Monday 31 October 2016

News Roundup 7

This from Private Eye:-

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I noticed this on the Inside Time website:-  

The Parole Board has experienced an increase in the demand for oral hearings since the Osborn, Booth and Riley judgment handed down in 2013. This has resulted in delays for a considerable number of prisoners waiting for an oral hearing date. The listing prioritisation framework, which was developed to help us manage the increased volume of cases, currently prioritises recalled determinate sentenced prisoners above most other prisoners when allocating oral hearing dates each month. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the majority of other prisoners experiencing much longer delays before their oral hearing date is set. We recognise that we need to change our current approach in order to ensure fairness across the system.

To address this problem, we have developed 4 trials that we will be piloting from now until the end of March 2017:

1. We will work closer with 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. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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. 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 believes 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.

If you believe you are affected by one of the above pilots then we strongly recommend you seek guidance from a legal representative or a member of prison staff.


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On the shocking increase in suicides in prison, this from the Guardian:-

New crisis in prisons as suicides hit record levels

Suicides in prison have reached “epidemic” proportions, with rates of self-harm and violence soaring to unprecedented levels. In addition, experts say the situation in women’s jails is now worse than a decade ago, when a landmark report was commissioned amid widespread concerns about deteriorating standards.

In the 12 months to 16 September, there were 107 self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales – almost double that for 2012, when 57 people took their lives, and nearly seven times the 16 suicides in 1978, when the current recording system began.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, has used her blog to highlight that at least 26 prisoners have taken their life since Liz Truss was appointed secretary of state for justice in July, the equivalent to one suicide every three days.

Crook, who describes suicides in prison as having reached “epidemic proportions”, said the situation was the worst she had known in her 30 years of campaigning.

“I haven’t seen anything like this, this is really, really bad,” she said. “There used to be enough experienced staff to know when someone was in distress, but they don’t have time to talk to anyone, there simply aren’t enough of them. I’ve been in prisons recently where you have two uniformed officers on duty with several hundred men on the wings. All they can do is go along the landings and open all the doors to allow people to fetch their lunch and then go back down the landings and shut all the doors again. They can’t say anything to anybody because they haven’t got time.”
Last Sunday, Celeste Craig, 26, became the 19th woman prisoner to take her own life this year. With two months of the year still to go, the number dwarfs the levels of a decade ago when the Corston report warned that too many women were being jailed for minor offences while their mental health needs, addiction problems and troubled backgrounds went largely ignored.

“I was commissioned to write my report in 2006 because in two years, 2003 and 2004, a total of 13 women took their own lives in prison,” Lady Corston said. “Now we’ve had 19 in one year which is a scandal.”

The Corston report made 43 recommendations, but much of its impact has been reversed, she said. “In 2003 there were 9,000 women taken into our prisons,” she said. “In 2009, two years after my report, it went down to 5,724.

“Now, at a time of staff cuts, there are 11,000 women going through our prisons this year. We are back to the same old story. Women prisoners, who are 21 times more likely [than average] to commit suicide, are being sent to prison for ridiculously short times and nothing is achieved. I am very depressed about it all.”

Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, branded the death toll in women’s prisons as unacceptable. “We see the brutal consequences of criminal justice policies that see prison as the default solution and incarcerate some of the most disadvantaged women in prisons that are ill-equipped to keep them safe. These deaths raise the question as to why women were in prison in the first place.”

The rest of the prison system is also experiencing profound problems. Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that the death rate in prisons in England and Wales – which includes suicides, natural causes and homicide – has risen to almost one a day. In the 12 months to the end of June 2016, assaults in men’s prisons rose to a record high at 22,915 – an increase of 69% in only three years. Over the same period there were 36,440 incidents of self-injury – equivalent to 100 per day.

The crisis comes as Truss prepares to make her first major speech as justice secretary this week. She told the Observer that prison reform was her priority and that she was committed to making jails safer. “These statistics demonstrate the serious violence and self-harm in our prisons,” Truss said.

“The consequences are devastating and go far beyond the confines of the prison walls, spilling out into our streets and communities. That is why I have invested an initial £14m at 10 of our most challenging prisons, and shortly I will be publishing a white paper outlining the much needed reform across the prison estate to 2020 and beyond.”

But Crook said the crisis merited a more urgent response. “Legislation will be introduced some time next year, by which time 100 people will have taken their own lives. She [Truss] has to do something now,” she said.

“It’s deeply distressing that this sort of thing is still happening almost 10 years after the Corston inquiry,” said Ben Summerskill, director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, who pointed out that half of all prisoners return to jail after release. If we had any other industry in the country where half the products got returned to the factory, ministers would have acted decades ago,” he said.

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Finally, the Howard League press release on the subject:-

Prison statistics reveal a bloodbath of assaults, suicide and self-injury

The number of people dying in prison has risen by 21 per cent in a year as safety in jails deteriorates further and faster, figures seen by the Howard League for Penal Reform reveal today (Thursday 27 October). Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that the death rate in prisons in England and Wales rose to almost one a day – a record high of 324 in the 12 months to the end of September 2016.

They included 107 prisoners who took their own lives as the suicide rate behind bars rose by 13 per cent to unprecedented levels. The number has almost doubled since 2011-12, when 57 people died by suicide in prison.

Official records of assaults and self-injury incidents show that prison safety is declining at a faster rate year by year. The total number of assaults recorded in prisons increased by more than 34 per cent to 23,775 – about 65 per day – in the 12 months to the end of June 2016. Assaults recorded in men’s prisons rose to a record high at 22,915 – an increase of 69 per cent in only three years. Assaults in women’s prisons have also risen, increasing by 25 per cent in a year.

In the 12 months to the end of June 2016, 36,440 incidents of self-injury were recorded in prisons. This equates to 100 per day and represents a rise of 26 per cent compared to the previous year. The number of incidents of self-injury by men in prisons has more than doubled in six years.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: 
“The Ministry of Justice is presiding over a bloodbath of assaults, suicides and self-injury in prisons. Cutting staff and prison budgets while allowing the number of people behind bars to grow unchecked has created a toxic mix of violence, death and human misery. The Secretary of State for Justice, Elizabeth Truss, has declared that making prisons safer is her priority, and we expect her plans to be made clear next month. But today’s figures show that we cannot wait for legislation – bold and radical action is needed now to stop the death toll rising further. The Howard League is about to publish a plan of action to tackle the immediate problems. We will be suggesting that small behaviour change by magistrates, prisons and probation could ease the pressure on prisons and save lives. I will present this to the Secretary of State at our meeting next month.”

31 comments:

  1. I have found the idea of profit extracted from Probation work difficult to accept on various levels but the description in the Private Eye piece about Community Correctional Services in Rutherford County was one I found truly dystopian and squalid. To imagine that our own Probation services might be being infected with such a culture is very concerning.

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    1. Next they will be charging prisoners rent for prison cells with some sort of horrible penalty if they can't pay

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  2. And still it goes on & on & on & on... everywhere you look - UK, Europe, Middle East, USA, rest of the planet - there are diabolical human rights abuses being perpetrated resulting in profiteering for the callous, psychopathic bullies. Most are too scared to stand up & say "Enough!"; some are complicit because they want their share; a few brave souls are paying the price for speaking out &/or taking a stand.

    UK Tories - greedy, pernicious, arrogant, self-obsessed. Cameron leaves his child in a pub; Gove leaves his in a B&B so he can "dance with the stars"; Johnson simply lies through his fringe; May just wants to be Queen Bee regardless; whilst everything Grayling touches turns to shit but he believes he's King Midas...
    Trump - racist, sexist, self-obsessed, deranged. How can it possibly be that he has one hand on the door of the Whitehouse? Money!
    Clinton - shallow, vain, self-obsessed. How can it be she has one foot in the Whitehouse? Money! Probably the lesser of two imminent global catastrophes.
    Philip Green - a caricature Bond villain, sitting on his £multimillion yacht in a sunny harbour, drinking away the pension funds of thousands of ex-employees.
    Putin - psychotic mass murderer?

    Millions are dying in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, North Korea - the list goes on. Whilst groups of crazies capitalise on the chaos (Daesh, Boku Horan, Kim Jong Un, Putin) everywhere you look there are the corporate logos, signatures & fingerprints of the greedy bastards hoovering up the dosh, washing blood off their hands with bottled mineral water and denying any responsibility for anything.

    Our recently revised criminal injustice system is but one more victim of their global harvesting strategy.

    Yep, I'm having a bad day.

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    1. Thank You - I have been feeling very much the same.

