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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:04 pm
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Results for prisons (u.k.)
11 results foundAuthor: Great Britain. HM Inspectorate of Prisons Title: Disabled Prisoners: A Short Thematic Review on the Care and Support of Prisoners with a Disability Summary: The U.K. National Offender Management Service is now subject to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. It is required to promote disability equality and eliminate unlawful discrimination in all prisons in England and Wales. Disability, as defined in the Act, covers a range of impairments, both physical and mental, including learning disability. This report draws together information from prisoner surveys and inspection reports between 2006 and 2008, together with responses from 82 prison disability liaison officers, to examine how well prisons are currently able to discharge these duties. Details: London: HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2009. 66p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 113775 Keywords: Disability (U.K.)Learning DisabilitiesMental HealthPrisoners (U.K.)Prisons (U.K.) |
Author: Hedderman, Carol Title: Building on Sand: Why Expanding the Prison Estate Is Not The Way To Secure The Future Summary: This briefing argues that the UK government's analysis of factors driving up the prison population is `inadequate' and `highly misleading' . It argues that the contrary to claims in Lord Carter's Review of Prisons that the increased use of imprisonment is not due to more offences being brought to justice; that prison reconviction rates have escalated as the population has increased; and that the public appetite for prison is more limited and susceptible to reasoned arguement than the government acknowledges. Finally it suggests a number of possible policy reforms to slow the rise in prison numbers. Details: London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, King's College London, 2008. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing 7: Accessed December 9, 2010 at: http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/opus733/Builtonsandbriefing.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/opus733/Builtonsandbriefing.pdf Shelf Number: 120431 Keywords: PrisonersPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: Edgar, Kimmett Title: Time Well Spent: A Practical Guide to Active Citizenship and Volunteering in Prison Summary: There is a huge scope for prisoners to take on responsibility, engage in constructive work, and contribute to the life of the prison community. We describe these roles as active citizenship. Examples include volunteering, peer support, charity work, and prisoner representative duties. We define active citizenship as follows: Prisoners are active citizens when they exercise responsibility by making positive contributions to prison life or the wider community. Main findings -- There are five types of active citizenship roles in prisons: • Peer support schemes, whereby prisoners help and support their fellow-prisoners • Community support schemes involving work with or on behalf of people outside the prison • Restorative justice programmes, whereby prisoners are encouraged to acknowledge the harm they have caused and to make amends • Democratic participation in prison life, for example involving membership of prisoner councils or other forums • Arts and media projects such as prison-based radio-stations or newspapers, or performing arts programmes. This report is based on evidence derived from a survey of prisons and interviews with prisoners and staff involved in active citizenship schemes. It documents the imaginative and effective work that has been pioneered in some prisons. Most prisons, from young offender institutions to high security prisons, provide opportunities for prisoners to be active citizens. Prison staff have demonstrated their expertise in managing risk by developing an array of roles and activities for prisoners that bring out the best in them. Details: London: Prison Reform Trust, 2011. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 3, 2011 at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Time%20Well%20Spent%20report%20lo.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Time%20Well%20Spent%20report%20lo.pdf Shelf Number: 122646 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsInmate Volunteer ProgramsPrisoner RehabilitationPrisoner Volunteer ProgramsPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Ministry of Justice Title: Monitoring Places of Detention: First Annual Report of the United Kingdom's National Preventive Mechanism 2009-10. Cm. 8010 Summary: In the UK and elsewhere there has been growing recognition of detainee's vulnerability and the need for robust, independent mechanisms to protect them from ill-treatment. This view was given formal recognition by the United Nations when it adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) and its ratification by the UK in 2003. As detailed in 'Monitoring Places of Detention (Cm. 8010)', the basic premise of OPCAT is that protections for those who are detained can be strengthened by a system of regular visits to all places of detention. OPCAT requires the designation of a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to carry out such visits and to monitor treatment. The UK NPM was established in March 2009 when it was decided that the functions of the mechanism would be fulfilled by the collective action of 18 existing bodies with the HM Inspectorate of Prisons as co-ordinator. This is the first annual report from the NPM in the UK. It details the individual and collective activities of its members in the period 01 April 2009 to 31 March 2010. As well as providing background information on OPCAT and the role of the NPMs, it outlines the role of the individual members and their detention-related activities. The NPM also makes its first collective recommendation that the UK government identifies any places of detention not visited by the NPM and ensures that those gaps are addressed. Details: London: The Stationery Office, 2011. