The first findings report was published from the probation service inspection programme, giving aggregate results for the first 14 probation areas inspected. On 26 of 29 key measures of work with offenders considered (90 per cent), service performance was rated sufficient or better in 50 per cent or more of all cases inspected.
Source: Effective Supervision Inspection of the National Probation Service for England and Wales: Inspection findings 2/04 - Aggregate results for the first 14 probation areas, HM Chief Inspector of Probation (020 7035 2203)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Dec
A report analysed the two-year reconviction rates of adults who were released from prison or commenced a community penalty in 2001, and compared the rates with those recorded for 2000 and 1997. The overall actual reconviction rate was 53.7 per cent - 1 percentage point less than the predicted rate of 54.7 per cent.
Source: Keith Spicer and Alison Glicksman, Adult Reconviction: Results from the 2001 cohort, Online Report 59/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Home Office press release
Date: 2004-Dec
The government launched a new alcohol reduction strategy for prisoners. The strategy focused on improving the consistency of alcohol treatment measures across the prison estate, and provided a framework for addressing prisoners' alcohol problems.
Source: Addressing Alcohol Misuse: A Prison Service alcohol strategy for prisoners, Prison Service/Home Office (020 7273 4543)
Links: Report (Word file) | Prison Service press release | Hansard
Date: 2004-Dec
The findings were presented of an evaluation of the aggregated effects on reconviction of several offending behaviour programmes. The results highlighted the need to understand the role of non-completion of a programme in assessing the impact of programmes on reconviction.
Source: Clive Hollin et al., Pathfinder Programmes in the Probation Service: A retrospective analysis, Online Report 66/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Dec
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that there was a need for a central forum, with human rights expertise, to address the 'significant national problem' of deaths in custody.
Source: Deaths in Custody, Third Report (Session 2004-05), HL 15 and HC 137, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Mind press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report reviewed evidence on the impact of punishment on re-offending behaviour. It concluded that evaluations of correctional services interventions had often been based on sub-optimal research designs; and it proposed an integrated model of reconviction, together with ways to improve the measure of the impact of the correctional services. However, it said that it was important for the research effort to reflect the multiple and complex problems of offenders.
Source: Gemma Harper and Chlo Chitty (eds.), The Impact of Corrections on Re-offending: A review of what works , Research Study 291, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Dec
A report said that much more could be done by those working in the criminal justice system to support young parents who offended, and by professionals in other public services to respond to the needs of prisoners' families.
Source: Joanne Sherlock, Young Parents: From custody to community, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: PRT press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report analysed the one-year reconviction rates for juveniles (those aged 10-17) dealt with by the criminal justice system in 2001 and 2002, and compared the rates with those recorded for 2000 and 1997. The overall actual reconviction rate was 35.3 per cent, a reduction of 4.5 per cent relative to the 2000 baseline.
Source: Juvenile Reconviction: Results from the 2001 and 2002 cohorts, Online Report 60/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Home Office press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A new book (published by the Catholic bishops) called on the government to make major reforms in penal policy, and said that money was going into expanding rather than improving the prison system. It described the state of prisons as a 'public disgrace'.
Source: A Place of Redemption: A Christian approach to punishment and prison, Burns and Oates for Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, available from Orca Book Services (01202 665432)
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
An inspectorate report called for a national strategy for assessing and responding to the needs of older prisoners.
Source: No Problems - Old and Quiet: Older prisoners in England and Wales, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103)
Links: Age Concern press release | Community Care report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report said that family learning programmes, which brought together prisoners, their partners and children, offered far greater benefits to participants than the family contact experienced during normal visits.
Source: Karen Halsey, Annie Johnson, Satpal Kaur and John Harland, A World Apart? Evaluation of family learning programmes in prison, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Nov
An article explored HM Prison Service policy, and the impact of case law, on the rights of prisoners to family contact. The rights of fathers were not respected as much as those of mothers in cases of direct contact, and men unable to establish family life had their rights further eroded.
Source: Belinda Brooks-Gordon and Andrew Bainham, 'Prisoners' families and the regulation of contact', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 26 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Oct
A new book reviewed developments in evidence-based practice within both probation and youth justice, bringing together the findings of recent official research projects.
Source: Ros Burnett and Colin Roberts (eds.), What Works in Probation and Youth Justice: Developing evidence-based practice, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Sep
Research found that there was an average of two prisoner-on-prisoner homicides per year in England and Wales in the period 1990 to 2001 (26 in total). Two-thirds occurred in high security and local prisons. Twelve victims were in shared cells and 11 had been killed by their cellmate. The profile of victims was similar to that of assailants and the general prison population.
Source: Ghazala Sattar, Prisoner-on-Prisoner Homicide in England and Wales between 1990 and 2001, Online Report 46/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Findings (pdf)
Date: 2004-Sep
A report analysed the Prison Service s performance against its main targets in 2003-04. It found that prisons struggled to provide humane containment, and were unable to ensure constructive activity for thousands of prisoners, due to record levels of overcrowding. There had been a significant increase in the amount of drugs used by prisoners, and jails have become more violent with a significant number of serious assaults.
Source: Enver Solomon, A Measure of Success: An analysis of the Prison Service s performance against its key performance indicators, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: PRT press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Aug
An inspectorate report said that efforts to rehabilitate offenders were being undermined by serious flaws in the provision of basic skills training. The Probation Service was failing to ensure that offenders could read, write and do basic maths - and so harming their chances of finding work.
Source: Basic Skills for Offenders in the Community, Adult Learning Inspectorate (0870 240 7744)
Links: Report (pdf) | ALI press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Aug
The opposition Conservative Party leader pledged to end the 80,000 'cap' on the number of prison inmates. He called the limit 'arbitrary' and 'an extremely dangerous approach which will only store up problems for the future'. He also promised to scrap the early release scheme.
Source: Speech by Michael Howard MP, 10 August 2004
Links: Text of speech | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Aug
The government decided not to proceed with the immediate replacement of local area probation boards by new regional boards.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 20 July 2004, columns 17-18WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
A probation inspectorate report said that national targets for dealing with domestic violence cases were being missed, and plans on how to manage the risks were poor.
Source: Reducing Domestic Violence: An Inspection of NPS work with domestic violence perpetrators, HM Inspectorate of Probation (020 7035 2200)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) was established on 1 June 2004. NOMS merged the Prison and Probation Services into an integrated service for the management and supervision of offenders in custody and the community. Campaigners welcomed the change, but said that many details of the new service remained unclear.
Source: NOMS: Will it work?, National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (020 7582 6500)
Links: NACRO press release
Date: 2004-Jun
A briefing paper said that more than 400 foreign nationals were being held well beyond the end of their sentences in prisons in England and Wales, because either their cases had been lost in the system or they faced other delays in their deportation.
Source: Forgotten Prisoners: The plight of foreign national prisoners in England and Wales, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Briefing paper (pdf) | IRR summary | Guardian report
Date: 2004-May
The Law Lords ruled that juries in inquests into jail deaths should be allowed to blame failings in the prison system for contributing to an inmate's suicide.
Source: Regina v. Her Majesty's Coroner for the Western District of Somerset (Respondent) and another (Appellant) ex parte Middleton (FC) (Respondent), UKHL 10 (Session 2003-04), and Regina v. Her Majesty's Coroner for the County of West Yorkshire (Appellant) ex parte Sacker (FC) (Respondent), UKHL 11, House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of UKHL 10 | Text of UKHL 11 | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A report presented the findings of a survey commissioned to help inform the development of probation work with black and Asian offenders. It was found that black, Asian and mixed-heritage offenders showed less evidence of crime-prone attitudes and beliefs, and lower levels of self-reported problems than comparison groups of white offenders. In addition, only a third of offenders wanted to be supervised by someone from the same ethnic group. There was also very limited support from those attending programmes for groups containing only members from minority ethnic groups.
