconfigure youth justice and has so far resisted proposals to reduce the numbers of adults in prison- not surprisingly for a proponent of longer and tougher sentences. Ken Clarke, Nick Clegg and Jacqui Smith joined the list of politicians prescribing radical policies once they cease to have the power to implement them. Their call to halve the prison population received some support from Labour but they have form in calling for - and reneging on - a halt to the arms race on punishment. Michael Howard thinks it gravely irresponsible to slash prison numbers.  But even he says there might be room for modest reform.

Measures beneath the radar are probably the best we can hope for in 2017.The Sentencing Council could play a greater role in stabilising sentence lengths but problem solving courts seem to be on hold. It’s not clear how far the devolution agenda has to run in justice.

Probation could normally be expected to play a greater role in replacing prison but its reckless privatisation has left it struggling to cope with existing work let alone take on more. We will find out early next year if a review leads to contracts being torn up – or more likely tinkered with.

We are due a progress report too, on the 10,000 new prison places due to be built in  9 new prisons by 2020.  Don’t be surprised if these have been delayed. NOMS Chief Michael Spurr told the Justice Committee last month that it will be 2025 at least before prison cells hold only the number of prisoners for which  they were designed.   Prison reform may just about still be a great progressive cause -but it's a long term one. 

 

 

                                           Comments 

 

 

Brackenbury You could ask  Elizabeth Truss if she's happy to pay for my fiances funeral after his next knockback, because after 9 years of this I'm broke!

 

 

If you have comments  on the subject of the  IPP sentence and like to add to the site

Email katherinegleeson@aol.com

 

 http://www.insidetime.org/start-the-year-right/
GOV.UK  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-pilot-projects-to-reduce-delays-for-prisoners
http://www.wigantoday.net/news/prison-protest-over-treatment-of-inmates-1-8310817
http//reformingprisons.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/a-year-in-prisons
 

BuzzFeed live on saturday look out for it !

 

 

Re: IPP article on BuzzFeed From: Patrick Smith To: Katherinegleeson Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2017 10:58

Hi Katherine, Happy new year - just to update you on this, my IPP article should be going live on the site this saturday, I will send you a link when it's live.

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

 Patrick

prisoners main complaint was that they felt unsafe.”People do not feel supported, they do not have the chance to get out and a lot of people feel trapped.”

GP Andrew Sixsmith says he sees many ex-prisoners. He has only six minutes to speak to patients, who may turn up at the surgery with no food or money. “What can I do?” he says. “I have also had patients wanting to commit suicide at my surgery and I know that I will not get the statutory suicide teams out easily, but I have walked them over to the centre, where somebody there will talk to them and get them into the system.”

Under a new scheme, prisoners rolled out in  Leeds are met at the gates and supported in their reintegration into society. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian The community centre’s groundbreaking collaborative work was recently recognised by the independent trust Power To Change, which awarded it £215,000 for refurbishments. It now functions as a health and wellbeing centre, having doubled in size.

A strong believer in practical solutions, Graham insists that “if you have time to listen to people and to hear about the barriers in their lives you can begin to make a difference”.




https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2017/jan/09/exprisoner-scheme-breaks-cycle-reoffending?CMP=share_btn_tw