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 6, 2011 at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/guidance/inspection-monitoring/National_Preventive_Mechanism_Annual_report_2009-2010(web).pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/guidance/inspection-monitoring/National_Preventive_Mechanism_Annual_report_2009-2010(web).pdf Shelf Number: 122662 Keywords: Correctional InstitutionsPrisonersPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: Prison Reform Trust. All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group Title: Too Many Prisoners. The All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group January 2008 - March 2010 Summary: With the prison population at an all time high of around 85,000 and plans for further considerable expansion of the estate despite radical cuts elsewhere in public expenditure, there has never been a greater need for an active and informed group. This report revives the title of the group’s first publication in 1980 Too Many Prisoners. At that time the prison population in England and Wales stood at 44,000, a level that the then Home Secretary described as “dangerously high”. In a speech to the Conservative Central Council Willie Whitelaw said: “...we must ensure that prison is reserved for those whom we really need to contain in custody and that sentences are no longer than necessary to achieve this objective...” These are sentiments that remain relevant today. With an imprisonment rate of 154 per 100,000 England and Wales has become the top incarcerator in Western Europe. Rates in more moderate France and Germany are 96 and 88 per 100,000. Fevered prison building, at £170,000 per place, is now set to propel us past most of our Eastern European neighbours. It is hoped that this review will prove helpful in allowing parliamentarians an opportunity to pause and reflect on both the pace and nature of change. The report includes the presentation of each speaker in the past two years. Each meeting had a separate theme. It provides a clear indication of concerns – for the public in whose interest prisos exist, for prisoners, staff and those responsible for various aspects of the prisons in England and Wales. Details: London: Prison Reform Trust, 2010. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 23, 2011 at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/APPPAG2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/APPPAG2010.pdf Shelf Number: 118600 Keywords: PrisonersPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: Lockyer, Kevin Title: Future Prisons: A radical plan to reform the prison estate Summary: Future Prisons calls for the government to shut more than 30 run-down and poorly-located prisons and replace them with 12 state of the art ‘Hub Prisons’, containing up to 3,000 inmates. The new prisons would lead to huge costs savings, a reduction in reoffending rates and a better quality of life for prisoners and prison staff. The report says that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) could meet its entire 2015/16 spending commitment by ‘swapping old for new’ and financing the construction of new, large prisons to replace expensive, hard-to-maintain and poorly-located older prisons. In operational costs alone, this plan would save more than £600 million a year on completion – fully 20% of the prison budget. This is equivalent to around 9% of the MoJ’s entire departmental budget. Taking construction into account, which could be financed through public sector borrowing, private finance or development finance, the savings would amount to around £10 billion over a 25 year repayment period. The report, written by Kevin Lockyer, a former prison governor and deputy director in the MoJ, argues that trying to simply cut prison numbers and closing down prisons is not the right way to reduce the prison population or protect the public. Instead the focus must be on how to reduce the cost per prisoner. Costs vary widely across the country from £108,000 per place at HMP Kennet to £26,000 at Wayland. Brand new analysis comparing establishments with the same functions, shows for the first time that age is the key determinant of a prison’s effectiveness, rather than size: newer prisons had lower reoffending levels, a greater respect between staff and prisoners and a better quality of life and safety measures than older prisons. It argues that the Conservatives and penal lobby were correct to dismiss Labour’s 2007 plans to build new Titan ‘super’ prisons, proposed to facilitate a large expansion of the prison estate without evidence of effectiveness. However, the new proposal greatly differs from the Titan scheme in that Policy Exchange is not suggesting an expansion of the prison estate but merely the replacement of old for new establishments. The report shows that a quarter of prisons are Victorian or older while a further quarter were built in the 1960s and 1970s, often to poor standards and designs with poor materials. Hub Prisons would also be materially different to Titans. To date, a campus-style approach centred around a shared-service hub has been considered expensive in terms of the staff required for it to run securely and safely. But the Policy Exchange proposal, with its use of innovative technology, makes this kind of approach affordable. Hub Prisons would contain