1. The Problem
2. The Narrative
By managed decline or by cavalier incompetence, probation has gone. What's left of it has become part of the problem rather then offering any solution. It's back filling prisons, impacting severely on the parole board, and costing too much police time rounding up all those that have been recalled. It doesn't manage risk any more, it's running away from it. Blame Grayling, blame NAPO, blame managers and an inexperienced workforce. Blame excessive caseloads, burnout and sickness levels. Blame those that don't give a toss about the service itself but see it as a catapult for self advancement. Blame whatever, but it's the model that's wrong. It's the policies that have created the current model that are wrong.
What's coming next isn't going to help either. More community based punishment will only serve to cement probation within the prison service. Punished by the prison service, or punished by the probation service, and those that are released on licence must still be seen to be serving their punishment (not sentence) in the community. The current model is corrosive, and I feel so sad that a service with such a positive, meaningful and worthwhile history has ended up where it is today. ('Getafix a contributor)
What's coming next isn't going to help either. More community based punishment will only serve to cement probation within the prison service. Punished by the prison service, or punished by the probation service, and those that are released on licence must still be seen to be serving their punishment (not sentence) in the community. The current model is corrosive, and I feel so sad that a service with such a positive, meaningful and worthwhile history has ended up where it is today. ('Getafix a contributor)
3. The Solution:-
Sort Probation Out!
4. Others agree:-
Billions earmarked for new jails would be better invested in probation
The Howard League has responded to the government’s plans to open up 14,000 more prison places by 2031, outlined in a new 10-year strategy announced today (Wednesday 11 December).
Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said:
The prison system is severely overcrowded, with more than half of jails in England and Wales holding more people than they are designed to accommodate. A long line of official inspection reports published in recent months have revealed how rising numbers are contributing to dire conditions, with many people in prison spending hours on end locked inside their cells with nothing to do.
The prison population projections came only a day after the National Audit Office (NAO) warned that there will be a continued risk to capacity in prisons, because so many jails are in poor condition. A quarter of prison places – 23,000 – do not meet fire safety standards and HM Prison and Probation Service’s backlog of maintenance works has doubled to £1.8bn in the last four years. (Howard League)
Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said:
“We cannot build our way out of this crisis. The billions of pounds earmarked for opening new jails would be better invested in securing an effective and responsive probation service, working to cut crime in the community.Projections published last week by the Ministry of Justice show that the number of people in prison could rise to as high as 105,200 by March 2029. On Monday, the population stood at 86,089.
“Problems in prisons spill out into the towns and cities around them, and new jails put added strain on local public services. When violence and self-harm are rife behind bars, it is hardly surprising that proposals to build more prisons meet significant opposition from residents living nearby.
“This is why the forthcoming review of sentencing is so important. Unless we see concerted action to make sentences proportionate and reduce demand on the system, this crisis will deepen and leave an even bigger mess for future generations to tackle.”
The prison system is severely overcrowded, with more than half of jails in England and Wales holding more people than they are designed to accommodate. A long line of official inspection reports published in recent months have revealed how rising numbers are contributing to dire conditions, with many people in prison spending hours on end locked inside their cells with nothing to do.
The prison population projections came only a day after the National Audit Office (NAO) warned that there will be a continued risk to capacity in prisons, because so many jails are in poor condition. A quarter of prison places – 23,000 – do not meet fire safety standards and HM Prison and Probation Service’s backlog of maintenance works has doubled to £1.8bn in the last four years. (Howard League)
The Justice Minister would do well to catch up with 'Rory Stewart: The Long History of Ignorance' currently airing on BBC Radio 4 and 'Sounds'. She is currently looking through the wrong end of the telescope.
ReplyDeletePRT comment: Plans for up to 14,000 new prison places
ReplyDeleteCommenting on the today’s announcement (11 December) that the government plans to build up to 14,000 new prison places by 2031, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:
“Last week the National Audit Office confirmed that just 6,000 of the previous government’s commitment of 20,000 new prison places had been delivered. Today’s announcement provides some clarity on how the government intends to deliver the outstanding 14,000 prison places, with more investment and a relaxation of planning laws. The government’s commitment to an annual statement on prison capacity is welcome and should help to improve transparency and accountability for matching capacity and demand.
“England and Wales has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in western Europe — second only to Scotland — and history shows that when we build more prisons, we fill them. That is why the current sentencing review is vital to bringing our use of imprisonment down to a more proportionate and sustainable level. With the prison population projected to rise from 86,000 today to up to 105,200 by March 2029, some investment was always going to be needed to avert dangerous levels of overcrowding and a deterioration of conditions in prisons.”
In raw effectiveness prison is better placed to protect the public by incarceration. Simply compared to probation every sfo could potentially have been avoided. In jail they don't hurt the public. Probation is a power house of deluded staff telling people to run their lives and tut tutting. No valuable reduction in crime so what's the point of funding that.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:51 Please don't say you work for probation. A wind-up or invitation to discuss?!
DeleteJim to some degree Anon 10.51 has a point, if everyone who committed a crime was locked up for ever then yes this would of course lead to fewer offences! Obviously though we're not there yet in this country and hopefully never will be though sometimes I wonder....with regards to probation, unfortunately I think if you look over our results and successes over the last 5-10 years he/she might have a point. As Getafix states, we've become a punishment service and plenty of new staff have been trained to believe this is the correct way and often prefer a caseload of recalled offenders than ones in the community!
Deletehttps://www.probation-institute.org/news/call-for-evidence-rehabilitation-and-resettlement-ending-the-cycle-of-reoffending
ReplyDeleteThe Justice Committee is seeking views on rehabilitation and resettlement. In parallel with the Sentencing Review, this is an important consultation. We will be responding and encourage others to provide evidence of the need to increase and expand services in the community, and support for probation and the voluntary sector.
DeleteTime for a reality check on unrealistic plans to expand prison capacity
ReplyDeleteOngoing crisis management in the short-term and an unrealistic plan to waste billions on prison expansion over the longer-term will not solve the entrenched problems in the prison system.
There have been big falls over the past decade in the numbers being sent to prison each year, yet prison staff are struggling to manage record numbers of prisoners, in increasingly dilapidated and dysfunctional institutions.
Resolving the deep crisis in the prisons system is not going to be easy. It is good that the government itself acknowledges that we cannot build our way out of the prisons crisis. But it appears willing to give it a go anyway, while tinkering around the edges of the problem, in the hope that they might do just enough to keep a lid on the problem.
It is time for a reality check: an ambitious and bold plan for prison reform, and a commitment from government to start living within its means, and stop squandering money on unrealistic and unpopular prison expansion.
Richard Garside, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies