Offensive Weapons Bill—Commons Report Stage

4 days ago

There is understandable public concern about the recent spate of acid attacks and rise in knife crime in some inner-city areas. As the government’s serious violence strategy recognises, many of the solutions lie in preventative rather than punitive measures.

As the House of Commons prepares to debate the Offensive Weapons Bill again on Monday 15 October, the Prison Reform Trust has prepared a short briefing to assist MPs, highlighting our support for a number of key amendments and new clauses.

We are concerned that provisions which unnecessarily criminalise children and young people risk driving the problem underground and could result in more vulnerable individuals being drawn into the criminal justice system, instead of putting them in contact with the treatment and support they need.

Click here to download a copy of the briefing.

PRT comment: HMP & YOI Chelmsford

4 days ago

Commenting on today's inspection report on conditions at HMP & YOI Chelmsford, Mark Day, Head of Policy and Communications at the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“This troubling report reveals that Chelmsford missed an urgent notification by the skin of its teeth, saved only by the confidence placed by the Chief Inspector in the senior leadership to turn things around.

“The findings are all too familiar—another grossly overcrowded and dilapidated local prison struggling with high levels of violence, self-harm, self-inflicted deaths and too much time spent in cells.

“The good quality of rehabilitation work and prisoner staff relationships are bright spots in an otherwise bleak picture.

“The fact that the majority of people held at the prison are unconvicted, unsentenced or serving sentences of less than a year should raise serious questions as to why are we sending so many people to prison for pointless short spells behind bars.”

PRT comment: Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Annual Report 2017–18

11/10/2018 12:27:00

Commenting on the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Annual Report 2017–18, Mark Day, Head of Policy and Communications at the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“This disturbing report paints a bleak picture of a prison system where people are dying needlessly, and where lessons clearly set out by the Ombudsman are not being learned. Despite highlighting a welcome fall in self-inflicted deaths, there are worrying signs that this trend is in danger of reversing. A lack of suitably qualified mental health professionals in prison and the ability to transfer severely mentally ill people out of prison and into treatment remain significant concerns.

“It is clear that prisons need an effective strategy to deal with the destructive impact of psychoactive substances. This must include measures to limit demand as well as supply through more time out of cell and purposeful activity. The high rate of natural deaths underscores the desperate need for a properly resourced older prisoners strategy.

“The routine loss and damage to prisoners’ property continues to be a source of needless frustration, which could be easily remedied by prisons following clear and simple procedures for recording ownership and arranging transfers.”

PRT comment: HMP Exeter

09/10/2018 09:00:00

Commenting on today's inspection report, Mark Day, Head of Policy and Communications at the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“The government's response to the Chief Inspector's urgent notification promised central support for an updated safety strategy and efforts to improve living conditions. Missing was any proposal to address one of the key factors underlying the appalling standards of safety and decency at Exeter and many other local prisons up and down the country—their chronic levels of overcrowding. A presumption against short sentences and curbs on the unnecessary use of recall and remand would help bring down numbers in local establishments to sustainable levels and enable them to focus on improving treatment and conditions for the longer term.”