30/07/2019 16:33:00
The Prison Reform Trust wants to understand what long sentences mean for the people serving them, the families and friends left behind, and the system that is responsible for their care. Then we want to make a difference – to the way of life in prison for people serving very long sentences and to their ability to build a future in the community to which almost all will return.
The Building Futures will be an innovative prisoner-led project. It will give long term prisoners the opportunity and skills to influence the policies and practices that affect them, and to build the bridges between prison and community on which their futures depend.
We are recruiting a programme lead, a research officer and an administrator for this exciting new project, if you would like more information on the project or the application process please click this link.
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2 days ago
Commenting on the publication of the results from the 10 prisons project by the Ministry of Justice today, Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust said:
“Any reduction in violence in any prison is welcome. But the 10 prisons project and the fate of a prisons minister always risked being a distraction from the real issue facing the government. That is about overcrowding—still running at over 20% despite three decades of prison building. It has always been possible to yank a very poor prison back from the abyss for a while, but the strategic problem of prisons holding too many people has never been properly addressed. Any glimmers of systemic improvement will be quickly snuffed out if we return to the failed ‘prison works’ policies that have created this calamity in the first place.”
The Prison Reform Trust has produced two infographics to show performance in each of the 10 prisons for assaults and positive drug tests.
Click here to see performance in assaults
Click here to see performance in positive drug tests
Photo credit: Andy Aitchison
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Commenting on the government's announcement of a sentencing review, Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:
“A review should start with some facts. Sentences for violent and sexual offending have gone up very substantially over the last 15 years. After the appalling fiasco of the discredited IPP sentence introduced in a similar atmosphere in 2003, courts now have the option of extended determinate sentences which do everything the Prime Minister says he wants. And polling over many years has shown that the public consistently underestimates the actual severity of sentencing for serious crime.
"Stoking up public anxiety with unevidenced assertions is a poor way to start a review that needs to take a dispassionate approach to a complex issue.”
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08/08/2019 00:01:00
A new report published today (8 August) by the Prison Reform Trust demonstrates the benefits when prisoners are consulted about how to address areas of concern in prisons.
Prisoners reforming prisons focuses on three important areas of prison life—safety, respectful relationships, and the responsible use of time in prison. The prisoners’ input, summarised in this report, suggests solutions to crucial areas in which prisons’ performance have recently shown a marked decline.
The report is the second in a series under the Prison Reform Trust’s active citizens programme. The findings are based on work between the Prison Reform Trust and individual prisons to establish active citizen panels—providing a structure to consult prisoners about an issue that concerns them in their prison.
Click 'read more' for the full story
Photo credit: Andy Aitchison
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