The report of an independent review (by Lord Carter) called for a 'significant expansion' of existing prison building plans in England and Wales, and said that judges should consider keeping people convicted of minor offences out of jail unless there was enough space for them. The government announced that 10,500 new prison places would be created by 2014, including three new 'Titan' prisons housing 2,500 inmates each.
Source: Securing the Future: Proposals for the efficient and sustainable use of custody in England and Wales, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Hansard | YJB press release | LCJ press release | Nacro press release | SCMH press release | Napo press release | SmartJustice press release | BMA press release | Conservative Party press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Dec
A report examined national and international evidence on the effectiveness of interventions with violent offenders, in order to inform policy on the commissioning of prison and probation services. Overall, interventions with violent offenders were found to be successful at reducing general and violent re-offending.
Source: Darrick Jolliffe and David Farrington, A Systematic Review of the National and International Evidence on the Effectiveness of Interventions with Violent Offenders, Research Report 16/07, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs said that the comprehensive spending review did not provide sufficient capital resources for the substantial re-design of the prison estate in Northern Ireland that was required.
Source: The Northern Ireland Prison Service, First Report (Session 2007-08), HC 118, House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NIPS press release
Date: 2007-Dec
A new book examined modernization and cultural change in the probation service.
Source: Philip Whitehead, Modernising Probation and Criminal Justice: Getting the measure of cultural change, Shaw & Sons Limited (01322 621100)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Nov
A report examined the first-night services provided by the Prison Advice and Care Trust. It said that the government should do more to reduce the risk of suicides during the critical first few nights of imprisonment.
Source: Jessica Jacobson and Kimmett Edgar with Nancy Loucks, 'There When You Need Them Most': Review of pact's first night in custody services, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report | PRT press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Nov
A new book examined the contemporary issues and concerns facing prison staff.
Source: Jamie Bennett, Ben Crewe and Azrini Wahidin, Understanding Prison Staff, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Nov
A report said that community interventions had a far better rate of reducing re-offending than prison, and could save the taxpayer up to £200,000 per sentenced offender, taking into account the savings to the public sector from reducing future crime.
Source: The Economic Case For and Against Prison, Matrix Knowledge Group (020 7684 5777)
Links: Report | Matrix press release
Date: 2007-Nov
A report said that all prisons should have a dedicated family doctor practice, so that inmates' mental health needs could be better met by the National Health Service.
Source: Getting the Basics Right: Developing a primary care mental health service in prisons, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report called for a comprehensive review of the system for dealing with offenders with mental health needs. It said that courts and police stations should have access to criminal justice mental health liaison schemes, which would provide offenders with mental health needs with a range of services, including support with housing and substance misuse.
Source: Effective Mental Healthcare for Offenders: The need for a fresh approach, National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (020 7582 6500)
Links: Report | Nacro press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Oct
The prisons inspectorate examined the conditions and treatment of mentally disordered people in prison. There were still too many gaps in provision, and too much unmet and sometimes unrecognized need in prisons. The need would always remain greater than the capacity, unless mental health and community services outside prison were improved, and unless people were appropriately directed to them before, instead of after, custody.
Source: Monica Lloyd, Elizabeth Tysoe, Louise Falshaw and Samantha Booth, The Mental Health of Prisoners: A thematic review of the care and support of prisoners with mental health needs, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103)
Links: Report | DrugScope press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Oct
A report summarized the results of inspections of 42 probation areas in England and Wales between 2003 and 2006, including results on diversity issues. Overall, the results showed a 'reasonable' level of performance in broad terms, but also considerable scope for improvement in specific aspects of work.
Source: Effective Supervision Inspection of the National Probation Service for England & Wales, HM Chief Inspector of Probation (020 7035 2203)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Oct
The Law Lords ruled that claims of human rights breaches under the European Convention were not covered by a one-year time bar if they were launched under the Scotland Act. The decision related to four prisoners who challenged orders made by prison governors and Scottish ministers segregating them – under prison rules – from the mainstream prison population.
Source: Somerville (AP) (Original Appellant and Cross-respondent) v Scottish Ministers (Original Respondents and Cross-appellants) (Scotland) Etc, UKHL 44 (Session 2006-07), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | BBC report
Date: 2007-Oct
The annual report was published on 'multi-agency public protection arrangements' (MAPPA) highlighting the work undertaken by the police, probation and prison services in each of the 42 areas in England and Wales to protect communities from the risk posed by dangerous offenders. The number of high-risk offenders who committed a murder, rape, or another serious offence while being monitored in the community rose to 83 in 2006-07, compared with 61 in 2005-06.
