Clinks Members’ Policy Briefing | May 2015
In this month's edition...Policy news
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Appointment of a new Justice Secretary Following the general election last week, the Conservative party have won a majority of seats and formed a government. Michael Gove has been appointed as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
Conservative party election manifesto You can read the Conservative party’s manifesto pledges for criminal justice on the Criminal Justice Alliance website. This also includes manifesto updates for all the main political parties that stood in the general election.
Charity Addaction withdraws from TR consortium Addaction have announced that they have pulled out of their partnership to deliver Transforming Rehabilitation as part of Purple Futures, one of the Community Rehabilitation Companies, saying: "Addaction, a UK charity leading in the provision of specialist services which help people and communities overcome the effects of drug and alcohol misuse, today announces its decision to withdraw from its membership of Purple Futures LLP. Addaction has reluctantly decided to withdraw from the Partnership due to a failure to agree the detail of subcontracting arrangements. Addaction wishes the Partnership every success for the future." Purple Futures said: "Unfortunately, we have been unable to agree mutually satisfactory terms with Addaction to provide case management and interventions for offenders with substance misuse problems. Addaction’s decision will not impact the provision of drug and alcohol addiction services which will continue to be delivered using existing providers." You can read the Purple Futures news release here
Clinks and NCVO monitor Transforming Rehabilitation These reforms are having a considerable impact on the voluntary sector, and are also likely to have an impact on their service users who need appropriate support that aids their rehabilitation and resettlement. Our new, year-long project, in partnership with NCVO, will monitor the role of voluntary sector providers in and alongside Transforming Rehabilitation. Starting with an initial, five minute survey, we want you to share your experience so that we can develop a picture of the role that the voluntary sector is playing. Have your say here and read Nathan Dick's blog on the project here
Clinks publications
State of the sector 2015 report Over the last four years Clinks has regularly surveyed voluntary sector organisations working with offenders and their families to collect information about how healthy the sector is, the role it is playing, and the wellbeing of service users. We have now published our most recent report, and the main findings include: the sector continues to be diverse; the needs of service users are increasing and becoming more complex; volunteering remains vital for the sector; and volunteer recruitment is increasing. Many organisations are relying on their reserves putting them at risk of closure and the majority of organisations only sometimes or never receive full cost recovery on the contracts they deliver.
The Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) This Clinks briefing explains the Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) which came into full force on 1st February 2015. The ORA accompanies the Transforming Rehabilitation programme, and it makes changes to the sentencing and releasing framework to extend probation supervision after release to offenders serving short term sentences. It also creates greater flexibility in the delivery of sentences served in the community. The ORA is the heart of the reforms which extend supervision to approximately 45,000 additional offenders per year who are released from short prison sentences of less than 12 months.
Tackling Inequality in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) This report summarises presentations given at a Clinks seminar by organisations working to tackle inequality in the CJS. It highlights learning points for voluntary and statutory organisations and solutions to challenges for policy makers and commissioners to tackling inequality at each stage of the commissioning cycle.
Case Study: Pecan Moving On project- through the gate mentoring for young women in south east London This case study published by Clinks gives details of the Pecan Moving on programme; a one-to-one mentoring service supporting women aged 18-25 through the transition from prison into the community, and for up to a year after their release. The case study follows one woman’s progress with a Pecan mentor, overcoming multiple health challenges and other barriers, to set and achieve her own goals for her life.
The Care Act (2014) and the voluntary sector working in criminal justice This Clinks briefing, written in partnership with ACEVO, explains the Care Act (2014) and its relevance to voluntary sector organisations working with people in prison custody who are resettled back into local communities. It lays out the background to the act, the changes that impact people in the Criminal Justice System, and their relevance to operational staff, and strategic leads in voluntary sector organisations.
Practical guide to engaging with police and crime commissioners This guide, published by Compact Voice in partnership with Clinks, provides an overview of how police and crime commissioners (PCCs) work and how they fit into the wider criminal justice landscape, before giving practical tips for voluntary sector organisations to help you to engage with your PCC. The guide is based on experiences from a range of organisations who have established strong links with PCCs and gives five key steps to engaging with them including: do your homework; make the case for the voluntary sector involvement; explore different routes to engagement; demonstrate your impact; and encourage Compact working.
Criminal justice
Crime in England and Wales, year ending December 2014 This report gives the findings from the Crime Survey England and Wales, which is a face-to-face victimisation survey of people resident in households in England and Wales. The latest figures from the survey, published by the Office for National Statistics show that there was a 7% decrease in incidents of crime against households and resident adults (aged 16 and over) in England and Wales compared to previous surveys, and a 2% increase in police recorded crime. Total sexual offences rose by 32%, which is thought to reflect a greater willingness of victims to report such crimes as well as improvements in recording.
Free British Journal of Criminology articles Each year, the editor of the British Journal of Criminology awards the Radzinowciz prize to articles that they think contribute the most to the knowledge about criminal justice issues and the development of criminology. The articles from this and previous years’ winners are now freely available and include 'Criminality in spaces of death: the Palestinian case study' and 'Hot pants at the border: sorting sex work from trafficking.'
Resettlement
Inside out: release on temporary licence and its role in promoting effective resettlement and rehabilitation This briefing paper highlights the importance of release on temporary licence (ROTL) for reducing reoffending. Following three incidents involving people on temporary licence in 2013 and a small number of high profile absconds from open prisons in 2014, the government have conducted a review of ROTL and published a revised Prison Service Instruction (PSI) in March 2015. Published by the Prison Reform Trust, this briefing calls for a further review of the scheme to ensure fairness and proportionality.Multiple and complex needs
Revolving Doors Agency Manifesto 2015 This manifesto sets out five priorities for an incoming government to improve the lives of people experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage. Published by Revolving Doors Agency (RDA) and developed in consultation with members of RDA’s Service User Forum, the five priorities include: a national programme to coordinate better support for people facing multiple and complex needs; early identification and diversion into support for people facing mental health problems; effective community-based rehabilitation and reparation for offenders with multiple and complex needs; improved infrastructure and opportunities for service user involvement; and a system that supports long-term recovery, including the journey towards employment.
Commissioning
Times of change: briefing on public sector commissioning This report says that many charitable organisations are struggling to navigate the quickly shifting commissioning landscape, and can often be disadvantaged in comparison to large commercial organisations in terms of their capacity and resources. Published by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), this report explains the rapid changes in public sector commissioning and the potential implications for funders, as well as providing discussion points to facilitate important conversations within organisations.
Mental health
Updated toolkit: mental health interventions for people who sleep rough This toolkit, published by Homeless Link is designed to help frontline workers assess someone sleeping rough who is mentally ill, and to get the right support from statutory agencies. This revised edition includes the requirements of the Care Act 2014, as well as lessons learned from outreach teams over the past couple of years.
Young people
Resettlement of young people leaving custody: lessons from the literature Published by Beyond Youth Custody, this update provides an overview of relevant publications and developments since their last update in November 2014. It outlines recent trends in the youth custodial population, summarises the implications of legislative changes affecting the resettlement of young people and brings together findings from research on resettlement services and interventions.
Restorative justice
Restorative justice video - ‘Moving on’ Published by the Restorative Justice Council, this short film demonstrates the negative impact of crime victimisation before showing how restorative justice interventions can help support, and have positive outcomes, for both a victim of crime and the perpetrator.
'Let Me Explain' restorative justice toolkit Published by Restorative Solutions, this toolkit is designed for providers of restorative justice services to support them to communicate the concept of restorative justice to victims of crime and those close to them. A free registration is required to access the toolkit, which can be personalised to meet providers' specific needs and includes advice and materials that can be used to get information about restorative justice ‘into the right hands, at the right time.’
Refugee and asylum seeking women
Involving refugee and asylum-seeking women in research and training delivery This toolkit, published by the IARS International Institute provides information and advice to organisations seeking to engage refugee and asylum seeking women in research and training projects.
Using creative methods in research with offenders This guest blog for the National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice, by Lucy Terry from Revolving Doors Agency, explores the use of creative methods in research with offenders.
A safe risk: women in mythology In this guest blog for the National Alliance for Arts in Criminal Justice (NAACJ), Bethany McDonald Shepherd looks at the development of a drama-based workshop focusing on women and mythology. Bethany was previously part of the NAACJ professional mentoring scheme.
If I was Justice Secretary… This blog series from Russell Webster aims to stimulate a debate about where our Criminal Justice System should be heading. It has a range of contributors, including: the Howard League for Penal Reform, Prison Reform Trust, Rapt and the Restorative Justice Council.
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