Thursday, 31 October 2024

Sentencing Review 3

Mr Jones has spoken:- 

A statement from HM Chief Inspector of Probation, on the launch of an Independent Review of Sentencing

Last week the Lord Chancellor announced an Independent Review of Sentencing, which will be chaired by former Lord Chancellor, the Rt Hon David Gauke, and supported by a panel including representatives from the judiciary and expertise from across the justice system.

I believe this review represents a unique opportunity to deliver a more effective system, resulting in better use of resources, lower reoffending rates, fewer victims and safer communities.

The decisions HM Inspectorate of Probation stands ready to support this work, using our findings to highlight options for the future of probation, and its consequential impact on prisons, and I have shared my initial thoughts, as detailed below. 
  • Use of community orders and sentence lengths 
  • Increasing the use of deferred sentences 
  • Length of licence periods
  • Recalls 
  • Better support in the community
Use of community orders and sentence lengths:

I have no hesitation in arguing that serious, violent or sexual offenders should receive custodial sentences which are long enough to punish, deter, and protect the public. However, whilst prison must be there for the most serious offences, based on the Ministry’s published evidence there is a compelling case to move less serious cases from prison into the community. There, a better resourced, more stable probation service, working closely with local partnerships, would reduce reoffending, keep communities safer, and prevent future victims. Far from being soft on crime, such a move is smarter and demonstrably more effective. This approach would also enable our prisons to become safer places, where successful rehabilitation can become the expectation, rather than the exception.

The shift in numbers over the last decade is stark. In 2012 c150,000 people received a community sentence, and it was the mainstay of the work of probation. By 2023 that number had more than halved to c71,000. Over the same period the growth in post-sentence supervision has meant that the probation service is spending a far greater proportion of its resources preparing prisoners for release and supervising and enforcing licence conditions. C137,000 people are currently subject to pre or post release supervision. This is in spite of the fact that we know that well-delivered community sentences may be more effective at getting to the root of the causes of crime and reducing reoffending.

Given the extent of the shift, a new strategy is now needed to reinvigorate and rebuild sentencer and public confidence in community sentences. Whilst undoubtedly punitive, short custodial sentences do little to achieve rehabilitation and creating a statutory presumption against their use could reduce reoffending. In youth justice there is a minimum four-month threshold for a Detention Training Order which works effectively.

I note the recent Judicial Critique on sentence inflation and believe that through a non-partisan review of the evidence it may be possible to reverse the inexorable, expensive and, in reality, ineffective increases in sentence lengths we have seen over the last three decades. Such a move would enable the Government to better refocus the finite resources available to reduce reoffending, ensure rehabilitation in our prisons, and better support intervention and supervision in the community on licence.

Increasing the use of deferred sentences:

Many of those that end up in contact with the criminal justice systems are there because of their underlying issues. People in prison are more likely to have: 
  • spent a childhood in care; 
  • experienced abuse as a child; 
  • failed to have gained qualifications, or been excluded from school; 
  • been unemployed or homeless; 
  • suffered depression or other mental health issues; used class A drugs or misused alcohol.
A short time in prison will fix none of those underlying issues, nor will a short period on licence; feeding the revolving door of reoffending.

In France, some custodial sentences are not served immediately. Judges who believe custody is merited can instead provide a window for an individual who has committed a crime to turn their lives around before they invoke a prison sentence. People have an incentive to engage and receive credit where that opportunity is taken. The sentencing review might consider the case for a similar approach involving deferred sentencing for those with entrenched underlying issues. Local partnerships, led by probation, could work to deliver better provision, tackling these challenges which are cross-cutting local and central Government. For less serious offences it may be possible to deliver similar outcomes through use of conditional cautioning (with requirements that must be fulfilled).

Length of licence periods:

Whilst we can make better use of our prisons, there will always be people whose offences are so serious that detention is the only answer. All prisoners must be released when they have served the relevant part of their sentence, or (for the most serious cases) when they are no longer judged a risk to the public. At that point they need to be supervised for long enough to ensure the public are protected, but there is a risk that excessive licence periods can be a sword of Damocles, which do not allow people on probation to move on with their lives.

As sentences have grown longer, so has the number of people being supervised by the probation service. Nearly 60% of the service’s caseload are people being prepared for release or being managed in the community. This has been a seismic shift of focus. As a result, there is a danger the probation service becomes focused on supervision and ensuring compliance with rules rather than seeking to turn lives around. It would be reasonable to consider pruning that caseload. Until 2014, those serving less than twelve months in custody were not supervised by the probation service at all, nor could they be recalled to custody.