Source: Press release 22 October 2007, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: MOJ press release | Statistical press release | Hansard | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Oct
A report said that about 600 people died in custody every year in England and Wales. Patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in psychiatric hospitals made up the highest number of the group, which also covered immigration detention, police and youth custody, and approved premises. About one-third of the deaths were apparently from other than natural causes.
Source: Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody, Annual Report 2006-2007, Independent Police Complaints Commission (020 7404 0430)
Links: Report | Forum press release | SCMH press release | SANE press release | INQUEST press release | HM Prison Service press release | Nacro press release | Community Care report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Sep
A new book called for reform of the way the state dealt with deaths in custody. It said that the existing investigation and inquest system was insufficiently resourced, and was failing to perform its preventative function.
Source: Helen Shaw and Deborah Coles, Unlocking the Truth: Families' experiences of the investigation of deaths in custody, Inquest (020 7263 1111)
Links: Inquest press release
Date: 2007-Sep
A report said that people with a learning disability in prisons in Scotland were not being identified. Many were also bullied and cut out of rehabilitation courses; and most prison staff were not given the training or resources to deal with them.
Source: Nancy Loucks with Jenny Talbot, No One Knows: Identifying and supporting prisoners with learning difficulties and learning disabilities – the views of prison staff, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report | PRT press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Sep
The High Court ruled that the Secretary of State for Justice had adopted a 'sea change' policy of accepting Parole Board recommendations opposing transfers of life prisoners to open prison conditions, while rejecting those in favour. It said that this was 'not a rational or even-handed approach', and declared it unlawful.
Source: High Court ruling reported by BBC, 19 September 2007
Links: BBC report
Date: 2007-Sep
The High Court ruled that the Parole Board lacked the independence from government it needed to fulfil its role of deciding whether prisoners should be released. The declaration was won by four prisoners fighting for release from custody, who argued that their right to a fair hearing had been violated because of the close link between the Board and the government. The government was given leave to appeal.
Source: Brooke and another, R (on the application of) v The Parole Board and another, High Court 7 September 2007
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report | Telegraph report | FT report
Date: 2007-Sep
A new book examined the organizational and legislative changes that had occurred in social work with offenders in the previous 10 years.
Source: Gill McIvor and Peter Raynor (eds.), Developments in Social Work with Offenders, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Aug
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the prison system in Wales.
Source: Welsh Prisoners in the Prison Estate: Government Response to the Welsh Affairs Committee Report, Cm 7195, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Aug
A study raised concerns about the cost and effectiveness of a system for satellite tracking of offenders.
Source: Stephen Shute, Satellite Tracking of Offenders: A study of the pilots in England and Wales, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Aug
Projections of the prison population in England and Wales were published for the period August 2007 to June 2014. By the end of June 2014 the demand for prison spaces was projected to increase to between 88,800 and 101,900 (according to different assumptions), compared to a range of 81,800-83,600 in 2008.
Source: Nisha de Silva et al., Prison Population Projections 2007-2014: England and Wales, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Bulletin
Date: 2007-Aug
An article examined how far a rights culture had developed in prisons since the Woolf Report of 1991. Some progress had been made through the courts and through pressure from monitoring bodies: but government policy and practice had frequently resisted rather than promoted the development of a rights-based culture.
Source: Dennis Eady, 'Prisoners' rights since the Woolf report: progress or procrastination?', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 46 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
The probation inspectorate published its annual report for 2006-07. It said that an increasing squeeze on the capacity of the adult offender management system posed a major strategic threat to progress in the service.
Source: Annual Report 2006/2007, HM Chief Inspector of Probation (020 7035 2203)
Links: Report | HCI Probation press release | Nacro press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jul
An article said that supporting the family ties of prisoners in order to reduce re-offending had some value: but the approach was problematic on a number of grounds.
Source: Helen Codd, 'Prisoners' families and resettlement: a critical analysis', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 46 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
An article said that probation was a 'morally significant activity', and not reducible to techniques of effectiveness.
Source: Rob Canton, 'Probation and the tragedy of punishment', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 46 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
The annual report of the Prison Service was published for 2006-07.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2006-2007, HC 717, HM Prison Service/Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
The Offender Management Act 2007 was given Royal assent. The Act provided for the reorganization of the probation service around regionally led 'probation trusts'. Probation services would be commissioned from the best available provider – whether in the public, private, or voluntary sector.
