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The start point for our ‘Barred Citizens’ programme is that people are sent to prison to be deprived of their liberty, not their identity or their citizenship. Prisoners must have scope to take responsibility for their own lives, help others and prepare for successful community resettlement. ‘Barred Citizens’ grew from work over the last five years on prisoner volunteering, representation, voting rights and Human Rights Act monitoring. In 2002 PRT produced a report on volunteering by prisoners and in 2004 published a review of prisoner councils. This applied research, conducted in all prisons in England and Wales, revealed a patchy picture - some imaginative, effective schemes and a raft of lost opportunities. PRT is reviewing selected volunteering and peer support schemes and contributing to the Home Office group convened to oversee voluntary sector development in prisons.
Volunteering and active citizenship
PRT is gathering research and measurable outcomes to prompt a major expansion of representation, involvement and volunteering by prisoners. The review of CSV’s day release volunteering scheme is complete. We have submitted an interim report on the work of the St Giles Trust to train prisoners as housing advisors in Kent prisons. PRT is also advising on the Inside Out Trust evaluation. Over the year we monitored, and reported on, developments by the governor, staff and prisoners at HMP Holloway to enable women to help themselves and support one another.
Prisoners’ voting
The successful Barred from Voting campaign was initiated by PRT and Unlock, the National Association of Ex-offenders. It is backed by a coalition of senior cross arty politicians, church leaders, exoffenders, uman rights groups and prison reformers, set out to overturn a 135 year ld law which means that when people are entenced to prison, they are automatically tripped of their voting rights. In March 2004 in a case brought by life sentenced prisoner, John Hirst, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the ban on sentenced prisoners voting violated Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights. The government appealed against this unanimous judgement. In October 2005 the Grand Chamber upheld the decision that the blanket ban on sentenced prisoners’ voting is unlawful. PRT provided expert evidence for both Strasbourg hearings. We published a briefing paper setting out the argument for reform citing international comparisons. We also gained a clarification of the position for those serving a sentence of intermittent custody.
Righting wrongs
Prisons are our least visible and most neglected public service. People detained in them are often overlooked too. In 2005, our written and oral evidence to the Home Affairs and Work and Pensions Select Committees informed their joint recommendation that prisons, like other public institutions already included such as schools and hospitals, should not be exempt from the draft corporate manslaughter bill. | |
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