The sentencing review could usefully consider shortening those licence periods to give the probation service more time and space to better manage the cases where its supervision can make the most difference. Before the Criminal Justice Act 2003 there were periods where people on probation were not supervised on licence, but would instead face a tougher sentence if they reoffended in their “at risk” period. Such changes would also limit recall numbers.

Recalls:

Whilst, for understandable reasons, there has been a focus on the remand population which has been driven up in recent years by the Crown Court backlog; the fastest growing part of the population over the last two decades has been the recall population. This has been driven by sentencing changes including the now abolished IPP sentence, and an increase in the number of people supervised and subject to recall.

In the year 2000, the recall population was under 1,000 (even then a record high). By 2010, as a result of sentencing changes including growing licence periods and a reduction in judicial oversight of recall, it had increased to over 5,000. According to the last published figure the recall population now stands at 12,199 which equates to 14% of the total prison population. Recent increases have been driven by the extension of supervision to short sentences, and the underlying fear of serious further offending. According to official figures over 2,000 prisoners are recalled to prison every month. Whilst it is important that licence conditions are enforced, it is unclear to me what this scale of recall is achieving.

Recall can be a vital tool to protect the public when there are signs that a person on probation’s risk has increased. I am certain that a timely, well-judged recall keeps the public safer – particularly where there is high risk (as seen in our independent reviews of cases like McSweeney and Bendall). However, it may not always be necessary. Despite the twelve-fold rise in the recall population, there is little to indicate that the overall rate of serious further offending has changed significantly over the period. In 2009-10 there were 273 convicted SFOs. In the latest year for which figures are available (2021-22) there were 288. The number of SFOs remains broadly stable at close to 300.

According to the publishes figures on reasons for recall, the majority of recalls are for non-compliance (39 per cent), failing to keep in touch (17 per cent), failing to reside (13 per cent), or problems with drugs and alcohol (4 per cent). These figures support my assessment that recalls are inexorably linked with pressure on the probation service, a lack of confidence, and a lack of adequate support in the community.

I would fully support moves to draw upon international evidence to reimagine the way in which recall is used. In most common law countries (including Scotland, Canada and New Zealand) there is judicial oversight by the courts, or the Parole Board, of executive use of recall. It is noteworthy that the recall population started to rise steeply following the removal of judicial oversight of recall in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Under Canadian law, there is a statutory requirement that even if a prisoner’s recall is endorsed by the Canadian Parole Board, a new automatic release date is calculated to avoid a situation where prisonersare released with no supervision by probation. They argue this keeps the public safer, and I am minded to agree.

Better support in the community:

We know from the evidence that having a place to live, the opportunity for employment, help with drugs, alcohol or mental health problems, and support in the community, are key to reducing reoffending. However, the unsustainable pressures on prisons, probation and local services make this extremely difficult to achieve. The high rates of recall and reoffending we see at present demonstrate that there is much more to do to improve preparedness for release. I am hoping that we will identify some helpful lessons through our planned Approved Premises inspection programme which is due to commence in 2025, and our upcoming national inspection of the Probation Service.

In recent inspections HM Inspectorate of Probation have found that recall is often the result of a lack of support in the community. In essence a lack of help with drugs, alcohol, mental health, and accommodation, combined with probation officers being under too much pressure to spot early warning signs, precipitates a “crisis” that results in recall. Avoiding that crisis by earlier action would represent a significantly better use of resources. Although unpalatable, it may be necessary to move a proportion of offender managers in custody to better manage people in the community.

Based on the annual cost of a prison place, the 12,000 recall population currently costs the taxpayer c£600m a year. I am certain that, through prudent change, that number could be reduced and some of those resources could be reinvested to better manage people in the community. It is noteworthy that Youth Justice Services tend to achieve better results because they have strong statutory partnerships and local leadership to get to the heart of the reasons children offend. Within a national organisation it should still be possible to provide delegated local budgets which empower local probation leaders to work with local partners to design and develop services that are capable of breaking the destructive cycle of reoffending.

18 comments:

  1. I have just retired after 40 years in probation. I am heartened, but also sickened, that this reasonably cogent statement of probation values and practice comes from the Inspectorate and not either of our unions or other professional associations. Is there nobody out there?

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  2. “It is noteworthy that Youth Justice Services tend to achieve better results because they have strong statutory partnerships and local leadership to get to the heart of the reasons children offend.”

    Yes the Probation Service used to achieve good results too. When probation was a bit more respected we used to get to the heart of it with an advise, assist and befriend ethos!

    http://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2015/02/guest-blog-26.html?m=1

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  3. What impact has there been on recall and reoffending rates through releasing of thousands of prisoners early with no support from housing, employment, addiction and mental health services?

