State of the Sector 2024 - Context

Change of Government

Many organisations expressed cautious optimism about the new Government and the appointment of James Timpson as Prisons Minister:

Since we do quite a bit of campaigning and policy work too, I think there's a sense of cautious optimism…about the new government and what that means for us. You know, it already feels like better, more promising leadership, better transparency, more meaningful engagement. So that's all promising.

However, two organisations mentioned having seen no positive impact since the election. One noted that the Minister had had limited visibility, and another was disappointed that Conservative MPs who had shown interest in their cause were no longer in Parliament.

Several women’s organisations reflected positively on comments the Justice Secretary has made about women in the criminal justice system and were pleased about plans to establish the Women’s Justice Board (launched since our research was undertaken).

Several organisations rued a lack of government decision making and funding in the pre- and post-election periods. One noted that they had been hoping to deliver under a contract with their local PCC, but that the change of government had stopped the roll out of the programme. Another argued that the ‘Secretary of State churn’ had resulted, in the prison system, in ‘short term, easy choices, [a] sticking plaster mentality, when what's needed is the hard choices for long term reform and systemic reform’. A third felt that there had been ‘no national leadership from government’ in the specialist criminal justice area in which it worked.

An organisation operating in Wales noted proposals to create statutory duties for public services (including prisons) to identify people at risk of homelessness had been included in a recent white paper contributed to by voluntary organisations, including Clinks. Because of the non-devolved nature of criminal justice bodies, they would need the agreement of the UK government to be progressed.

The Early Release Schemes and Sentencing Review

Some organisations expressed frustration that the sector had not been funded or helped to plan for increases in demand on their services following the introduction of early release schemes by the Government to manage prison capacity. Conversely, an organisation based in Wales felt the scheme had impacted on them less than they had anticipated because numbers being released in Wales were not significantly higher than the numbers being released anyway.

One organisation reported hearing from people serving custodial sentences in several prisons that they had not found out about their eligibility for the newer SDS40 early release scheme until the day of release. Another noted the pressures the scheme placed on prison staff, particularly in category D prisons where many were being released.

Several organisations expressed hope that the forthcoming sentencing review, or other government initiatives, might recommend increasing community sentences or out of court resolutions, noting that the sector would be well placed to help with these. Two expressed concern about extending magistrates’ sentencing powers (up to 12 months, up from six months previously); one predicting an increase in sentences as a result.

HMPPS and the Probation Service

One organisation felt the 2021 restructure had helped to make probation in its area ‘much more stable’, while another felt positive about the more recently announced concept of ‘one service’. Others noted negative aspects of the changes, including loss of probation staff and what the recent HMPPS restructure would mean for relationships built under the previous structure.

While not directly referencing the restructuring context, several organisations referred to the resourcing problems in the probation service, noting that probation officers were inexperienced, had excessive caseloads and were leaving the service, and that probation leaders had less autonomy than they had five years ago.

A couple of organisations mentioned positive experiences of working with local probation teams who made referrals to them. One said:

We've got a really strong relationship with probation and we get referrals regularly from engaged probation officers who know what we do... Come and see what we're doing. And it works. It works much better than it did three or four years ago.

Another described positive work done by probation in London around youth justice, diversion and community sentencing.

Other Policy Changes

Two organisations described their experiences of their specialist areas of work being brought under the umbrella of statutory services. Both noted that this resulted in less available funding despite continuing need and that some service provision was less effective than when run by voluntary organisations.

Working with Groups and Engagement with Others

Several organisations gave positive feedback on their membership of working groups such as the National Women’s Justice Coalition, the Anti-Racism Network Group, the Detention Forum, and a local justice forum and women’s alliance. They said these had variously enabled information sharing between voluntary organisations, information provision from commissioners, the generation of a ‘collective voice’ and discussion to influence funding, commissioning and policy change, and had demonstrated an appetite for change. One noted their disappointment that other groups, such as the Prisoners’ Learning Alliance, were no longer in existence.

One organisation working in restorative justice felt that it would be useful to have a group bringing charities working in that field together. A faith-based organisation noted that it was liaising with Clinks with a view to becoming involved in the RR3.

We spoke to three organisations that support people who maintain innocence, including when facing allegations or following conviction. Two raised some concerns about feeling isolated within the sector. One of these noted that their organisation was seen as ‘not mainstream’ because it does not focus on rehabilitation: ‘you cannot rehabilitate someone who is innocent’. Another wanted there to be an opportunity to bring together groups working in this space to talk about false allegations.

The Pandemic

Prison working had been impacted significantly by the pandemic, both in terms of organisations having to stop activities during the lockdowns, and sometimes not yet being able to start them again, and in terms of the pandemic’s effect on prison conditions, which have, in turn, impacted organisations’ ability to run activities. There were also a few references to the pandemic increasing service user need because it limited contact with support services.

Some organisations talked about positive effects of the pandemic for their organisation in terms of being able to access funding for activities in demand during lockdowns, such as training, phone advice lines and distance learning. Another argued that the inequalities seen through the pandemic raised the profile of issues faced by racially minoritised people, contributing to an increase in funding for their work.

A couple of organisations mentioned having undergone significant changes in their delivery models, to which the pandemic contributed. One had shifted from a delivery to a capacity-building organisation. Another had introduced an entirely new programme while their pre-Covid programme was on hold during lockdowns and retained both programmes once lockdowns were over, doubling the size of their organisation.

A few organisations described changes in working culture perpetuated by the pandemic – including an increase in home/hybrid working and a reduction in face-to-face meetings. Along with staff turnover in partner organisations, it was felt that these changes made it more difficult to initiate, build and maintain working relationships.

Media Reporting of Crime and Public Opinion

A couple of organisations noted that the media reporting of crime was often misleading, giving an impression that people in prison are more likely to have been involved in violent offending than they are. Three organisations noted a racist or xenophobic dimension to reporting. One further noted that government rhetoric had focused more on punishment than rehabilitation.

Linked to media and government narratives, three organisations said that their experience was that the public are not interested in supporting prison leavers and criminal justice work. Conversely, one organisation argued that the idea of the public not being interested in supporting people in prison is an ‘unchallenged assumption’ that is not always borne out.

A few organisations had identified opportunities to change the public mindset around prisons and prison leavers – for example, by showcasing how people in prison could develop skills, talking about them as people (as Londoners, people with trauma or who are vulnerable) or showing how their organisation’s work helps to create safer communities or reduce the prison population. One organisation noted that external events, such as the sub-postmasters’ scandal, had drawn public attention to the issue of people in prison who maintain innocence.