Source: Offender Management Act 2007, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | NOMS press release
Date: 2007-Jul
The government authorized the early release of non-violent prisoners coming to the end of sentences of a maximum of four years as a 'temporary' measure to deal with a record prison population in England and Wales. About 25,000 prisoners would be eligible for the scheme, designed to cut the daily prison population by 1,200.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 19 June 2007, columns 1241-1254, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | PRT press release | Nacro press release | BMA press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2007-Jun
The High Court ruled that it was unlawful for the Parole Board to operate a target of 55 days from request for the setting of hearing dates to considering the propriety of a person?s recall to prison, on the grounds that this was driven by resources.
Source: Regina (Cooper) v Parole Board, High Court 6 June 2007
Links: Text of judgement | Times report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that more prisons should be built in Wales to combat overcrowding, and to enable prisoners to be held closer to home.
Source: Welsh Prisoners in the Prison Estate, Third Report (Session 2006-07), HC 74, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Nacro press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jun
A 'background paper' published by the new Ministry of Justice (established on 9 May 2007) disclosed initiatives designed to reduce prison overcrowding. Sentencing guidelines would be reviewed, and suspended sentence orders limited. Non-dangerous criminals who breached the terms of their release would be jailed for 28 days - rather than automatically serving out the rest of their sentence.
Source: Penal Policy: A background paper, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Paper | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-May
A report said that the families of prisoners were vulnerable to financial instability, poverty, debt, and potential housing disruption - adding nearly one-third to the public costs of imprisonment.
Source: Rose Smith, Roger Grimshaw, Renee Romeo and Martin Knapp, Poverty and Disadvantage Among Prisoners? Families, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | Guardian report
Date: 2007-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that the Home Office had 'wilfully ignored' the wishes of Parliament and signed up to new European Union rules on compulsory prisoner transfers without parliamentary approval. Ministers had been warned on three occasions that they should not agree the plans until they had first been debated by Parliament: but they had done so anyway. (The agreement would allow Britain to send some 2,000 European Union prisoners back to their home countries: in exchange, about 800 British nationals in prisons abroad would be repatriated.)
Source: European Enforcement Order and the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Nineteenth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 41, House of Commons European Scrutiny Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-May
The government announced pilot schemes under which a personalized skills assessment would be made available in prisons and in the community to identify offenders who would benefit from a programme of employment-focused learning and skills training to reduce re-offending.
Source: Press release 17 May 2007, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release
Date: 2007-May
An article examined recent organizational change in the probation service from a gender perspective.
Source: Jill Annison, 'A gendered review of change within the probation service', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 46 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Apr
A new book examined the changing role of the Parole Board across the range of its responsibilities - including the prediction of risk, and decisions on the release (or continued detention) of the growing number of recalled prisoners and of those subject to indeterminate sentences.
Source: Nicola Padfield (ed.), Who to Release? Parole, fairness and criminal justice, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Apr
The government responded to a report by a joint committee of MPs and peers on the Offender Management Bill. It said that it maintained its view that probation services commissioned from private or independent providers under the arrangements proposed in the Bill would be regarded as 'public functions' for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Source: The Government Reply to the Third Report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Session 2006-07, HL paper 39/HC 287: Legislative scrutiny: second progress report - Offender Management Bill, Cm 7068, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Date: 2007-Apr
A report said that people with a learning disability in prison were not being identified. They were also bullied, and cut out of rehabilitation courses. Prison staff were not given the training or resources to deal with them. Some prisoners with a learning disability did not even know why they were in prison.
Source: Jenny Talbot, No One Knows: Identifying and supporting prisoners with learning difficulties and learning disabilities - The views of prison staff, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report | PRT press release | YJB press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Mar
A joint committee of MPs and peers published a memorandum from the government updating it on developments in relation to the strategy of the government and the other authorities concerned in preventing deaths in custody.
Source: Deaths in Custody: Further Developments, Seventh Report (Session 2006-07), HC 364 and HL 59, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
A report analyzed the two-year proven re-offending rates of adults - those aged 18 and over at date of sentence or on release from prison - who were released from prison or commenced a community penalty in the first quarter of 2004 (the 2004 cohort). In 2004 the actual re-offending rate was 2.1 percentage points lower than in 2000, at 55.5 per cent.
Source: Jack Cunliffe and Adrian Shepherd, Re-offending of Adults: Results from the 2004 Cohort, Statistical Bulletin 06/07, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin | HMP press release
Date: 2007-Mar
A new book examined penal policy with particular reference to England and Wales. Attention was focused on rising prison numbers, especially since 1997.
Source: Andrew Rutherford, Prison Populations and Political Choices, Taylor and Francis (020 7583 9855)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Mar
An article examined the factors that influenced help-seeking for mental distress by offenders. Most respondents reported that they would not seek help from a family doctor or other healthcare professional if experiencing mental distress.
Source: Amanda Howerton et al., 'Understanding help seeking behaviour among male offenders: qualitative interview study', British Medical Journal, 10 February 2007
Date: 2007-Feb
The Offender Management Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to enable the government to commission probation services from the best available provider - whether in the public, private, or voluntary sector. 24 Labour MPs voted against it.
Source: Offender Management Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28 February 2007, columns 932-1037, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | HOC research brief | NOMS press release | Hansard | FT report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Feb
An article examined the sexual health and behaviour of male prisoners. Sex, rape, and injecting drug use were a part of prison life: but screening for sexually transmitted infections did not routinely take place, and there were inconsistencies in the availability of condoms and other harm-reduction devices.
Source: Elaine Stewart, 'The sexual health and behaviour of male prisoners: the need for research', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 46 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Feb
An article examined how different aspects of prison life affected the health of prisoners, arguing that health inequalities were enmeshed within the workings of the prison system itself.
Source: Nick de Viggiani, 'Unhealthy prisons: exploring structural determinants of prison health', Sociology of Health & Illness, Volume 29 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Feb
The prisons inspectorate examined the experience of young men held in different kinds of prison establishment. There needed to be a separate strategy and approach for young adult men in prison: the establishments that did best overall were those which both had a specific focus on the needs and management of this age-group, and were able to provide sufficient purposeful activity and training for them.
Source: Julia Fossi, Young Adult Male Prisoners: A short thematic report, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103)
Links: Report | News report
Date: 2007-Feb
A new book provided a systematic study of prison governors - how they carried out their task, how that had changed over time, and how their role had evolved.
Source: Shane Bryans, Prison Governors: Managing prisons in a time of change, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Feb
A report said that almost 6,000 men, women, and children with an IQ of less than 70 were locked up in prisons at any one time. Such low IQs affected an individual's ability to cope with prison life, and hindered communication and understanding: but there was no routine screening or assessment of people in prison to identify their needs properly.
Source: Pat Mottram, HMP Liverpool, Styal and Hindley Study Report, Faculty of Medicine/University of Liverpool (0151 794 2000)
Links: Report | PRT press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Feb
A report examined the development of psychiatric services in adult prisons in England and Wales. It endorsed the government's policy that mental health services should be provided as in the community, and in line with national policy. It recommended that the commissioning model for adult psychiatric services be adopted for commissioning mental healthcare in prisons.
Source: Prison Psychiatry: Adult prisons in England and Wales, Royal College of Psychiatrists (020 7235 2351)
Date: 2007-Feb
There were 67 apparently self-inflicted deaths among prisoners in England and Wales in 2006 - a fall of 14 per cent compared with 2005, and the lowest figure since 1996.
Source: Press release 1 January 2007, Prison Service/Home Office (020 7273 4543)
Links: Prison Service press release
Date: 2007-Jan
The government issued (but did not publish) a statement to the National Criminal Justice Board confirming that prison sentences should be used for only the most serious criminals, as the prison population approached its maximum capacity level. Sentencing less serious offenders to tough community sentences, instead of short prison sentences, would relieve pressure on the prison system, as well as promoting rehabilitation.
Source: Managing the Impact of Rapid Growth in the Prison Population, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release | LCJ statement (1) | LCJ statement (2) | Nacro press release | PRT press release | HLPR press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | BBC report | FT report | Times report
Date: 2007-Jan
The prisons inspectorate published its annual report for 2005-06. It said that the prison system was in 'serious crisis', with overcrowding affecting rehabilitation of offenders.
Source: Annual Report 2005/2006, HC 210, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Nacro press release | Rainer press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Jan
An article said that prisoners were more likely to have suffered some form of social exclusion compared to the rest of society, and tended to have greater mental and physical health problems. Women, young offenders, older prisoners, and those from minority ethnic groups had distinct health needs compared to the prison population as a whole.
Source: Francesca Harris, Gill Hek and Louise Condon, 'Health needs of prisoners in England and Wales: the implications for prison healthcare of gender, age and ethnicity', Health and Social Care in the Community, Volume 15 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jan