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  4. Those in power be it political or civil service power, are starting to overtly acknowledge that our Justice System is all a complete mess, and that Probation is in a complete mess. How startlingly astute (eyeroll). Probation has had the double whammy of being f*ck*d over by TR privatisation and its shambolic reversal, on top of the common experience of all public services of austerity. And who knows anything about Probation or gives a monkey's anyway? There is an opportunity and a threat here. Opportunity is for good advice to be heeded regarding the once gold standard and world leading Probation Service - an aside, is it just me that is revolted by the expression "Probation System", I think that is a hangover from the Blair years and the removal of the NHS as a soley public service- anyway I digress, there is an opportunity for good advice to be offered and accepted about what a proper Probation Service is and can offer. The threat is that this beleaguered, tattered centre of justice in the community is once more ham-fistedly reconfigured in hock to politics and mandarins. Which means the removal of the mandarins in particular from any "transformation" process

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  5. "I believe this review represents a unique opportunity to deliver a more effective system, resulting in better use of resources, lower reoffending rates, fewer victims and safer communities."

    Really?

    And Father Christmas? And faeries? And world peace?

    Its merely a political stalling tactic; I think they call it a dead cat strategy.

    "In 2012 c150,000 people received a community sentence, and it was the mainstay of the work of probation. By 2023 that number had more than halved to c71,000... In the year 2000, the recall population was under 1,000 (even then a record high). By 2010, as a result of sentencing changes including growing licence periods and a reduction in judicial oversight of recall, it had increased to over 5,000. According to the last published figure the recall population now stands at 12,199 which equates to 14% of the total prison population."

    Say what you see, Mr Jones... these are the pisspoor consequences of incompetent politicial interference, e.g. IPPs & TR

    "According to official figures over 2,000 prisoners are recalled to prison every month... the majority of recalls are for non-compliance (39 per cent)... It is noteworthy that the recall population started to rise steeply following the removal of judicial oversight of recall in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. "

    Fear is the key; the key jealously guarded by politically aligned senior civil servants & media moguls who have aided & abetted the control-freaks in theor efforts to wrest power from the judiciary, viz-"Enemies of the People" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemies_of_the_People_(headline)]

    "We know from the evidence that having a place to live, the opportunity for employment, help with drugs, alcohol or mental health problems, and support in the community, are key to reducing reoffending."

    Naivete, Mr Jones. Politicians of all perusasions don't like the idea of the criminal classes rehabilitated. They need scapegoats to pave the way for their political journeys:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/31/robert-jenricks-southport-comments-new-low-conservative-leadership-democracy

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/oct/01/some-civil-servants-should-be-in-prison-says-kemi-badenoch

    https://labour.org.uk/change/take-back-our-streets/


    "In recent inspections HM Inspectorate of Probation have found that recall is often the result of a lack of support in the community."

    I would argue that recall is often the result of a lack of support for probation staff in the community. The risk-averse death grip of the civil service & its acolytes prevents those supervising cases from taking risks, from stepping back from recall, from proposing community-based options. There ARE resources available but ... the shit-scared managerialists, bean-counters & data analysts won't allow anyone to take a punt on someone making a go of it. They'd rather return someone to pokey.

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  6. coming soon to uk courts?

    from CNN: "Jeffery Williams was released from custody and will have to serve 15 years on probation as part of a non-negotiated plea agreement."

    Fifteen years!?! How many supervising officers would that entail in the UK?

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  7. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-of-lifetime-licences-for-rehabilitated-ipp-offenders

    'Getafix

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    1. End of lifetime licences for rehabilitated IPP offenders

      Around 1,800 rehabilitated offenders still under indefinite probation oversight for abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, years after completing their prison terms, will have this supervision lifted today (1 November 2024).

      Reforms mean IPP offenders who were released from custody at least 5 years ago but not sent back to prison in the last 2 years will have their licences automatically terminated.

      IPP sentences were introduced in 2005 but abolished in 2012 as they were used inconsistently and more broadly than anticipated.

      Offenders on these indefinite sentences have had to wait at least 10 years after their initial release for the Parole Board to consider terminating their licence. With no guarantee that their sentence would end, they could be subject to supervision for their whole lives.

      Further changes, effective from 1 February 2025, will cut the eligibility period for the Parole Board to consider ending licences from 10 years after first release to 3. This will make an additional 600 former offenders eligible to have their licenses ended.

      Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord Timpson said:

      It was absolutely right that the IPP sentence was abolished. It has left many ex-offenders subject to indefinite probation supervision long after turning their backs on crime.