relatively small, self-contained, housing units and plenty of open spaces. They would include a range of accommodation types, with more traditional radial-style houseblocks for remand prisoners and assessment and induction purposes, and with smaller living units for longer sentenced prisoners The report recommends: •Closing more than 30 run down and dilapidated prisons and constructing 10-12 state of the art Hub Prisons. •Locating the prisons on brownfield sites near to main transport routes and to hold more prisoners as close to home as possible. •Constructing the prisons using cutting-edge architecture, with technologies such as biometric security systems. Halfway houses would be located inside the prison estate and the sites would include courts to cut the cost of transferring prisoners for trial. •Allowing private providers to compete on a level playing field with the public sector to manage and run the new establishments. Details: London: Policy Exchange, 2013. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 18, 2013 at: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/future%20prisons.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/future%20prisons.pdf Shelf Number: 129034 Keywords: Costs of CorrectionsCosts of Criminal JusticePrison ReformPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: Muir, Rick Title: Tomorrow’s Prisons: Designing the future prison estate Summary: With much of the prison estate far too old to meet modern needs, there is an urgent need for fresh thinking about what we do in our prisons – and how they should be designed to facilitate those objectives. This project, of which this paper is the first output, aims to provide such new thinking by setting out a challenging but achievable agenda for change. We see two alternative futures for the prison estate: •We can continue on our present course, expanding the estate by building ever larger prisons based on standard designs. This might seem like the politically safer course, but it is a highly costly one and will do little to address the challenges identified. •We can embrace an ambitious but practical agenda of prison modernisation, which would create a more diverse range of penal institutions that are smaller, locally rooted, specialised and focused on rehabilitating prisoners. The report sets the scene for the second phase of the project, which will set out in detail what that alternative scenario could look like and how the political, financial and practical challenges to it can be overcome. Details: London: Institute for Public Policy Research, 2010. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2013 at: http://www.ippr.org.uk/images/media/files/publication/2011/05/Tomorrows_prisons_web_1789.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.ippr.org.uk/images/media/files/publication/2011/05/Tomorrows_prisons_web_1789.pdf Shelf Number: 129448 Keywords: Alternative to IncarcerationPrison ReformPrisoner RehabilitationPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: British Academy Title: A Presumption Against Imprisonment: Social Order and Social Values Summary: The British Academy has today published a report, which urges that the UK stop relying so heavily on imprisonment as a form of punishment. Instead of imprisoning so many people for so long, the new report argues that in many cases, alternative measures will provide better, and more sustainable, long term outcomes. The report, titled 'A Presumption Against Imprisonment: Social Order and Social Values', was written by a group of academic experts including Professor Andrew Ashworth FBA, Professor Roger Cotterrell FBA, Professor Andrew Coyle, Professor Antony Duff FBA, Professor Nicola Lacey FBA, Professor Alison Liebling and Professor Rod Morgan. The report illustrates how changes to criminal law and policy have led to progressively harsher sentencing regimes, with longer periods of imprisonment imposed on persistent offenders and the increased use of mandatory minimum and indeterminate sentences for certain crimes. The prison population in England and Wales almost doubled between 1992 and 2011, rising from just under 45,000 to 88,000. Although it has fallen back to about 85,500 today, it is estimated that by 2018 the prison population could reach more than 90,000. (A similar increase has occurred in Scotland.) The report suggests a range of strategies to reduce our reliance on imprisonment, including reviewing sentence lengths, using diversion from the courts more extensively and promoting greater use of alternative forms of sentence. In addition to these strategies, the report recommends three 'overarching institutional proposals': - the creation of a Penal Policy Committee, accountable to Parliament, to formulate policies on the appropriate use of imprisonment; - greater attention by the Sentencing Council to the costs and effectiveness of different forms of sentence; - an urgent review of cases of Imprisonment for Public Protection in which the minimum term has been served, with a view to release. Details: London: The British Academy, 2014. 116p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 4, 2014 at: http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/Presumption_Against_Imprisonment.cfm Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/Presumption_Against_Imprisonment.cfm Shelf Number: 132878 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationCriminal Justice ReformPrison ReformPrisons (U.K.)Punishment |