Source: Adam Calverley et al., Black and Asian Offenders on Probation, Research Study 277, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Study (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
New directions to the Parole Board on the early release of prisoners (other than those serving a life sentence) required account to be taken of the views of victims, and of prisoners' previous record.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 18 March 2004, columns 29-32WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2004-Mar
The government announced a strategy for tackling suicides in prisons. It said that there was a need to reduce the level of distress in prison and promote the well-being of all staff and prisoners, as well as targeting additional support at the most vulnerable.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 31 March 2004, columns 92-94WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2004-Mar
A study found that 52 per cent of the minority ethnic prisoners surveyed (123 out of 237) believed they had experienced some form of racial discrimination in prison within the previous six months.
Source: Kimmett Edgar and Carol Martin, Perceptions of Race and Conflict: Perspectives of minority ethnic prisoners and of prison officers, Online Report 11/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Nacro press release
Date: 2004-Feb
The number of cases of self-harm by prisoners in England and Wales increased from 3,207 in 1998 to 14,953 in 2003 (first 11 months).
Source: House of Lords Hansard, Written Answers 3 February 2004, column WA94, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Guardian report | Observer feature
Date: 2004-Feb
A study found that it was possible to improve race relations in prisons significantly, and that the scale of those improvements could be measured over time.
Source: Tom Ellis, Catherine Tedstone and Diane Curry, Improving Race Relations in Prisons: What works?, Online Report 12/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
A study of 6,208 parole applications made between April 1999 and March 2000 examined whether ethnicity, rather than the characteristics associated with release, determined decisions on the applications. (Previous research had shown that prisoners of South Asian and Chinese/other ethnicity were more likely to be granted parole than black or white prisoners.) It was concluded that ethnicity did not appear to be a factor in decision making.
Source: Uma Moorthy, Kath Cahalin and Philip Howard, Ethnicity and Parole, Research Findings 222, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
The prisons inspectorate annual report for 2002-03 highlighted 'important developments' in healthcare, education and drug work: but it said that good work in these areas was overshadowed by the ever-increasing population pressure.
Source: Annual Report of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales: 2002 - 2003, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103)
Links: Report (pdf) | HCIP press release | HLPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan
The government announced that, from 1 April 2004, all deaths in prisons, probation hostels and immigration detention accommodation would be investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
Source: Press release 6 January 2004, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release | Howard League press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan
A penal reform group published an analysis of the 94 prison suicides in England Wales during 2003. 14 women killed themselves, the most women ever to take their lives in a single year. 31 young prisoners aged 25 years and under killed themselves. A third of suicides were by prisoners on remand, and about one-fifth were by people facing or serving life for murder. The convicted mass murderer, Harold Shipman, committed suicide in prison on 13 January 2004.
Source: Analysis of Suicides in 2003 by Age, Gender and Ethnic Origin, Howard League for Penal Reform (020 7249 7373)
Links: Report (Word file) | HLPR press release (1) | HLPR press release (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2004-Jan
A study of prisoner councils (consultative forums for prisoners, found in nearly a third of prisons in England and Wales) concluded that allowing prisoners to have input into prison life improved their sense of safety and well-being.
Source: Enver Solomon and Kimmett Edgar, Having Their Say: The work of prisoner councils, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report (pdf) | PRT press release
Date: 2004-Jan
A report said the prison service did not have an alcohol harm reduction strategy to address the behaviour of the 20,000 prisoners with severe alcohol dependency problems - despite the government's concerns about alcohol-related violence and public disorder.
Source: Enver Solomon, Alcohol and Re-offending - Who Cares?, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: PRT press release | Guardian report | Community Care article
Date: 2004-Jan
The probation service inspectorate said it had found 'encouraging evidence of strong and positive leadership to promote race equality and wider diversity' within the service: but also a continuing sense of disadvantage experienced by some minority ethnic members of staff. The probation service said it was pleased that the inspectorate recognised the 'significant progress' made since publication of the original report in June 2000, which had raised serious concerns about disparities in standards.
Source: Towards Race Equality: Follow-up inspection report, HM Inspectorate of Probation (020 7035 2200) | Press release 27 January 2004, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report (pdf) | Home Office press release | 2000 report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan