In this month's edition...
Our priority continues to be supporting and representing the voluntary sector working in criminal justice in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have been working to:
- Influence policy – The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) special interest group on Covid-19 continues to meet regularly. Last week, the group discussed the latest plans from Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) on the recovery of prisons and probation services after Covid-19. Read a summary of this meeting here.
- Understand impact – Clinks ran bi-weekly surveys of voluntary organisations working in criminal justice to track the impact of the pandemic as it developed. Thank you to everyone who took part. So we do not overburden the sector at this time, we have reviewed the surveys and will be launching them less frequently going forward.
- Support practice – Clinks is working closely with the new Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) ‘Third Sector Taskforce’ commissioned by Lucy Frazer QC MP, Minister of Prisons and Probation, to support the co-ordination of offers of support from the voluntary sector in response to Covid-19, escalate and resolve issues the voluntary sector are experiencing at this time, and consider suggestions from the voluntary sector on policy and operational change. Read more about the taskforce here.
Clinks has been doing all we can to support the sector’s financial stability through this time. We are pleased to have launched a £275k grant programme on behalf of HMPPS to support voluntary organisations working in criminal justice with an annual income under £500,000 to continue their work through the Covid-19 crisis. For more detail on the grant programme, please see here. Alongside this we continue to advocate for further support to ensure that everyone in our sector who requires financial support will be able to benefit. For full information on Clinks' work in response to Covid-19 see our dedicated page here.
We also continue to prioritise our work on health and justice, accommodation, and families in the context of Covid-19 by:
- Responding to consultations and inquiries, including the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry on delivering core NHS services during and beyond the pandemic; a call for evidence by the Centre for Mental Health on prison healthcare; and the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee’s inquiry on the impact of Covid-19 on DCMS sectors. We will publish all our responses soon. We have also submitted two pieces of evidence to the Justice Committee on the evolving impact of Covid-19. Read these here.
- Holding thematic network meetings, including a network meeting of organisations working in criminal justice that support accommodation needs and ongoing health and justice network meetings to engage with voluntary organisations providing health and justice services.
- Attending HMPPS’ family strategy working group meetings, to provide advice and scrutiny to the government on its implementation of the recommendations from the Farmer reviews on family ties for men in prison and women in the criminal justice system.
Covid-19: Probation Roadmap to Recovery In response to Covid-19, the probation system entered into an exceptional delivery model, limiting face-to-face contact where possible and restricting activities. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has published a roadmap which outlines the key principles and objectives for how recovery will be taken forward across the probation system. Any significant changes, for example to social distancing, will take place a minimum of two weeks after the government announces changes in wider society to enable staff time to prepare. Some of the earlier changes are likely to include: scaling back doorstep supervision and scaling up face to face supervision; scaling up court work; restarting unpaid work and interventions, initially on a limited scale; and restarting Offender Management in Custody. Clinks has published a blog summarising this information here
Covid-19: National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has published a conditional roadmap for easing Covid-19 restrictions in the prison estate. There are five stages outlined for prisons, ranging from ‘complete lockdown’ (stage five) which includes no time in the open air and no transfers in or out of the establishment, to ‘prepare’ (stage one) where compartmentalisation is no longer required, routine inter-prison transfers are allowed and regimes can operate without social distancing or personal protective equipment. All prisons are currently in stage four, ‘lockdown’. Different prisons will be assessed as being ready for different stages, depending on the situation at each establishment. Jo Farrar, Chief Executive Officer of HMPPS, has written a blog on the framework and roadmap to recovery. Read it here. Clinks has published a blog summarising the framework here
Government funding for charities during Covid-19 The National Lottery Community Fund is distributing funding on behalf of the government to support communities through Covid-19. £200m is available for small to medium organisations in England. Organisations can apply for funds to cover spending for up to six months after the award. The fund will prioritise organisations: supporting people and communities who experience disproportionate challenge as a result of the crisis (including those supporting older people, disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities); providing support for vulnerable people (including those working with homeless people and those supporting vulnerable children and young people); and which connect communities and support working together. Applications will be assessed in the order they are received.
Introduction of family video calls in prisons The Ministry of Justice has announced that secure video calls will be introduced in prisons and young offender institutions across England and Wales, to maintain family contact during the Covid-19 outbreak. Following a successful trial at HMP Berwyn, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is installing the technology at 10 institutions with a wider rollout in the coming weeks. The calls will be time-limited and take place using secure laptops in a designated room in each institution. Time-limited calls will be made either by prisoners making a call request to their designated contact, or by families who can request a time slot through a mobile app or directly with the establishment.
Rollout of sobriety tags Legislation to allow courts to require people to wear ‘sobriety tags’ as part of their community sentence has come into force. The government has said that there will be a national roll-out of the scheme this coming winter. People who have committed a crime where alcohol is seen as a contributing factor can be given a tag for up to 120 days where their alcohol consumption is monitored through perspiration. Tags won’t be used on people who are alcohol-dependent.
Covid-19
An Unsafe Distance Doctors of the World UK have published a report on the impact of Covid-19 on excluded people in England based on a rapid needs assessment which Clinks contributed to. The report looks at a range of groups including those released from prison and shows that control measures are amplifying existing health inequalities and putting life-saving advice and care further out of reach for excluded groups. The report recommends that the UK government and local authorities strengthen destitution prevention, provide sustainable housing solutions for people who have been placed in emergency accommodation during lockdown and reopen outreach and drop in services for people experiencing barriers to accessing alternative services.
Short scrutiny visits of local prisons HM Inspector of Prisons (HMIP) has published a report on short scrutiny inspections across three local prisons: HMP Wandsworth, HMP Elmley and HMP Altcourse. Short scrutiny inspections involve only 2-3 inspectors, allowing HMIP to monitor standards in prisons safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. This report details many challenges including the impacts of a highly restrictive regime and a lack of family contact for people in prison. All three prisons had seen a slight reduction in the prison population but remained overcrowded as releases through the early release scheme have remained minimal. Despite these challenges, the report praised the leadership in prisons and the strong focus on positive communication with prisoners, who overwhelmingly understood and the reasons for the measures taken.
Short scrutiny visits of training prisons Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) has published a second report on short scrutiny inspections at three category C prisons: HMP Coldingley, Ranby and Portland. The report raises concerns about poor conditions, the impact of the restricted regimes, and disparities in social distancing. Time out of cell was found to be a particular problem at Coldingley, where two thirds of the population have no toilet or sink in their cell. Violence and self-harm had reduced at only one of the three prisons. HMIP report frustration at the establishments over the lack of progress with the End of Custody Temporary Release Scheme, as there has been no meaningful impact on the population at any of the three sites, which has left prisoners in overcrowded or unsuitable accommodation.
Probation
Market engagement materials for the probation dynamic framework The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced an important stage of the probation reform programme - that qualification for the dynamic framework will launch later this month. The dynamic framework is the mechanism that will be used to procure rehabilitation and resettlement services for people under probation supervision in the future. It represents the main opportunity for voluntary organisations of all sizes to deliver services in the new probation model. To access the market engagement materials, organisations will need to pre-register their interest by following the link provided. Clinks has written a blog looking at the materials published alongside this announcement, and how charities interested in being commissioned under the new probation system from summer 2021 can get involved.
A thematic inspection of the Serious Further Offences (SFO) investigation and review process This thematic inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) found that current SFO reviews focus too heavily on chronological events and contact with probation services leading up to an SFO, rather than investigating why the offence had taken place and identifying potential failures in probation practice. SFO reviews are also not being analysed nationally to identify themes, which could improve policy and practice. HMIP recommend that the team responsible for SFO reviews at Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) undertake regular and detailed analysis of the reviews to identify themes and learning, and that the Ministry of Justice commission an external agency to quality assure a proportion of reviews each year.
Youth Justice
Young people’s voices on youth court The Centre for Justice Innovation (CJI) has published a paper on young people’s experiences of youth courts based on conversations with 25 young people with recent experience as defendants. Much of what CJI were told by the young people related to the concept of procedural fairness – a model that emphasises the importance of feeling fairly treated in determining future trust in, and compliance with, the law. To enhance procedural fairness, the paper recommends that the government set a goal for all youth court cases to be heard in adapted courtrooms by the end of this parliament and for there to be a clear expectation that youth court magistrates and judges engage in continuous, monitored professional development.
Short scrutiny visits to young offender institutes Her Majesty’s Chief Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) has published a report on short scrutiny visits to three young offender institutions (YOIs) holding children: Cookham Wood, Parc, and Wetherby. The key issues reported on were safety, care, purposeful activity and resettlement. The report found that actions were taken by managers at all sites to ensure children were held safely, including significant regime restrictions due to Covid-19. However HMIP raised concerns about the variation between the three establishments, particularly on issues such as the amount of time out of cells and social distancing. There were also concerns around mental health service provision for a critical few children and a scaling back of secondary mental health services.
Women
Often Overlooked: Young women, poverty and self-harm Agenda has published a new report exploring how self-harm among young women is often linked to poverty and disadvantage. This new research, based on data analysis from more than 20,000 people, is one of the first to focus on connections between poverty and non-suicidal self-harm in young women across England. Agenda recommends a cross-government strategy to improve the outcomes of women and girls facing poverty and disadvantage in order to tackle the major risk factors linked with self-harm; for national and local suicide prevention strategies to recognise poverty as central factor when responding to self-harm among young women and girls; and for front line professionals to receive training on responding appropriately to women and girls in poverty who self-harm.
Through our blogs, Clinks is providing regular operational updates for the voluntary sector when we receive the information from Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation (HMPPS) including details about through the gate during the Covid-19 pandemic and the government’s End of Custody Temporary Release scheme for the adult estate and children and young people. Stay up-to-date here.
Never more needed Clinks policy officer, Lauren Nickolls, has written a blog highlighting the key findings of Clinks’ latest survey on the impact of Covid-19 on the voluntary sector working in criminal justice. The responses outline how the sector are starting to a forward look at the impact of Covid-19, with concerns growing about long term sustainability and the availability of future funding opportunities. This survey also took a closer look at what impact Covid-19 and organisations’ different delivery models were having on the people they support. It found that organisations are able to support less people during the pandemic than they usually would and that they feel the quality of the support they have been able to provide has also decreased.
Probation reform and the dynamic framework- what you need to know In this blog Will Downs, Clinks’ Policy Officer, explores the challenges Covid-19 presents for the commissioning process for the dynamic framework - the mechanism that will be used to procure rehabilitation and resettlement interventions for the new probation system. To provide advice to the government on this, the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory group (RR3) set up a special interest group on probation reform. The RR3 special interest group recommends that due to reduced capacity in the voluntary sector qualification for the dynamic framework be a simple process with clear accompanying guidance to support organisations to engage at this time. The group recommends that the voluntary sector have a meaningful say in determining market readiness before the competitions begin.
How prisons and probation will ease lockdown Jess Mullen, Clinks’ Director of Influence and Communications outlines the roadmap that Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have begun sharing for easing Covid-19 restrictions in prisons and probation. HMPPS has made it clear that the restricted regimes currently in place will remain largely unchanged in the short-term and that restrictions in prisons will be lifted at a slower pace than in broader society. The restrictions will also not be lifted in a uniform way across the estate as different prisons are being affected by the virus in different ways. There will be no immediate changes to probation either. HMPPS is working closely with partner organisations to develop a probation recovery plan that prioritises the safety of staff and service users.
The End of Custody Temporary Release (ECTR) scheme for children and young people This blog provides details on the official guidance for the ECTR scheme in the youth estate. To be eligible, the child must be assessed as low or medium risk of serious harm; be within 61 days of their automatic release date and have already served half their custodial term. Children on remand and recall are among those excluded from the scheme. Children released under ECTR have additional licence conditions including compliance with Covid-19 guidelines, keeping their ECTR licence with them at all times, observing a 7pm to 7am curfew, not drinking, and not using social media. Children will be supervised by YOTs but remain the responsibility of secure settings.
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Written monthly by...
Clinks' policy officers, Will Downs and Lauren Nickolls
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