Author: Prison Reform Trust Title: Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile: Autumn 2014 Summary: The facts and figures about the deteriorating state of our prisons and the poor state of people in them present a stark and disturbing picture. Strip away the political rhetoric, public relations gloss, and popular media misrepresentation. Discount the vested interest of those who profit from growing a market in incarceration. And you are left with a public prison service cut by $263million in three years, struggling to cope with the loss of more than 12,500 (28%) of its staff since 2010 and an ever-rising prison population. Warning signs reveal a prison system under unprecedented strain. There has been a sharp drop in individual prison performance and a marked increase in staff sickness levels. Detailed reports by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons chart a decline in standards and much reduced opportunities for rehabilitation and resettlement. Serious assaults, prisoner on prisoner and prisoner on officer, have risen in adult male establishments along with concerted indiscipline. Saddest of all, for the first time in over five years, the number of deaths by suicide has risen drastically. Every effort is being made to reverse what could so easily become a trend, rather than a spike, in numbers of tragic self-inflicted deaths. People in prison are particularly vulnerable. Compared to the general population where 6 percent have attempted suicide, 21 percent of men and 46 percent of women in prison have tried to kill themselves at some point in their lives. No one wants to see the painstaking gains made by safer custody staff and prisoners working as Samaritan listeners, improved support, training, first night arrangements, better assessment and management of risk, all swept away by reduced staffing levels, harsher regimes and increased uncertainty and hopelessness. The scale and driving pace of change in the justice system mean that mistakes are inevitably being made at every level. Prison population figures are being hastily recalculated upwards to reflect the rise in custodial remand and the increased numbers of sexual offenders sentenced by the courts as well as the unquantifiable impact of a Justice Secretary determined to promote 'proper punishment' and increased use of imprisonment. A rushed benchmarking process followed hard on the heels of the massive work and pay restructuring exercise curiously entitled 'fair and sustainable'. Outcomes are as yet untested because so many prisons are operating well below new minimal staffing levels due to a combination of unfilled vacancies and long term absence on sick leave. Too many establishments, particularly in London and the South East are reliant on a small army of reservists, former staff recruited from the North who will not know their prisoners in the jails into which they are parachuted, and remaining exhausted, governors and staff working excessive hours. From the outside it looks as if the prison service is taking a pounding in return for its disciplined approach and capacity to cope with adversity. From the inside, people in prison endure worsening conditions, less time out of cell, reduced contact with staff, new mean and petty restrictions and unjustified curbs on release on temporary license. Overcrowding means that people awaiting trial are mixed in with sentenced prisoners regardless of their innocent until proven guilty status and young people are held with adults notwithstanding their developmental stage. One young man told the Prison Reform Trust's advice and information service that "he is hearing voices and they are scaring him. He says he phones his mum sometimes when the voices are scaring him, but can't always get to phone when she's around." Prisons are less safe and less decent than they were even a year ago when we published our Autumn 2013 compendium of facts and figures. An incoming administration of government in May 2015 must not accept this deterioration in prison standards and conditions as the new normal. It should rebuild confidence in a vital public service and acknowledge painstaking gains made by staff and the responsible prisoners who manage to effect reform from within. It must turn its attention to the new demographic and changing needs of a rapidly ageing prison population. It must re-establish the defining principle that people are sent to prison as a punishment rather than for punishment. And from the wreckage it must create a just, fair and effective penal system. Details: London: Prison Reform Trust, 2014. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 3, 2014 at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Bromley%20Briefings/Factfile%20Autumn%202014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Bromley%20Briefings/Factfile%20Autumn%202014.pdf Shelf Number: 133949 Keywords: Correctional InstitutionsInmatesPrison ConditionsPrison ReformPrisonersPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: Amey, Abigail Title: Perspectives from inside: A report from HMP Grendon and HMP Barlinnie Summary: How far do UK prisons meet the best human rights standards as set out in the Council of Europe's European Prison Rules? This was the question the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies sought to answer as part of an eight country European Prison Observatory study funded by the European Union. In 2014 the Centre held events at two prisons, HMP Grendon and HMP Barlinnie, to discuss human rights in UK prisons. Prisoners, prison staff, voluntary sector providers and researchers took part in the events, although those noting down comments paid particular attention to the observations and opinions of those who were serving sentences. Each of the one day events at Grendon and Barlinnie were divided into three workshops focused on the themes of health; work and education; and security and resolving conflicts in prison. This report brings together the main issues raised during the workshops. The Centre would like to thank Ian Whitehead and Jamie Bennett, Governors of Barlinnie and Grendon respectively, as well as the staff from both prisons for helping to run the events. Details: London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, 2015. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 19, 2015 at: http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/Perspectives%20from%20inside%20A%20report%20from%20HMP%20Grendon%20and%20HMP%20Barlinnie_0.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/Perspectives%20from%20inside%20A%20report%20from%20HMP%20Grendon%20and%20HMP%20Barlinnie_0.pdf Shelf Number: 134983 Keywords: Correctional InstitutionsPrison AdministrationPrison ConditionsPrisons (U.K.) |
