Youth Justice Services commended as 'high quality'

The report finds strong youth justice services, across England and Wales, that are delivering high quality services to children, young people, and the communities in which they live. Overall, services know how to work with their partners to get the best outcomes for children, management boards understand their services and… The outgoing Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell, has today published the inspectorate’s annual report on youth justice services. ...

Crisis of morale in our prisons

Operational workforce survey Last Friday (23 June 2023), the House of Commons Justice Committee published the results of its survey of prison staff for its inquiry into the prison operational workforce. The purpose of the inquiry is to understand why high volumes of prison officers are leaving the prison service… A survey of prison officers has shown that that 33% Band 2 staff and 43% Band 3-5 staff intend to leave the prison service in the next 5 years....

Increasing probation workloads putting public at risk, warn Unions

Probation staff are “buckling” under the pressure of increasing workloads with the recent restructure and staff shortages making it difficult to keep tabs on offenders, unions have said. Napo, UNISON and GMB are calling on the Ministry of Justice to intervene as they launch a campaign aimed at reducing workload.… Napo, UNISON and GMB have warned of a potential “catastrophic breakdown of the service”. ...

Half of operational prison staff do not feel safe at work

50% of operational prison staff do not feel safe at work and less than one quarter of Band 2-5 staff agree that the physical working conditions at their prison are adequate, the House of Commons Justice Committee has found.  The chairman of the committee, Sir Bob Neill, has called the… The House of Commons Justice Committee has carried out a survey of Band 2 and Band 3-5 prison staff. ...

Number of forced marriages falling?

Earlier this week the Home Office published the latest statistics from its Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), covering the year 2022. The Unit gave advice or support in just 302 cases, compared to 337 in the previous year, 759 in 2020 and over one thousand in every year of the preceding… In 2022, the Home Office FMU handled cases relating to 25 ‘focus countries’, excluding the UK. ...

MoJ to pilot ‘rapid deployment’ community payback teams

A pilot will be launched of Community Payback rapid deployment teams who will attend reports of fly-tipping or vandalism within 48 hours of the Probation Service receiving a report.  The six month pilot will see offenders serving community payback sentences being sent out to communities across the country to carry… The teams will be sent to clean up fly-tipping or vandalism within 48 hours of a report being sent to the Probation Service. ...

Most Magistrates’ Courts inaccessible

Based on a survey of more than a third of magistrates’ courts, the report has revealed that a largely inaccessible court estate threatens to undermine the efficiency of courts and equal access to justice. The Magistrates’ Association is the membership body for magistrates in England and Wales and was founded… The Magistrates’ Association has just published a landmark report on the accessibility of magistrates’ courts across England and Wales....

Rape victims and survivors still failed by the system say charities

Two years on from the government’s End-to-End Rape Review, far too many victims and survivors of rape continue to be failed, according to a new report released today by Centre for Women’s Justice, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Imkaan and Rape Crisis England & Wales. The Government’s Rape Review… Despite marginal progress, charging, prosecution and conviction rates still fall short of the government’s own targets a review has found....

Importance of Pre-Sentence Reports

The research undertaken by Kristina Gray, Rachael Finn, Joanna Gent & Kezia Huttlestone examines the impact of a PSR oral or fast delivery report on the reason that a court order (or sentence) terminated. This analysis specifically looks at adults sentenced to a Community Order or Suspended Sentence Order (with… The Ministry of Justice has just published new research on the impact of oral and fast delivery pre-sentence reports (PSRs) on the completion of court orders. ...

Stress, workload and organisational change reasons to leave Probation

Former probation staff have cited lack of psychological support as well as management style as reasons for their resignation. It forms part of a study conducted by Laura Haggar and Michelle McDermott from the University of Portsmouth and published in Probation Quarterly into probation officers' reasons for resignation. 47 participants… A study has been completed by Laura Haggar and Michelle McDermott from the University of Portsmouth and published in Probation Quarterly. ...