14/12/2011 00:01:00
Those responsible for the justice system know only too well that one dreadful event, or a high profile court case, can have a devastating impact on prison numbers. The latest edition of the Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile reveals how the August riots, as well as causing harm and distress in communities, propelled an extra 846 people into our already overcrowded jails. This hit the prison service hard when it was already trying to cope with severe budget cuts and overcrowding largely driven by inflation in sentencing.
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16/05/2011 08:21:00
As the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has stated, currently many people in prison are not encouraged to take responsibility and are compelled to live a life of “enforced, bored idleness”. The Prison Reform Trust report demonstrates that encouraging active citizenship in prisons should play an important part in achieving the government’s aims for a “rehabilitation revolution” and developing the wider concept of the Big Society. It could help achieve the coalition’s plans, outlined in the Ministry of Justice’s green paper Breaking the Cycle, for making prisons places of hard work and purposeful activity.
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22/02/2011 11:39:00
This joint briefing was sent to MPs ahead of the House of Commons prisoner voting debate on 10 February and urges “the government and Parliament to now put aside delaying tactics, respect the judgment of the Court and overturn the outdated ban on prisoners voting.”
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06/12/2010 12:26:00
Prison has a poor record for reducing reoffending – 49% of adults are reconvicted within one year of release – for those serving sentences of less than 12 months this increases to 61%. The average cost of each prison place is now £45,000.
The newly announced green paper should use all available evidence to create a fairer, more effective, more efficient criminal justice system.
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29/10/2009 17:11:00
A report that explores the experience and impact of youth conferencing in Northern Ireland, and looks at the potential benefits of introducing a similar model to the youth justice system in England and Wales.
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26/01/2004 17:18:00
The report, Having Their Say, is the first in-depth study of consultative forums for prisoners, known as prisoner councils, which exist in nearly a third of prisons in England and Wales. It outlines how councils allow staff to consult prisoner representatives and how prisoners can give feedback on the prison regime.
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