Author: Day, Mark Title: Strangeways 25 years on: achieving fairness and justice in our prisons Summary: Half of all men (49.7%) at HMP Manchester (Strangeways) are held two to a cell designed for one, a new Prison Reform Trust report reveals. Almost one quarter (23.6%) of people held across the prison estate in England and Wales are in so-called "doubled accommodation". Twenty five years after the Strangeways riot began on 1 April 1990, chronic overcrowding driven by a near doubling of the prison population over the past two decades continues to undermine standards of decency in prisons and restrict opportunities for rehabilitation, the report says. Half of people released from prison reoffend within one year of release; rising to 60% for those serving sentences of 12 months or less. When the Strangeways riot began the prison population was 45,000; today it stands at 84,000. England and Wales now has the highest rate of imprisonment in Western Europe, imprisoning 149 people for every 100,000. At the end of February 2015, 71 of the 118 prisons in England and Wales were overcrowded. Successive governments have poured taxpayers' money into expensive prison building programmes while closing smaller prisons and opening vast prisons in order to meet the demands of a growing prison population. More than four in 10 prisoners are now held in supersized jails of over 1,000 or more. HMP Manchester currently holds 1,114 men. The Strangeways prison riot, which left two men dead and 194 injured, was one of the most serious in British penal history. The riot took place against the background of a prison system which was perceived by prisoners as increasingly arbitrary and unfair and lacking in basic standards of decency. Lord Woolf's inquiry into the causes of the disturbances constituted a wide-ranging examination of conditions in Britain's prisons and represents the most important analysis of the penal system for the past 100 years. Lord Woolf, who now chairs the Prison Reform Trust, will deliver a lecture on the 25th anniversary of the Strangeways riot on 1 April 2015 at the Inner Temple in London. Lord Woolf's main recommendations and 204 proposals on matters of detail set out an agenda for comprehensive reform of the prison system. These included an end to "slopping out", whereby prisoners had to urinate and defecate in buckets in their cell; the appointment of a prisons ombudsman; and the introduction of telephones on landings so prisoners could keep in closer touch with their families. Lord Woolf also called for an enforceable limit on overcrowding and the division of prisons into smaller and more manageable secure units of 50-70 places, with no establishment exceeding 400 places. The report assesses progress made against Lord Woolf's 12 main recommendations for a more fair and just prison system. It says that many of the factors which contributed to the unrest have resurfaced today. Although the Prison Service is better able today to ensure control and security, this has threatened to set back decades of painstaking progress it has made to improve treatment and conditions. Over the past two years, independent prisons inspectorate reports and Ministry of Justice statistics reveal a marked increase in deaths in custody, a rising tide of violence and acts of concerted indiscipline, and falling rates of purposeful activity. The justice committee, in its recent report into the current government's approach to prison policy and planning, said that moves to cut costs in the prison system in England and Wales, as well as tougher prison regimes, had "made a significant contribution to the deterioration in safety." Measuring progress against Lord Woolf's recommendations, the report reveals a prison service which has made heroic strides in some areas but disturbing lapses in others. Although the official end to 'slopping out' was announced nearly 20 years ago, by the former prisons minister Ann Widdecombe, some establishments still suffer from a lack of in cell sanitation. HM inspector of prisons 2013-14 annual report said: "We continued to find - and be critical of - 'night sanitation' systems in some prisons, such as Blundeston and Coldingley, where there were no in-cell toilets and prisoners used an electronic queuing system to access external toilets. These systems sometimes break down, leaving prisoners little option than to use buckets." In 2010 there were 1,973 prison places without in-cell sanitation or open access to toilet facilities. The report says that better arrangements for monitoring prison performance could be improved by more robust and comprehensive standards and a truly independent prisons inspectorate accountable directly to Parliament Details: London: Prison Reform Trust, 2015. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 2, 2015 at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/woolf25250315FINALilo.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/woolf25250315FINALilo.pdf Shelf Number: 135149 Keywords: Prison AdministrationPrison ConditionsPrison Over-crowdingPrisons (U.K.) |