Massive increase in prison kitchen training

Prisons Minister Lucy Frazer announced today that Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and The Clink charity have agreed to extend their training programme, currently already operating in HMPs High Down, Cardiff, Brixton and Styal, to offenders working in an additional 70 prison kitchens. Following successful pilots, training will… Work with offenders looks at the MoJ announcement to roll out The Clink Kitchens training programme into 70 prisons...

Why youth diversion could be making racial disparity worse

Point-of-arrest youth diversion gives young people the chance to avoid both formal criminal justice processing and a criminal record, in return for the completion of community-based interventions. Youth diversion is an increasingly well-embedded practice in England and Wales: research by the Centre for Justice Innovation in 2019 found that a… Work with offenders looks at a new evidence review from the Centre for Justice Innovation...

The pressure for secure schools

A new report from the House of Commons select Committee for Justice published last week called on the government to honour its pledge to create secure schools for children in custody as a more modern and appropriate replacement for Youth Offender Institutions. The Committee’s report, Children and Young People in… Work with offenders on a new report from the Justice Committee...

What happens to prisoners in a pandemic?

Many readers will be aware of the latest report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons into the impact of the pandemic on people in prison. Published last week, the report was widely publicised across the media, gathering more coverage than usual because of an innovation by the new Chief Inspector,… Work with offenders on the reality of permanent bang-up...

The Future of Probation: Assess, Protect and Change

Yesterday (10 February 2021), HMPPS published the most important documents yet ahead of the re-unification of the probation service in June this year. It made live the final Target Operating Model and published a new set of National Standards which are designed explicitly to support transition to the unified model.… Work with offenders looks at the final model for the re-unified probation service...

What are accredited offender programmes?

Yesterday the Ministry of Justice updated its list of offending behaviour programmes and interventions available for offenders in England and Wales. Offender behaviour programmes and interventions are designed to change the thinking, attitudes and behaviours which may lead people to reoffend. Most programmes and interventions are delivered in groups but… Work with offenders on the official list of offending behaviour interventions...

Violence and vulnerability

A new report published by Crest Advisory on Friday explores the issue of vulnerability as a driver of serious violence, focusing on young people. It summarises the current trends in violence and patterns of vulnerability among children and young people, including the rise in poverty and deprivation. The report starts… Work with offenders the current trends in violence and patterns of vulnerability among children and young people...

The Shannon Trust

This is the eighth in our occasional series on key independent organisations operating within the criminal justice sector. The Shannon Trust was founded by Christopher Morgan in 1997 following a series of letters with a life sentenced prisoner, Tom Shannon, in a penpal scheme run by the Prison Reform Trust.… Work with offenders profiles the leading charity helping prisoners read...

Children in custody – a grim picture of violence and self-harm

Children’s experiences in custody in 2019-20 disclosed a “grim” picture of violence and self-harm and long periods locked in their cells, according to Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons talking about today’s new report: “Children in Custody 2019-20: An analysis of 12–18-year-olds’ perceptions of their experiences in secure training… Work with offenders looks at a troubling new report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons...

Government invests in prison leavers

Last week Prisons and Probation Minister Lucy Frazer announced £70 million package of investments in accommodation and wider support for prison leavers. The pandemic has highlighted what people in the justice field have known for many years – that a large and increasing number of people leaving prison have nowhere… Work with offenders on £70m package of support...