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  3. On Wednesday, prison staff at Lewes prison are set to take control of the prison from management. I don't know where that leaves management or how the MOJ will respond to the 'takeover', but it's a very significant move by the POA I would argue.

    http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14832819.Lewes_prison_officers_due_to_take_control_of_jail_from_management_after_riot/

    'Getafix'

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    1. Interesting news piece and will follow accordingly.

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    2. As an additional note, even the very balanced commentator Russell Webster refers to the situation in our prisons as, 'grim'.

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  4. Anyone know if interim reoffending rates have been published today?

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    1. Due to be published by end of October but no sight as yet?

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  5. You think TR would have happened if the workforce would have been as complicit as it was? Or would they have just replaced you all with automations who can process forms?

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    1. Do you think you would have got on better with those supervising you if you'd been less hostile and passive aggressive?

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    2. Do you think I'd have been at all "hostile" or passive aggressive if the PO's didn't demonstrate those exact traits in their own behaviour?

      I just reflected back to them the attiutude and style of questioning they directed towards myself.

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    3. So you had the same experience with everyone you encountered? Have you not stopped to think that the common factor in all those interactions was you, and maybe start taking some responsibility for yourself?

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    4. Classic PO reversal rubbish amateur psycho babble. Face it POs are awful of later years at anything like getting appropriate rapport with offenders. The original ones weren't much better either POs cannot help but get stuck into their tunnel vision snobbery and down their nostrils approach at looking at the offender like a piece of social waste. YOU ALL DO IT, there are just a few of the good type left but not many and the best have already gone not to be replaced.

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    5. Well I for one simply cannot understand how, with such a positive, non-judgemental attitude and constructive, undemanding approach to life, that you didn't get a single friendly response. It clearly can't have been anything you were doing wrong.

      Can I make one suggestion, though? Since you had such a bad experience with probation, perhaps it might be easier all round if you stopped your obsessional posting in the comments of a blog about probation, run by a probation officer?

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  6. One common factor was me, another common factor was the Probation Service and I cannot help myself from thinking that there is a slight possibility of the way you operate being or having been sub par and potentially very dangerous

    I take responsibility for my offences and for the impressions I took from those employed by Probation. The attitude they took towards me made me feel like crap. You have to take responsibility for the way you interact with others, even if those interactions break no laws. It would seem that being a part of Probation Services allows you to behave in a superior manner where the effects of your interactions dont impact on anybody whatsoever. It's never you at fault it's always everybody else.

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    1. "you have to take responsibility for the way you interact with others,"

      I don't work for probation services, but I do get fed up with your non contribution and persistent mocking and antagonistic tone. I find it pretty childish and of some narcissistic self indulgence.
      But as you say:
      "You have to take responsibility for the way you interact with others,"
      Whatever my experience with life or people, I wouldn't choose to interact in the way you choose to.

      'Getafix'

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    2. Your point should not be discounted. Probation Officers are trained to be reflective practitioners, meaning, amongst other things, they consider how they are affecting the relationship. My experience has been one where such reflection has been eroded itself by the need to be seen to be constantly doing, relentlessly. This means we risk end up processing people rather than working with individuals and developing a rapport and potentially progressive relationship. However, that said I also recognise that many of the people we work with tend to see many their problems as located somewhere beyond their own control and often Probation and others are vilified as a result. I think you are brave to place your views here and anywhere for that matter. We risk being denounced when we do, but even so carry on would be my advice and respectfully as you have, I believe , done.

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  7. 'I'ts never you at fault It's always everybody else'. You have hit the nail on the head! Why don't you practice what you preach? Stop grinding your axe and contribute something useful to this blog!

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  8. Today's FT has the headline 'No 10 warned over neglected reforms'.
    Unfortunately it's subscription, but the opening paragraph gives a flavour.

    Theresa May has been accused by business leaders of kicking much-needed reform of Britain’s courts, prisons, and health service into the long grass in a move that will “ossify massive levels of inefficiency” in public services.

    The CBI said that its members had seen a “backing off of commitment” on projects that had been a priority under David Cameron.

    In particular the CBI pointed to the lack of progress in the prison building programme announced by Michael Gove, the former justice secretary, as well as projects to reduce inefficiencies in the court service.

    The comments were backed in a new…

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  9. Bizzare offering from Phil Andrew, working links CEO today on the WL Justice website! Biggest heap of shite I have read in a long time! Says absolutely nothing yet he seems to think it is somehow important! Can't trust a thing WL say.john Wiseman should be keeping his staff in the loop but WL have muzzled all the managers, the ones that might have been prepared to speak out and the spineless arse lickers that have only been interested in their own self serving vanity don't give a monkeys anyway and can toddle off for salsa classes without a hint of guilt and pretend they are actually doing a good job as they get pissed every night!

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    1. Wasn't it just! I was intrigued at how the loss of the DWP contract could be spun into such a monumental success story of prudent redirection and corporate reinvention. There was so much 'sparkle' it made my head hurt!!
      Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, Paul Hindson was due to meet with the Unions and ACAS today......

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    2. I hope they gave him a good roasting! When will we get the feedback on that? I hope they are recording all these discussions and not relying on the WL spin-doctors to report back on how brilliantly it all went for them. Must have been 3 or 4 farewells I read about only today, so many good staff have already left yet continuing with 40% cuts. The maths doesn't add up!

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  10. Interserve are again touting for PSO expression of interest for PO training. Essential criteria means no-one probably is eligible to apply. Heyho!!

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  11. My Facebook 'Time-hop' reminds me that 3 years ago this was on Naponewsonline. Tried to read the rest but the link seems to have disappeared:

    '...if the Ministers go ahead irresponsibly without heeding those warnings, they will be held responsible for every member of the public who is harmed, hurt or murdered as a result of these ill thought out reforms...'

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  12. Radio4 Analysis programme tonight - worth a listen again. Some very interesting thinking!

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    1. Yes http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080t0ph

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    2. Synopsis - "Should we place more trust in prisoners to help them change their lives? "Trust is the only thing that changes people," says Professor Alison Liebling, the director of the Prisons Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. But, asks Lucy Ash, how can we encourage trust in prisons that are overcrowded, often understaffed, and blighted by rising rates of violence? Prisoners are locked up because they broke trust, and on the wings distrust, rather than trust, is an essential survival skill.

      And yet Professor Liebling's latest evidence surprisingly shows that ultimately it is only staff-prisoner relationships built on trust that ensure better outcomes. "Values grow virtues", she argues. Treating prisoners with the same values as other people - dignity, respect, trust - will help them turn their lives around.

      Producer: Arlene Gregorius"

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  13. As played out in my head over & over during the last month, the meeting between the 20-something CRC Operational Manager & 50-something PO.

    Mgr: So I've completed your appraisal & its been scored Poor in all areas. You'll get a copy when we're finished today. Record keeping is especially low scoring, which as you know is critical to the CRC's future development.

    PO: You know its been difficult to keep up with the IT constantly crashing & the sky-high numbers on my caseload

    Mgr: You were given clear guidance on how to address that

    PO: To cut and paste stock phrases to fill any gaps?

    Mgr: No, it was to improve efficiency using approved concise entries that met the CRC's clearly defined requirements. Your reluctance to comply with company policy features throughout this appraisal; as are your explicit attempts to frustrate the purpose if the CRC by being outspoken, critical & obtuse. If you were in a union I'd think you were being subversive.

    PO: There are hardly any staff, dangerously high caseloads, unstable IT systems & we can't get NPS to take cases that are plainly High Risk. I'm doing sixty hours a week, I'm exhausted and have already spoken to you several times about needing some time off next week but you haven't responded.

    Mgr: There you go again. I'm surprised that someone of your experience keeps making excuses for their poor practice. How can I approve time off when all your records are out of date? And I note you've expressed an interest in redundancy, well, there's no way I can recommend that to HR either. Once you're up-to-date we can revisit that. If you want out you could resign. Oh, and you are not being recommended for an increment on the payscale. Last year's appraisal was similar in tone and I see no attempt has been made to effect any improvement. Finally, I need to allocate three new DV cases. They were High Risk initially but NPS have recently reassessed them as Med to Low. I've had a quick scan through the paperwork - its all in good order, every box has been completed, so I'm allocating them to you. I don't want to see the records in a mess when I check up next month. All three have been instructed for appointments next week, so there's your answer about leave! Okay? Your Appraisal will be in your inbox by 3pm today. Just sign it & send it back please. I won't be available except by email for the next three weeks as I'm at meetings in London, Paris and Birmingham, then I'm working from home during half-term. Got to dash now. See you next month.

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    1. Blimey, I think you must work in my office. The '20 something CRC Manager' sounds spookily familiar on every level!!!!!

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    2. i'm in an interserve CRC and have 2 linemanagers who could not be more supportive. The senior above needs sacking!!

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