      IPP offenders who have served their time in prison and lived safely in the community for years should not be subjected to a lifetime licence and today we have taken a significant step in addressing this.

      A former offender expressed relief that their licence has finally ended. Sentenced in 2006 to 15 months and released in 2007, they have not been recalled since but have lived with the restrictions of their licence conditions and uncertainty about their future.

      The ex-offender said:

      I am really happy that this order has ended, I have worked really hard to get myself together and worked with all agencies in order to do this. I am hopeful for the future.

      Since 2012, the IPP prison population has reduced by over 50 per cent anyone still in prison serving an IPP sentenced but deemed still a risk to the public will remain there until the Parole Board recommends their release.

      This will make sure we balance important public protections, with the need to move offenders who have turned their lives around out of prison and off licence.

      Delete
  8. From SkyNews:-

    Prison recalls soar as 'broken' justice system struggles
    The new figures come after a second round of people were freed from jail last week under an early release measure designed to free up space in overcrowded prisons.

    The number of people being recalled to prison rose by 44% between April and June this year compared to the same period last year, according to government statistics.

    Between April and June, 13,338 people were released and 9,782 were recalled for breaching their licence conditions. It means that during that period, for every 100 being freed from prison, 73 people were sent back.

    The majority of those cases, 77%, were due to non-compliance, such as not attending probation appointments or missing a curfew deadline, while 24% of cases involved a charge of further offending.

    It comes as the second round of people were freed from jail last week, under an early release measure which allows eligible offenders to be freed after serving 40% of their sentence, in a bid to free up space in an overcrowded prison estate.

    This policy has been operating under the Labour government since 10 September.

    Before that, between October 2023 and September 2024, the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme ran as another early release measure, which saw certain inmates freed up to 70 days before the end of their sentence.

    This policy was criticised by some in the probation service as a chaotic emergency release scheme, with offenders freed at short notice with little time for preparing accommodation placements or release plans.

    Today's figures include those freed under this measure which the government deems to have had an inflationary impact on the number of recalls - with some suggestions that large probation workloads, combined with the pressures of early release schemes, force an "if in doubt, recall" type culture.

    Ian Lawrence, the general secretary of the NAPO union, which represents probation officers, said today's figures "highlight just how broken the justice system currently is".

    He added that "when probation is under extreme pressure like we have seen in recent years, the service becomes risk-averse".

    The state of prisons across England and Wales was identified as a problem for Labour days into office.

    Even after early release schemes, the male estate is still operating at around 97% capacity, and the women's estate above 90%.

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    Replies
    1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2024/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2024

      Delete
  9. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/budget-2024-what-did-the-budget-say-about-prisons-and-the-justice-system

    https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/budget-24-justice-spending-to-rise-by-19bn/5121376.article

    https://www.clinks.org/community/blog-posts/autumn-budget-2024-how-impacts-voluntary-sector-working-criminal-justice

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-2024

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  10. Law Society Gazette:-

    Chancellor Rachel Reeves today pledged to ‘begin to repair the justice system’ as she announced hefty real-terms spending increases for the next two years.

    The Ministry of Justice’s day-to-day budget (known as the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit) will climb from £10.4bn in 2023-24 to £11bn this year, and is forecast to rise to £11.8bn in 2025-26. This amounts to average annual real-terms growth of 4.3% from 2023-24 to 2025-26, according to the Autumn Budget Report laid before the Commons.

    The rise in capital spending is larger still, as the MoJ scrambles to supply more prison places. The capital DEL will rise from £1.5bn in 2023-24 to £1.8bn this year and £2bn in 2025-26. This amounts to an average real-terms increase of 14.9% from 2023-24 to 2025-26.

    Total spending overall will rise from £11.9bn in 2023-24 to £12.7bn this year and £13.8bn in 2025-26.

    'The government will begin to repair the justice system by providing an additional £1.9bn total departmental spending to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in 2025-26 – an average real terms increase of 5.6% each year from 2023-24 to 2025-26,' the Budget Report states. The report adds that there will be:

    £2.3bn of investment in prison expansion over 2024-25 and 2025-26, ensuring thousands of new prison places open over the next two years.
    A minimum £500m additional investment across prisons and probation in 2025-26 to recruit thousands of new prison and probation staff, keeping prisons safe and managing offenders in the community.
    £220m investment in prison and probation service maintenance in 2024-25 and up to £300m in 2025-26, keeping prisons safe and secure.
    106,500 Crown Court sitting days in 2024-25 to bring offenders to justice. MoJ will work closely with the senior judiciary to set court capacity in 2025-26 to continue bringing access to justice for victims.'
    Funding for the Law Officers’ Department, which finances criminal prosecution services, provides total funding of £1.1bn in 2025-26. This is equivalent to an annual real terms increase of 7.5% over this financial year and the next.

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  11. Extract from an interview with the F.T from Martin Jones.

    “People might be released to free up prison spaces, but if they just get recalled to custody quite quickly, have you really got the benefit that you wanted?” Jones asked.

    He added that the government needed to avoid having prisons “full of people that have simply broken rules that are not really about significant risk”, a reference to ex-offenders who have been sent back to jail because of minor probation violations.

    He said there were now about 12,000 recall prisoners back in jail for violating the terms of their release compared with about 1,000 in the year 2000.

    Data is not yet available for the number of people sent back to prison after being released under the current government’s initiative that started in September.

    But recalls increased after a previous wave of releases by the then Conservative government in October 2023.

    During the three months to March, the most recent quarter for which data is available, 7,415 people were taken back to prison for breaking probation rules.

    Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has told parliament that a sentencing review announced last week would look at recalls to identify those whose “further detention is no longer necessary to protect the public” and could be considered for re-release within two to three months.

    Jones said he had suggested such a move to achieve “better outcomes and better use of taxpayers’ money”.

    'Getafix

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    1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6723620e46aa392ce3565530/ECSL_Commentary_Transparency.pdf

      The number of ECSL releases between 17 October 2023 and 9 September 2024 was 13,325.

      99% (13,206) were releases from male prison establishments and 1% (119) were from female establishments.

      White prisoners accounted for 79% of the ECSL releases, 8% were releases of prisoners of Black /Black British ethnicity and 6% were releases of Asian / Asian British prisoners.

      Delete
  12. Politicising the work of probation service?

    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6720affe10b0d582ee8c47ac/critical-public-protection-cases-pf.pdf

    Critical Public Protection Cases- MP notification Scheme Policy Framework

    "The Probation Service (PS) staff should refer all those people on probation who present the highest risk of serious harm, have a significant national or particularly sensitive profile and who, consequently, present particular difficulties with respect to their supervision."

    Let's cut to the chase:

    "The registration of the case fulfils three main outcomes:

    • Provide assurance to Ministers and MPs signed up to the notification scheme of the robust risk management plans in place to manage the person on probations risk.

    • Offer the opportunity for advice and support in the management registered cases.

    • Provide additional limited financial resource to support the PS contribution to the risk management plan."

    MPs decide which high profile cases get advice, support & financial resources.

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  13. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67223c8f4da1c0d41942a9cd/MAPPA_Annual_Report_2024.pdf

    The overall MAPPA population on 31 March 2024 was up 3% on the previous year and up 44% since 2014.

    The number of serious further offence (SFO) charges increased by 33% from the year before, and the number of SFO convictions increased by 15%.

    Licence recall returns were up by 6% in 2023/24, the sixth successive annual increase.

    "Wo ist Jones?"

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    Replies
    1. "The overall MAPPA population on 31 March 2024 was up 44% since 2014."

      "Licence recall returns were up by 6% in 2023/24, the sixth successive annual increase."

      What does this say about the probation service since TR?

      What does this say about uk criminal justice policy & crime reduction?

      ONS: "The police recorded 6.7 million crimes in YE June 2024, similar to YE June 2023 (6.7 million). However, levels of police recorded crime have increased from 4 million crimes in YE March 2014."

      Hmm, increasing everyone's risk &/or recalling them doesn't appear to have reduced crime over the last decade.

      Perhaps the crass, dishonest, greedy & self-serving behaviour of the country's exemplars, our "excellent leaders", has had an impact after all?

      Delete
    2. As highlighted by getafix above: "During the three months to March, the most recent quarter for which data is available, 7,415 people were taken back to prison for breaking probation rules."

      That's nearly 2,500 recalls a month.

      https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-08-30/3550

      "Annual average caseload per Probation Officer
      July 23 – June 24: 35.2"

      The data within the WMT are manually entered by Senior Probation Officers (hahahahaha - that explains it then)

      hmpps data March 2024: "5,139 FTE band 4 probation officers in post + 5,857 FTE band 3 probation services officers"

      That suggests a total of 10,996 staff could be holding caseloads. If we assume that idiot MPs don't know the difference between POs & PSOs, then we can guesstimate: (11,000 x 35) = 385,000 cases.

      "New ⁦HMI Probation⁩ report shows how the quality of probation delivery falls when practitioners are responsible for managing more than 50 cases... 86 per cent of staff in CRCs and 33 per cent in NPS divisions are responsible for more than 40 cases."

      Someone's lying ...

      Delete