November 2012 Issue 106 INDEPENDENT MONIT OR THE ASSOCIATION OF MEMBERS OF INDEPENDENT MONITORING BOARDS

MARTIN NAREY EXCLUSIVE SEX OFFENDERS’ FAMILIES PENAL POLITICS EDITORIAL CONTENTS

few days before this Monitor went to press came AMIMB 3 some startling news from Noms. ‘A new approach to Angela Clay drive efficiency and cost reduction in public sector 30 years on 4 A prisons’ is how Justice Secretary Chris Grayling Martin Narey described it. It was a mixed bag. The bad news for the Prison Service was that it will lose Northumberland prison (Acklington HMIP reports 7 Helen Banks and Castington prisons before they were clustered last year) as well as the South Yorkshire group of Lindholme, Hatfield and Telling stories 8 Moorland. The next stage of the competition for private Writer in residence Jessica Berens contracts to run them will involve Serco, Sodexo and Trouble ahead? 9 MTC/Amey – but no gold medal possibility for G4S: it’s been Rod Morgan disqualified from the race. G4S are also losing The Wolds, which rather dramatically will Koestler awards 10 return to the public sector next July, but in a cluster with They won’t know we’re coming 11 Everthorpe. And Coldingley, Durham and Onley prisons will HMCIP Nick Hardwick not be privatised after all. The bids from the private sector were Sentence mismanagement 12 ‘less convincing’ according to Noms boss Michael Spurr. This Bob Knowles was a surprise to the City, where private custody sector share prices slumped. A view from the Ivory Tower 15 On the other hand, big business must be rubbing its hands at Carol Hedderman what is perhaps the most significant bit of news in all this. The Back inside 16 government is to adopt a new cost-saving plan that the Prison Simon Creighton Service has been working on. Michael Spurr describes it as a ‘competition model…involving retaining core custodial What can I do next? 17 functions in the public sector, with private and third sector Emma Wicken partners delivering ancillary and resettlement services.’ A black sheep in the family 18 Given that perilous revolution, it now makes sense that one of Sarah Salmon Chris Grayling’s first announcements as the new secretary of state was to suspend some pilot payment-by-results projects in The politics of justice 19 order to ‘reconsider’ the strategy. David Faulkner So of course it’s all about money. Not decency, not better Last word 20 resettlement, just money. Because the government dumped Ken Clarke and his modest plans for reform, the prison population won’t come down. So no more prison closures, no £130m Cover: Can a Leopard Change His Spots? HMP savings. And there’s another unexpected £35m bill for problems Wellingborough, Rethinking Recycling Bronze with computer projects. Yet Noms has a £246m savings target Koestler Award this year and £884m to save by 2015. If the MoJ budget fails, it’s their problem. If prisons fail, it’s everyone’s. Photos from Andrew Aitchison

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Membership of AMIMB is open to serving members of IMBs in prisons Patron Lord Phillips, Supreme Court President and immigration removal centres in England and Wales. Associate President Baroness Vivien Stern membership is open to anyone interested in penal affairs. Vice-President Michael Watson MBE (IMB Preston) AMIMB represents board members by presenting their views wherever [email protected] they need to be known. AMIMB campaigns for change, both through its own efforts and by liaising with other groups, including via the Criminal Chair Angela Clay (East Sutton Park) Justice Alliance. Membership of AMIMB allows board members to have [email protected] a say in the direction of boards and penal policy generally. Treasurer Jenny Budgell (Ashfield) [email protected] Annual subscription to AMIMB is £20. Join online at Natural Numbers Ltd, Syms Yard, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN14 6LH amimb.org.uk or complete the form on page 19. 01249 660035

Independent Monitor Other executive committee members David Atkinson (Dovegate) [email protected] Editor Helen Boothman, [email protected] Brian Guthrie (Norwich) [email protected] Secretary (Littlehey) Field House, Thrandeston, Diss, Norfolk IP21 4BU • 01379 783678 Gordon Cropper, Vice-chair (Pentonville) [email protected] Views expressed in the Independent Monitor are not necessarily Christopher Padfield (Bedford) [email protected] those of AMIMB. Michael Peacock (Gartree) [email protected] ISSN 1746–1197 AMIMB

From the chair

that our members’ opinions were divided over the ruling but all agreed that it was wrong to impose the ruling without proper consultation. I leave you to decide what the reply said about individual members (the full letter is on our website): ‘The President of the National Council has strongly represented the concerns of members to sponsoring departments and the office for the Commissioner for Public Appointment and has been directly involved in negotiating a series of exceptional arrange - ments that reflect the unique nature of IMBs. I therefore regard due consultation as having taken place.’

National Council I met Secretriat head Mick Robins and NC vice-chair Chris Davies to discuss the reasons for the NC’s decision to suspend liaison arrangements with AMIMB. But it’s still unclear. They cited details about our minutes and also the fact that we were carrying out Lord David Ramsbotham at AMIMB’s some research on sex offenders but this did conference not make any sense. We have continued to Angela Clay ask for clarification and to offer the hand of women in custody. If you have a special friendship in resolving the issue. Peter Selby interest in any of these subjects, please AMIMB’s 2012 AGM and conference were declined our invitation to our AGM as he felt contact me or one of the executive held again on the banks of the Thames at that it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to committee with your views. Glaziers Hall. We heard some excellent attend but he did say: ‘I do stress that what A final thought from Eric McGraw, editor speakers: Lord David Ramsbotham (who has been suspended is our previous means of of Inside Time : ‘You may have seen the was withering about Noms and not much liaison, and that I am hopeful that a way of October issue of Inside Time and my inter - kinder about David Cameron), Hindpal improving things can be found.’ Although view with Peter Selby. You will see that I am Bhui (foreign nationals specialist in HMIP), still somewhat in the dark, we hope that this concerned that large numbers of prisoners Lucy Bogue (ex-IMB, now Noms and a spir - may signal a light at the end of a rather long say they have no idea who the IMB are.’ ited defender of it), Nikhil Roy (Penal tunnel. Would you challenge this statement as it Reform International), John Samuels (Pris - applies to the establishment you monitor or oners Education Trust), Kerry Boffey (Adult IMB issues could we do more to raise awareness of who Learning Network) and Mike Kirby (Noms AMIMB is currently looking at prisoner we are and what we do, among those pris - again). You will find some of this on voting, sex offenders, foreign nationals and oners and detainees we monitor? amimb.org.uk. We also presented the first of the AMIMB awards, for members who highlighted initia - AMIMB award winners – extracts tives in prisons. We had six good entries: two ‘The SMS Team at Kirkham has worked hard to identify and train up a large number of were from Stafford (their GBT unit came recovery champions – prisoners who work as peer supporters alongside the staff team to third), one each from East Sutton Park and offer help, advice and support to those seeking or already achieving recovery, and this type Hollesley Bay, and the two winners – of mutual aid is the basis for many of the services within the team including speaking to new Kirkham’s substance misuse recovery week prisoners on their induction to the prison, the facilitation of groupwork sessions and (reported by the IMB’s Maria Desmond) training for staff around substance use, addiction and recovery.’ and Dartmoor’s diversity centre (Sue ‘The Diversity Centre at Dartmoor , run by a team of three dedicated officers, has evolved White). from an older prisoners over-50s club, into a programme supporting other less able members of the prison community, and is an example of good practice. First timers, poor Tenure copers, may be someone on an ACCT, prisoners with disabilities, or a foreign national Following our member survey about the 15- facing an uncertain future, are some of the prisoners offered the opportunity to attend the year tenure rule, we wrote to the minister for Diversity Centre.’ the cabinet office, Frances Maude, to say

Independent Monitor • November 2012 3 PERSONAL POLITICAL HISTORY

want to reflect on three areas which have been of particular significance since I joined the Prison Service in 1982 as a naïve but idealistic trainee Igovernor. They are violence in prisons, the emergence of management, and the lost opportunity of population control. I joined the Prison Service pretty much by accident. It was never something I planned (and when recruiting people to join later in my career I was always troubled by any young person who told me that working in prisons was something they had always wanted to do). After graduating in public administration in the late seventies I went to work in the NHS – something I had planned to do – and spent five happy years in hospital management. In 1981 I was managing a small group of hospitals in Lincolnshire and my wife and I had our first child. During that period of life when, as anxious parents, we did not go out very much, I became hooked on a ground-breaking BBC documentary series, Strangeways , made by the inspira - tional film maker Rex Bloomstein. It was a remarkably candid exposé of the not simply unsatisfactory, but primitive and cruel jail in Manchester. I watched it all and somewhere in my loft, on video tapes I can no longer play, I have the eight episodes still. The horror of the prison as portrayed by Bloomstein had a profound effect on me. And one evening my wife handed me a copy of the Sunday Times appointments pages. The Home Office were inviting individuals interested in training to become prison governors and inviting potential candidates to visit a prison. And that is why, on Christmas Eve 1981, I visited Lincoln Prison. Lincoln then, as now, was a local prison, a smaller version of Strangeways. And, as I soon found, it was very like the Strangeways portrayed by the BBC. It was dirty. It smelled, overpoweringly, of human waste and in every cell I was allowed to look at there were three men in a space made by the Victorians for one. The only prisoners out of their cell that afternoon were sewing 30 mailbags. But what was more depressing was years on the open contempt displayed by the prison officers to those they were incarcerating and the amusement of the deputy governor when I asked him about rehabilitation. But I Martin Narey ran the prison service for five left there that afternoon with the firmest conviction that I didn’t want to do anything years and Noms for two. He was a reforming else with my working life and to the horror of Director General, but has some regrets about friends and NHS colleagues, I joined the Prison Service in September 1982. the past and warnings about the present A nervous start When my first day arrived I was nervous for two reasons. First of all because back then the

4 Independent Monitor • November 2012 Home Office dealt pretty brusquely with Mayhew could not bring himself to express norm in local prisons. After a minor distur - new employees. I’d had to resign from the anything stronger than regret. bance, when I was the only governor on NHS without any knowledge of where I That was the Prison Service I joined. duty, about 20 young men had to be trans - would be posted and as I left our home in Violence was not endemic, but it was ferred to Durham jail. I was on duty until Nottinghamshire that morning to drive to commonplace. And governors were taught after midnight and saw that each of those the Prison Service College at Wakefield, I to look away. Just four years previously, an young men were treated professionally, and promised to ring my wife as soon as I knew amiable young man called Douglas put on coaches to Durham. When I visited where we might be living for the next few McComb was told to stay in his office at Hull them the next morning, they were all of them years. To my later immense relief it was prison by officers who were intent on black and blue. Violence, in short, was part of Barnard Castle, home to Deerbolt Borstal, wreaking revenge on the prisoners who had the prison experience of the 80s. rather than London or the Isle of Wight. rioted a few days previously. Mr McComb But the second reason for my anxiety was did as he was told – and was prosecuted for The realities of prison life more profound. Since my resignation from malfeasance. The Crown Court acquitted After four years I went to Frankland, a new the NHS some months before I had been him, concluding that he would have been high security prison. Prisoners were articu - following the news reports prompted by a unable to stop the violence, and had he tried late, and many frankly untouchable, not least late-night adjournment debate in the House to do so he would have put himself in danger. those with Irish terrorist connections. There of Commons. The debate was concluded by A later Home Office report into the gross was, as far as I could ascertain, very little the junior Home Office Minister (later a violence meted out on prisoners described it violence. But a few months after my arrival, a distinguished Attorney General) Paddy simply as ‘an excess of zeal’ new governor, Alistair Papps, called together Mayhew. It was about a man called Barry all four of his assistant governors – of which I Prosser, who was remanded in August 1980 My first posting was the junior – and made it plain that to Birmingham jail for medical reports, I returned to Lincoln to begin my governor heading off violence against prisoners was having been charged with damage to a lock training and for four months served as a our primary responsibility. And if it valued at £1.62. The Minister told the uniformed officer. Lincoln was, I would say, happened when we were on duty, he would House of Commons what happened next: largely placid. Essentially run by a militaristic want to know why. It was the first acknowl - ‘Mr Prosser was found dead in his cell in the principal officer, the governor was an irrele - edgement from any governor that violence hospital wing of Birmingham Prison in the vance. It was placid because prisoners had to be prevented. That it wasn’t good early morning of 19 August 1980. He had expected nothing and got nothing. enough to regret its happening. That it been on remand in the prison for just over two They didn’t protest, they did as they were couldn’t be allowed to happen. weeks, and for the past week he had been in the told and their treatment was not visibly harsh Why should a suggestion that junior hospital wing, because his behaviour had (ignoring here issues around living three to a governors must ensure staff act profession - become disturbed. At the time he died, cell, appalling food and slopping out). But ally seem somewhat novel? You need to arrangements were being made for his admis - although all the officers knew I was a understand the reality that in the mid sion to a psychiatric hospital. The post mortem governor in training they did not bother to eighties only the governing governor himself revealed that Mr. Prosser had extensive conceal poor behaviour and I saw visitors (they were virtually all men) could give an bruising all over his body. His stomach, his (and visiting probation officers) treated with order to anyone in uniform – however junior oesophagus and one of his lungs had been casual but gross disrespect. I saw a prisoner that officer. ruptured.’ who was patently mentally ill being slapped Assistant governors like me looked after Prison officers murdered Mr Prosser. around in the segregation unit. prisoners, getting to know them, dealing Three were charged with his murder. Twice When I returned to the Prison Service with their problems and writing parole magistrates in Birmingham dismissed the College and – no doubt a touch self right - reports. One could, and some of us tried, to prosecution and refused to commit the case eously – raised the violence and the do a little more. But our authority was to the Crown Court. This forced the disrespect with my tutor and her seniors, I entirely informal. In some areas we were not Director of Public Prosecutions to use was laughed at. At the end of my first year we allowed to meddle. For example, one had to unusual powers to bypass the magistrates had a lecture about Barry Prosser’s death, simply observe the scandalous over-manning and take the case direct to the Crown Court. given by the duty governor at Birmingham which fed prison officers’ unquenchable But all three officers were acquitted. To on the night Mr Prosser was murdered (he thirst for overtime. this day, no one has been convicted for that was by now promoted to the role of staff At Frankland in 1986 no governor, not brutal and cowardly murder. But the tutor at the college). Mr Prosser’s wife, even the governing governor, could read or Commons was assured that there was not described in parliament as a woman of quiet understand a shift detail. None of us knew too much to worry about. As Paddy Mayhew courage, resolve, dedication and serenity was how many officers were employed on any told them: called a slag. I protested and overtures were task on any day, or what they cost. There was, ‘We know of absolutely no evidence that this made to me about whether I’d made the essentially, no management of staff or was other than an isolated incident. The right career decision. I was told I was money. But I already knew that the primary Government are satisfied that it was not part unhelpful, uncooperative and, most managerial challenge in prisons was not of a pattern of maltreatment of prisoners.’ frequently, naïve. finance, or planning, or industrial relations. Very tellingly – reflecting as it did the Prison management was, and is, chiefly power of the Prison Officers Association at Borstal boys about morality. But imposing any sort of the time – the minister told the House that I moved from Lincoln to Deerbolt Borstal at moral lead in the 80s was defied by the formal the Director General had required all use of the beginning of 1983. I saw very little managerial arrangements which made force by prison officers on prisoners in future violence at Deerbolt. I think there genuinely people like me, and indeed most governors, to be reported to the governor. The POA was very little violence there. But I was an irrelevance. ordered the instruction to be ignored. Mr reminded of the extent to which it was the It is hard to overestimate the importance

Independent Monitor • November 2012 5 PERSONAL POLITICAL HISTORY

of the Fresh Start reforms in 1987 which staff into male prisons certainly helped, as did abolished chief officers and introduced closing prison officers clubs at lunchtime and governors into the line management of those making plain that drinking three or four pints in uniform. It was the beginning of what is before an afternoon shift was no longer sometimes termed, pejoratively, manageri - acceptable. alism in the Prison Service. And as far as I Certainly, and significantly, I think was concerned, thank God. Because decency took some of the anger out of managerialism began to allow the proper prisons and as a result riots and disturbances management of staff and staff behaviour, and became less common. Prisons became easier the establishment – at least in some places – to manage and to work in. I spend very little of a moral authority. Violence, while time looking at or visiting prisons these days. certainly not disappearing and in some places But sometimes, when I meet someone from all too present, retreated to the dark corners the service, they will say something about my of prisons. Staff began to understand that if decency agenda and I like to think it made a caught they might be in trouble. But it didn’t difference. But I know, and Michael Spurr – happen overnight. It took some years and as decent a man as you could wish to be in too many governors, recruited as quasi- charge of prisons – knows that the war is The three Home Secretaries that Martin housemasters, were not up to the challenge. never won and the capacity of prisons to Narey worked with – Jack Straw, David degenerate can never be ignored. Show me a Blunkett, Charles Clarke Becoming DG governor who believes that there is no phys - I took over as director general of the Prison ical abuse in his or her prison, and I’ll show Service from Sir Richard Tilt in 1998. I’d you someone not up to the job. leapt forward by about 10% in two years. The spent about seven years out of the service, as Department of Health took over healthcare a policy maker in the criminal justice side of An opportunity… and immediately began cranking up the the Home Office. I joined the Prisons Board Treating prisoners decently, reducing phys - quality of both medical and nursing staff. in 1997 and a year later Richard – to ical (and then racial) abuse along with The Department for Education took over everyone’s dismay – left. reducing suicides were my first priorities as education, and basic skills became I thought prisons had become a lot better director general. But they were not ends in embedded in every prison. I really thought while I’d been away. I thought violence in themselves. As vital as they were. I always we were gong to change the penal landscape. particular had become all but invisible. But a believed that decent prisons could provide wise man called Peter Timms, once the framework on which we could make ...lost Governor of Pentonville but by now a imprisonment rehabilitative. In 1997, in his And then the population began to surge. By Methodist Minister, urged me to be more last year as DG, Richard Tilt asked me to the time the population crisis emerged, sceptical. prepare the spending bid for the new Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw had gone to the I was right to listen to Peter. Just four Home Secretary. I was pretty extravagant, Foreign Office and David Blunkett, with weeks after my appointment I suspended suggesting, for example, that we could move whom I had a mostly unsatisfactory relation - more than 20 officers who had abused pris - from drug treatment in just four prisons to ship, had arrived. By then, in about 2003, I oners in the segregation unit at Wormwood treatment in half of prisons within three was managing both prisons and probation Scrubs. They were allowed to do so because years. And we could begin to introduce basic and – although very few probation officers they had an arrangement whereby even the education and offending behaviour would believe this – my priority was to governing governor rang down to the segre - programmes in the same proportion of protect probation expenditure (not least gation unit to give notice that he intended to prisons. The bill to achieve that was huge. because Rod Morgan, as Chief Inspector of visit. So although violence had become more Richard sent me back and told me to ask for Probation, had opened my eyes to proba - discreet it was still there. And it’s still there more and in the end we put in a silly bid. tion’s very own overcrowding problem as now. Prisons and other total institutions We asked for a mountain of money and we numbers under supervision soared). have an extraordinary capacity to degenerate got it all. Probation did well too, almost But seeking to satisfy what I once and to abuse those powerless enough to doubling its budget in real terms in the first described to Tony Blair as the UK’s love resist. five years or so of the Labour government. It affair with custody inevitably vacuumed up was a time of optimism. The Youth Justice every penny we had. I knew that, unless we Decency Board began to function and the criminal could manage demand for prison places, But at least violence was on the retreat. There justice system began to treat children as chil - making prison and probation work more was, however, no immediate moral conver - dren. Probation dedicated itself to doing effectively was all but impossible. And I sion. Some staff stopped abuse because they things with offenders that really worked. certainly knew that without control on feared for their jobs. And they were right to And as I visited prisons, governors were as demand the concept of Noms was doomed. do so: we sacked two of them a week as I told keen to take me to the education block as It’s worth pausing to remind ourselves of governors not to worry about losing they had once been to show me the segrega - the way the population surged. It rose from employment tribunals. It was worth paying tion unit. 49,000 in 1995 to 65,000 in 1998, didn’t out the odd £25,000 to rid ourselves of In the first few years of my tenure as DG, change much for three years, then surged to people who physically abused prisoners. the prison population grew slowly, and reha - 76,000 by 2004. I like to think that the emphasis I gave to bilitative activity grew enormously. Evidence decency accelerated the retreat of violence. began to emerge of our beginning to make Politics The decency agenda liberated good staff to an impact. Crucially, the proportion of pris - Although I didn’t get on too well with David act as decent men. And the arrival of female oners going into employment after release Blunkett, no one could deny that he was a

6 Independent Monitor • November 2012 INSPECTIONS

HMIP reports Summarised by Helen Banks , AMIMB associate member

Buckley Hall (Cat C) Satisfactory overall but a new focus on equality, drug availability and environmental standards is required. Everthorpe (Cat C) Insufficient progress in resettlement; and prisoners were still arriving without a completed OASys assessment. Garth (Cat B) minister of some courage. I did get on very number 10 where a number of people, not Resettlement is let down by the lack of well with an inspirational man called Harry least Charles himself, thought he was bound. progress on the children and families Woolf, the then Lord Chief Justice, and I Noms, certainly as envisaged by its creator, pathway; disappinting. sought to make peace between the two of Pat Carter, and passionately believed in by Isle of Wight (Cat B & C) them. I got to my office every morning by 7, me, was doomed. I resigned a few weeks Mixed: still variation between sites; some in time to speak to whichever press officer later. improvement at Albany, deterioration at had read the morning’s headlines to the Parkhurst, little change at Camp Hill. Home Secretary. That meant I was able to Looking back Leyhill (Cat D) persuade him from firing off some objection - What conclusions can I draw from these A safe, decent environment, but scope to able comment about a particular judgement reminiscences? Let me try four. improve and serious weakness in diversity. or sentence based on what the Daily Star or First, the default option for prisons is New Hall (Women and girls) the Sun had to say about it. abuse. Ignore violence, believe it doesn’t Prisoners mostly held safely and Finally, and very courageously, David happen, and it will flourish. It’s something respectfully, except for a few who combine Blunkett agreed with the Lord Chief to cap which has to be managed every day. the most challenging behaviour with the the size of the prison population at 80,000. Second, I think decency made a differ - highest levels of need. The Sentencing Guidelines Council, of ence and continues to. It filled a moral which I was a founding member, agreed to vacuum and liberated good staff and good North Sea Camp (Cat D) Relatively successful despite its isolated issue guidelines which would not exceed a governors to treat prisoners with greater location and poor buildings, but needs given budget for prison places in any one dignity. Decency took much of the bristling attention to diversity and resettlement. year. In anticipation of the legislation – and anger out of prisons and I hope (although I without it causing very much difficulty – I was prevented from proving it) provided a Preston (Local) had the novel experience of taking every foundation on which prisoners in large Encouraging progress, particularly in draft sentencing guideline back to Home numbers could change their lives. equality and resettlement, but could be Office statisticians and, if a population rise Third, the decency agenda grew along - improved by better local management. was predicted, the Sentencing Council side a necessary and overdue critical scrutiny Reading (YOI) adjusted it. of prisons. When Barry Prosser was Despite dated buildings, continued A Bill was drafted. Somewhere on a dusty murdered by prison officers there was no improvement on education and healthcare; shelf in the Ministry of Justice there will be a inquiry. No-one was sacked. Twenty years resettlement plans also look promising. copy or two with the clause which limited the later, when Zahid Mubarek was murdered by The Wolds (G4S – until July 2013) growth of the prison population to a figure another prisoner, there were two public As before, the poor behaviour of some to be agreed each year between the Home inquiries and quite rightly I was in the dock prisoners was not always confronted or Office and the Lord Chief Justice. for both of them. addressed; work to promote diversity Then David Blunkett fast-tracked a visa Fourth, the capacity of prisons to be effec - remained underdeveloped; health care is application for his nanny. It was the sort of tive in reducing offending depends on high worse; employment and training remained gentle nudge to due process which was, in quality and properly resourced supervision inadequate. my experience, commonplace in the Home and credible community alternatives to Wakefield (High security Cat A & B) Office. Ministers and senior officials would prison. That vital requirement is frustrated Again, almost half the men were in denial get a decision on an immigration issue a little by prisons’ vast capacity to consume about their offence and little effective work quicker or a passport renewed a little faster. resources. The answer has to be quenching with them; Prison Service should consider Wrong perhaps, but not remotely a resigning insatiable demands on custody. But for the whether it is right to place them all here matter for a Home Secretary who, at the time being a rare window of opportunity has Wetherby (YOI) time, commanded unprecedented levels of been slammed shut. But one day, we shall A review is urgently needed of the central public confidence. But resign he did. have a prime minister brave enough to argue support and resources provided to the Charles Clarke arrived and was immedi - that, in a society which has to ration spending Keppel unit and its excellent staff as the ately unimpressed with a plan to limit the on health and education, we must ration sole national resource for particularly prison population, thinking this was not the spending on prisons. As a result we might do vulnerable young people who have sort of initiative which would propel him to a better job of protecting the public. different needs to the norm.

Independent Monitor • November 2012 7 EDUCATION

Telling stories Coping with cuts When I first arrived at Dartmoor there were art lessons, now there are not. Nevertheless I have seen a rose made out of a piece of bread and a box made out of oats. A teacher used to come in every Jessica Berens , once of Action for Prisoners Families, writes about week to teach music in the multi-faith room or the gym The music has been her work as writer in residence at Dartmoor prison – but starts with reduced to small irregular courses an IMB connection designed to teach beginners and deliv - ered to vulnerable prisoners and main prisoners separately. The learners enjoy My mother, Minty Russell, was an IMB her children was, or is, impressed by things themselves immensely during the member at Wayland prison. She retired, if like other people’s cars or houses – and we lessons, and give a performance at the that is the right word, when she was diag - knew from a very young age that just because end – but there is no follow on. A year in nosed with cancer of the stomach. During a man had been in prison for murder did not Dartmoor has taught me the very real her illness she would occasionally say ‘I am mean he was going to do it while he was importance of music; we do have a rock thinking of going back to Wayland – do you having a cup of tea and a cigarette in the band which practises once a week in the think they will think I’m too old?’ ‘I don’t kitchen. chapel but its development is under - know’ I would answer. ‘How old are you?’ mined as musicians are transferred or ‘About 73 I think.’ I don’t know what the My job released. age limit is for anything these days but I I worked as a journalist in national newspa - suggested that she didn’t push it as she was pers, went on to publish three books and about to have chemotherapy. then worked for the Rehabilitation for which differ from prison to prison. As children we were accustomed to her Addicted Prisoners Trust and Action for I have been security cleared and given working with prisoners. Growing up near Prisoners’ Families. I have been the writer in keys. I have a desk and the drawer of a filing Salisbury, we lived next door to Jean Davis residence at Dartmoor since January this cabinet in the induction suite. My hours are and her family (they, like us, were five chil - year, employed by the Head of the Learning rarely regular as the prison regime is dren) who had founded the Burnbake Trust , and Skills department. constantly changing and I have to work one of the first organisations to address reset - My remit, in essence, is to support around a complex set of fluctuating sched - tlement issues. Jean had a costume jewellery creative writing for the 600 or so men ules. The writer in residence works around business and offered accommodation to serving sentences in this faraway training carpentry workshops, drug treatment various ex-offenders. My mother helped her prison. I work three days a week for £14,000 programmes, the gym, lock downs medical with that and also managed a football team of per annum which is paid in part by the prison prescriptions and visits, all of which take ex-offenders. She was obsessed by football – and in part by the Writers in Prison Founda - priority. and supported Norwich until the day she tion charity. Some 26 prisons in the UK have However, with the support of prison and died. writers in residence, the network’s success education staff, all of whom are helpful and My mother was never judgemental, nor being due to the resident artists’ experience positive despite the enormous stress under did she pay any attention at all to the symbols of delivery in secure settings and flexibility in which they work, I have managed to breathe by which most people are assessed. None of catering to an institution’s requirements – life into several projects which enable pris - oners to work in their cells, as well as in groups in informal classroom settings, thus supplying the purposeful activity which is so needed and so badly affected by cuts.

Prisoners in print The prison magazine, Tor Views , is published for prisoners and written by prisoners. It used to be monthly, but costs have caused it to be cut back to a quarterly. It also used to be a part of an National Union of Journalists qualification but that too has been removed from the curriculum, as has the popular and very productive creative writing course which also offered a qualification. The education department has been taken over by Weston College and is concentrating on vocational, low-level qualifications and a pre- release course. It is a human instinct to make things, especially when the hours are long and empty – and, though resources are welcome, I have

8 Independent Monitor • November 2012 PENAL AFFAIRS

always believed that imagination and confi - dence are the most important materials. I come from a generation taught by Blue Trouble ahead? Peter, after all. As a child I made magazines out of old wall-paper, sewed them together with wool and made my father (who was a journalist) read them. Now I work with teams of prisoners to produce copy and administrative control of their affairs, they drawings, which then have to be typed and are being displaced from above by the scanned before being photocopied and growing number of district judges and from stapled together by hand. below by the increasing out-of-court sanc - Storybook Dads are based in Dartmoor tioning powers of the police and the Crown prison and have a welcoming and very well Prosecution Service. run department which is both functional and After 15 November, policing policy will fun. I am working with them on a project to be increasingly determined by directly collect 15 original stories for children written elected Police and Crime Commissioners, a by prisoners. I have collected stories from development which has the potential for prisoners all over the country and hope to by Rod Morgan , founder member imaginative use of the voluntary sector to publish them next year. police by means other than ‘the police’ but of AMBoV seems more likely to result in a populist relo - cation of the law and order arms race from ‘Empathy is The appointment of Kenneth Clarke as Whitehall to town hall. the beginning Justice Secretary in May 2010, and his early Meanwhile Chris Grayling promises that of morality’ policy pronouncements, suggested that victims should be able to dictate the precise Michael Crowley economic austerity would bring with it penal form that some community penalties restraint. That the ‘law and order’ arms race imposed on their offenders should take – pursued by the Labour and Conservative something that sentencers themselves can’t parties since the early 1990s might be usually do, and a grave departure from exhausted and the prison population at long existing sentencing principles. He also last start to fall. It did not happen, though proposes introducing legislation to provide there was a more than a 30% fall in the for two strikes and you’re out for life, for number of children and young people in serious violent and sex offenders. That is the Encouragement custody. Kenneth Clarke was never taken antithesis of the tories’ undertakings after the The Koestler Trust awards offer a useful tool seriously, had shots fired across his bows by last election: less criminal justice legislation for writers in residence to encourage learners number 10 and in the end failed to wipe clean and no more fettering the hands of the who are writing in their cells. The competi - his disastrous record as Home Secretary in judges. tion offers a chance to develop writing from 1992-3. Adult prisons numbers have As for Chris Grayling’s other undertaking hand-written on salvaged pieces of paper to a remained stubbornly high and the overall – pursuing more vigorously the ‘rehabilita - structured piece of work. All prisoners need prison population, remains at a record high tion revolution’ through ‘payment by is support and some practical advice. I see of around 87,000. Now the Justice Depart - results’ regimes – it is difficult to take it seri - myself as an enabler as much as anything else: ment team of Kenneth Clarke, Crispin Blunt ously in a climate where all the relevant sometimes it is simply a matter of physically and Nick Herbert have gone. From their agencies are suffering 15-20% budget cuts, locating an encyclopedia or a biro. utterances at the Conservative Party confer - where prison overcrowding is serious and The therapeutic value of arts approaches – ence, it seems clear that the appointment of rehabilitation programmes are being or interventions – are sometimes elusive but Chris Grayling and Damian Green signals a severely pruned. It is of course possible that I hope they will become better recognised as return to tough law and order rhetoric in the tough talk will mask behind-the-scenes more practitioners highlight clinical values, preparation for a 2015 General Election. It is diversion, a programme akin to that pursued and publish formal practice. This Michael a dismal prospect incorporating serious risk by the Thatcher administrations of the Crowley has done in his recently published at every stage in the criminal justice system. 1980s. But that seems unlikely. There are Behind the Lines: Creative Writing with fewer positive criminal justice developments Offenders and People at Risk (Waterside Bad signs on the current horizon than for many a year. Press). The book progresses through The Youth Justice Board, whose abolition Indeed there is every sign of troubles ahead. different writing forms (drama, fiction and was ostensibly reprieved, appears to be so on) and suggests ways that these can be suffering abolition by the back door. It is used to create the emotional intelligence and being physically moved back into the MoJ the victim empathy that are key to rehabilita - where its autonomous voice as a reforming Rod Morgan is Professor Emeritus of Crim - tive behavioural change. As the author says: spokesman for a more welfare-oriented and inal Justice at the University of Bristol and ‘Empathy is the beginning of morality.’ diversionary response to youth crime seems Visiting Professor at the Universities of Meanwhile morality is denied as prisons in less likely to survive. Cardiff and Sussex. He was HM Chief the public sector continue to be sabotaged The magistracy, whose sentencing record Inspector of Probation (2001-4) and Chair of by budgets that are way out of synch with the has always been less punitive than that of the Youth Justice Board (2004-7). He is co- outcomes the government (and public) their professional judicial colleagues, are editor of The Oxford Handbook of demand from governors. being marginalised. No longer in any real Criminology.

Independent Monitor • November 2012 9 Lucas curates Koestler

The 50th Koestler exhibition of work by prisoners and others in secure settings, held at the Southbank Centre London was curated by the celebrated artist Sarah Lucas. ‘It’s not something I particularly fancied myself doing, being a curator. I know it’s bit of a fashionable thing to do; I didn’t have any ambitions in that direction. But actually I’ve enjoyed it in a similar way to enjoying my own things.’

Main picture: Battle of Man , Kibble Safe Centre, Alison Hodges Commended Award for Sculpture. Above left: Sorrows to Follow , HMP Send, Margaret Wignall Highly Commended Award for Portraits. Top: Motorbike , HMYOC Hydebank Wood. Above right: The Pain I Cause , HMP Grendon, Gustave Courbet Highly Commended Award for Portraits. Images courtesy of the Koestler Trust INSPECTIONS

Prisons prepare for an announced inspec - more quickly than if not. In any case, the They won’t tion. Some of that is fair enough but there length of time since the last inspection will have been instances in the past where pris - always be an issue. oners thought to be ‘troublesome’ have But we will also use intelligence been shipped out before the inspectors have from other sources to inform to the timing of know we’re arrived. In general we think we get beneath our inspections. This may include prisoner the skin of a place – but there is always some correspondence, complaints data, whistle - doubt about the reality in an announced blowers etc. We will certainly use IMB coming inspection. annual reports to inform our thinking but we Even when an inspection is unan - don’t necessarily want to wait a year for a nounced, the regularity of the schedule report before we know about concerns. means that is has not been too difficult for an Some IMBs already draw our attention to alert governor to have a pretty good guess significant concerns and we have changed about when we might be coming back. And our inspection schedule to respond to these the aim of short inspections can be misun - in the current system. We hope that will be derstood. more systematic in future.

The new deal The IMB during inspections So next year we will change our approach. An entirely unannounced schedule may Almost all inspection will be unannounced. make it more difficult for an inspection team The exceptions would include where an to liaise with the IMB once an inspection is in initial inspection has identified serious progress but inspection team leaders will aim concerns and we want to drive rapid to meet with the chair early on. I also try and improvement by being clear when we will be meet the IMB chair when I visit at the end of coming back to. an inspection. Part of the purpose of my We will no longer do short inspections discussion is to check whether what we are but make a better match between scale of the finding is consistent with what the IMB sees. inspection and the size and complexity of the We may disagree – but we should do so with establishment. Every inspection will follow our eyes open rather than by accident. Nick Hardwick on an important up recommendations made at the last inspec - It is up to the governor who they invite to change in his inspections tion. We have consulted widely about this the formal feedback at the end of the inspec - and received almost unanimous support. tion but we encourage them to include As all forms of custody struggle to meet the We will continue to do about 100 inspec - someone from the IMB – and most do. The twin pressures of increasing numbers and tions a year but we will vary the time between formal feedback should be the start of a declining resources, the need for robust, inspections according to the risks we have process and I find that IMBs increasingly use independent inspection and monitoring is identified. No establishment will go more our recommendations as a focus for their greater than ever. From next April, the than five years without an inspection and few monitoring throughout the year. We don’t prisons inspectorate will move to a more than four years, but higher risk estab - have to agree about everything but by and programme of almost entirely unannounced lishments will be inspected more frequently large there is little disagreement, and we inspections. I want to explain our new than they have been. Overall, the process will should be working together to drive approach and set out my views about the be less predictable. improvement. importance of the inspectorate and IMBs Some important elements of our risk These are difficult time for the prison and working together. assessment will be straightforward. Some related services. The inspectorate and IMBs types of establishments are inherently riskier are independent but that should not mean How it works now than others – juvenile establishments for they do not work closely together. We have At present, prisons receive a full inspection instance. If we have concerns about an estab - common obligations from OPCAT and every five years, establishments holding juve - lishment during an inspection, we will return common concerns for those held in custody. niles every three years and immigration removal centres every four years. In the inter - vening period, all establishments will receive a follow-up inspection to evaluate progress. Inspections may be announced or unan - nounced and follow-up inspections may be short or full. Regular, independent inspections have played an important role in driving up stan - dards and delivering the OPCAT objective of preventing abuse – an objective that of course includes IMBs as well. The fact that establishments know the inspectorate will be coming back has been a big motivation to improve. However, there are drawbacks with this.

Independent Monitor • November 2012 11 PENAL POLICY

their risk to the public, and a condition of Sentence mismanagement their release. But now there were too few of them available, in too few prisons, to cope with the sudden surge in ISPs. What programmes there were were inconveniently distributed throughout the country causing waiting lists of two or even three years to The unfairness of indeterminate build up, and prisoners went over tariff simply waiting. sentences for public protection The government had totally failed to (IPPs) should not be new to prepare for the financial and logistical demands of its new law; there were shortages Monitor readers. Bob Knowles of of psychologists, accommodation, Parole the Wandsworth IMB has made a Board members and much else. Lord Rams - botham, condemned IPPs as: ‘improperly study of their continuing cruelty proposed, conducted, impact-assessed and introduced’, adding that they were Much has been written about the logistical award IPPs as appropriately as they could ‘swamping the system and stealing pressures IPPs have put on the prison, proba - ‘despite having to base their judgements on resources.’ tion and parole services and their huge cost the often fictional prisoners’ summaries Famously described as being ‘of to the government. This article highlights presented to them’, as Lord Carlisle put it in Kafkaesque complexity’ by another ex-chief their social and psychological impact on pris - the House of Lords debate on IPPs in inspector of prisons Dame Anne Owers, the oners, families and friends. I am particularly October 2009. He deplored, along with bafflingly uncertain circumstances ISPs concerned in the context of the IMB’s key Lord Ramsbotham and others, the rushed increasingly found themselves in were messages: to ‘ensure the fair and humane nature of the IPP legislation. intensely demoralising. Short tariffs could treatment of people in custody’, and to ISPs themselves were often ignorant of and did become life sentences as ISPs failed ‘continually challenge things we are not what their sentence entailed, especially in the their interviews through no fault of their satisfied with’. early days when even the courts often failed own and inevitably went beyond tariff – I will frequently use the Prison Service to make it clear to them. One prisoner becoming de facto lifers. And they knew it acronym ISP (indeterminate sentence pris - complained about this: ‘ Most of the informa - was unjust. As one prisoner said: ‘I don’t oner) instead of IPP prisoner. And since 97% tion about the sentence came from the think I deserve this life sentence, I don’t of ISPs are male, I will sometimes use the prisoners’ Another said: ‘When I first came think the Judge or anyone thought I deserved male generic. into custody I did not really know what it it.’ His sad lament was echoed by another’s meant to have an IPP. I asked the staff, but relative: ‘My brother was given a 14-week How it started they did not know…’ tariff IPP in April 2008, was sent to a prison First handed down in April 2005 as a result of These were typical expressions of the with no offender programmes, then to the Blair government’s 2003 Criminal uncertainty with which many ISPs started another prison, but still hasn’t started one Justice Act (‘tough on crime and tough on their sentences. Although IPP sentences after 16 months. With a 14-week tariff he’s the causes of crime’), IPP sentences should not be handed down for much classified as a lifer, like a murderer. How consisted of the tariff, or fixed term in jail set longer, IMB members may come across ISPs can this be right?’ by the judge, plus an indeterminate phase who are confused about their sentence. So Knowing that their future was not in their which lasted until the Parole Board decided it’s important we understand the process. own hands, ISPs’ uncertainty about their the prisoner would no longer pose a serious release dates led to feelings of utter hopeless - threat to the public if released. IPPs were Working towards release? ness and helplessness. As one put it: mandatory for any of 153 ‘serious’ offences; As part of their progress towards rehabilita - ‘sometimes I wake up and just don’t want to also for two less serious ones – regardless of tion and release, ISPs were prescribed get out of bed, I know that there is nothing I the time between them. attendance at offending behaviour can do throughout that day to change Judges had no discretion. They had to programmes (OBPs), designed to reduce anything, it is pointless even trying.’ For others it was as though part of them had died inside: ‘Half of me has shut down in Sources here, it is hard keeping yourself alive. I often These provide my main references, including statements from IPP prisoners and others. put on a smile so everyone thinks I am ok, but Unjust Deserts: Imprisonment for Public Protection , by Jessica Jacobson and Mike Hough, I am not.’ Prison Reform Trust 2010. Frustrations Within by Paul Addicott, Prison Service Journal May 2012. Plan B This is a synopsis of a masters thesis in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management, By 2008 the government recognised how Cambridge University 2011 He is currently a governor at Pentonville prison and has gives untenable IPPs were becoming, and me full permission to quote from his work. replaced the 2003 Act with the 2008 Crim - Brian Barder’s Blog This former diplomat’s assiduous and cogent blog has given a voice to inal Justice and Immigration Act (CJIA), literally hundreds of family members and friends of men and women serving IPPs – as well which rationalised the list of 153 crimes into as to a large number of caring lawyers and other interested people. See 24 broad categories, revived judicial discre - www.barder.com/696 tion over the award of IPPs, and made two years the minimum tariff after 14 July that

12 Independent Monitor • November 2012 Offender behaviour programmes The many studies undertaken of OBPs conclude that, if delivered well, they can have a positive if modest impact on re- offending rates. But many ISPs feel that the (mostly young) psychologists who deliver these programmes have too much power. One protested: ‘psychologists often twist things.’ Another described his meeting with a psychologist who he clearly felt had wilfully misrepresented him: ‘My mum likes to smoke cannabis… she (the psychologist) said would you like to see your mum still even though she smokes cannabis?, and I have said, well yeah I would…I will tell her not to smoke it when I am with her… and I will make sure she doesn’t have any drug dealers or whatever around the house when I am there, but I am still going to see her, because that’s my mum…But in the paperwork she wrote: “Prisoner states that he will still be associating with known drug dealers and drug takers on the outside.” That is the kind of thing I am having to deal with.’ In the same context an ISP’s mother complained: ‘Our son is being kept in [he will have doubled his initial minimum18 month tariff in June], as the experts say he is still having ‘inappro - priate thoughts’ (in spite of 2 courses), when he isn’t. But how can he prove that?’ IMB members might consider moni - toring the management of OBPs.

year But this was not retrospective and left accelerate. them of the chance to give a fair impression 1,305 prisoners resentfully serving IPPs The indeterminate aspect of the sentence of themselves. One prisoner puts his finger awarded before the July watershed on tariffs had become a source of ever-increasing on it: ‘I have not had a parole board for four of as little as a few weeks – just another flaw in anxiety and despair to prisoners, families and years, I just get a piece of paper through my a piece of badly planned, politically-inspired friends. At the best of times, it is difficult to door saying that I am not going to be legislation, of which Lord Hurd said: prove a negative. As one prisoner put it: ‘I released.’ ‘The IPP, hastily introduced in the Crim - am now over my tariff owing to no fault of ISPs commonly complain that not only inal Justice Act 2003 and then substantially my own. I am serving extra time as they can psychologists, but also probation officers amended by the Criminal Justice and Immi - not prove that I am still a risk to the public, and offender managers have too much gration Act 2008, was, in effect, a but I cannot prove that I am not a risk.’ power over them within the Noms offender declamatory sentence, a legislative statement Parole Board members themselves have management model. ISPs are allocated ever- of toughness on crime.’ made some unexpectedly frank comments changing targets which must be achieved in ISPs, starved of opportunities to do about their own hesitant decision-making order to gain release. One prisoner stated: offending behaviour programmes, also and reluctance to release: ‘Nobody knows ‘You have to work so hard and jump through became stuck in the system because the Parole Board decisions are any better than hoops to get your risk down’. Parole Board showed itself extremely risk- those that would be produced by tossing a averse when dealing with this new kind of coin.’ … ‘Frankly, most panels in a border - Depression and worse ‘dangerous’ prisoner, releasing annually only line or difficult case place great store on the Submission to and anger at their soul- 4% of the number of new IPPs handed down impressions they gather of the prisoner.’ destroying fate is evident in so much of Brian each year. It also lacked numbers, particu - Such frankness is refreshing, but it Barder’s blog from ISPs’ family members larly of judicial members to chair meetings. exposes a major flaw in the practice of paper and friends. This is a typical posting: ‘My son So even after the 2008 amendments the hearings, introduced to speed up the parole has served 2 years on his 1 year 144 days IPP numbers of ISPs behind bars continued to process but felt by many prisoners to cheat tariff. He’s just this week been in front of the

Independent Monitor • November 2012 13 PENAL POLICY

The then Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke, aimed to do exactly that, when in 2012 his Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO) became law, offi - cially abolishing IPPs and ‘creating a tough new sentencing regime to replace the incon - sistent Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence.’ (MoJ statement ) By then there were over 6,078 ISPs behind bars, 3,531 of them beyond tariff, many by several years, as their sometimes pitifully short tariffs had metamorphosed into life sentences. IPPs have in this way turned many non- dangerous men and women into lifers. What more damning example can there be of the unfair and inhumane treatment of prisoners? On 4 September this year Clarke was replaced by the harder-line Chris Grayling, and IPPs might have looked set for an even longer lease of life. But on 18 September the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared them ‘arbitrary and unlawful’ in the landmark case of three prisoners who, the ruling said: ‘had no realistic chance of making objective progress towards a real reduction or elimination of the risk they Parole Board. Probation didn’t consider rate of the general prison population; and posed by the time their tariff periods expired, him fit for release yet, although he’s done 10% are receiving psychiatric treatment in due to the government’s failure to make course after course after course. It’s very prison – which is more than lifers and twice as available the necessary resources.’ hard to tell them to keep their chin up as they many as in the general prison population.’ But until LASPO is enacted even this have nothing to strive for. My son said his life Again, this could be something for IMB ruling can’t bring the end to IPPs, which can is ruined now, and with this stupid sentence members to bear in mind when fielding still be given out. However, the pressure is I must agree with him.’ applications from ISPs. now clearly on the government, despite Speaking of his family, one prisoner was Grayling’s avowed intention to appeal similarly despairing: ‘I don’t even ring them The end in sight? against the judgement. Even if he fails and any more, because it hurts when they say how Despite the changes under the 2008 Act, by IPPs gradually become just a bad memory, it you doing, when you getting out?, and I just January 2010 there were 5,828 ISPs, 2,468 will still be some time yet before there are can’t tell them.’ of them beyond tariff, prompting the Presi - none of today’s 6,000-plus ISPs left for the Instead of counting the days and living for dent of the Prison Governors’ Association, IMB to keep an eye on. So checking on them the time they will be free to rejoin their loved Eoin McLennan-Murray, to call for those to make sure they haven’t given up the ghost ones – as normal prisoners do – many ISPs beyond tariff to be ‘released immediately – especially if they don’t send applications to sink into spirals of depression, self-harm and from the bureaucratic limbo and blatant us – might be a very sensible IMB strategy. worse. I twice took an application from a injustice of indeterminate imprisonment’ – And checking ISPs against ACCTs would be young man in my own prison, ostensibly unless there was ‘firm evidence that any such a good idea, given their general mental about his categorisation but really, I discov - prisoners posed a danger to the public.’ health profile. ered, about his IPP. Eighteen months beyond his four-year tariff, he had done some offender behaviour work but was now Open conditions denied working in the laundry, canteen etc ‘killing A transfer to open conditions is a hugely important step for any indeterminate sentence time, waiting to go on other courses... prisoner. The sooner he transfers , the sooner he is likely to satisfy the Parole Board and be nowhere near a Parole Board interview.’ released. But in recent years this has become increasingly difficult, according to work for He said that if his mother didn’t continue to the Prisoners’ Advice Service by Jude Bunting of Tooks Chambers. visit him he would have no reason to go on Last December there were 405 ISPs who had passed their tariff expiry date and been living. approved for a move to open conditions, but who still remained in closed conditions. Discussing the mental health of ISPs in There have been a number of legal challenges to this delay, arguing that it breaches the 2008, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Secretary of State’s duty to provide lifers with the resources required to demonstrate they Health said: are safe for release. Some were won, as was a similar claim about release on temporary ‘Over 50% of ISPs have emotional well - licence. So now, prisoners approved for open conditions can in principle get ROTL if being problems compared to 40% of lifers there’s no room in open prisons. and 30% of the general prison population; However, pre-tariff indeterminate sentence prisoners are still stuck at the back of the around 20% had received psychiatric treat - queue for Cat D. That is also being challenged and some should soon get open prison. ment of some kind in the past, ie twice the

14 Independent Monitor • November 2012 PENAL RESEARCH

brings to research is not simply methodolog - A view from the Ivory Tower ical expertise but knowledge of all or most of similar studies on the same and/or related issues which were good enough to publish. This gives us a basis from which to judge the results of any single study, not simply in isola - tion but in relation to other research How relevant is all the research done in the evidence. That knowledge often leads us to ask additional questions which those whose criminal justice field? Carol Hedderman is a job is to deal with the here and now may not professor of criminology at Leicester have considered, or may not have considered to be important. And while many academics University’s Department of Criminology who focus on what happens during sentencing and after are keen to see the crim - inal justice system work as effectively as possible, our view of what ‘effectively’ means, and our concerns about whose inter - I was recently taken aback to hear a member • Sentencers sometimes skipped steps on ests it is working for, are often much broader of a charity, which was about to commission a the sentencing tariff when dealing with than that of the organisation involved in that review of its impact, say that it was important women. This led to the women who reof - work. Indeed, the British Society of Crimi - that this exercise should not be ‘academic’. fended ending up in prison more quickly. nology’s Code of Ethics specifically requires After I caught my breath, I responded rather • Simply offering sentencers more non- us to: ‘promote free and independent tetchily by suggesting that, on the contrary, custodial options for women has not led to a inquiry into criminological matters and something independent which dispassion - reduction in the use of custody. unrestricted dissemination of criminological ately critiqued what had been accomplished • Tightening up national standards on knowledge’. might be more useful than a bland and enforcing community orders does not elimi - I can see how this might be an uncomfort - unquestioning endorsement from a ‘consul - nate discretion, but makes it less visible and ably open-ended commitment for those tant’. But this comment got me thinking. It accountable. whose practices are being examined and that may be that other managers and practi - • Best practice advice on getting people might be another reason why labelling tioners in and around the criminal justice into employment conflicts with the ‘what research ‘academic’ is not always intended as system think more kindly of academic works’ evidence in relation to offenders as it a compliment. Thankfully most of those researchers, but perhaps for them too is currently interpreted by Noms. working in and around the criminal justice academic is a term of abuse. So let me try to • The way the Ministry of Justice produces system either rate integrity above self- explain the academic perspective in the hope reconviction comparisons between proba - interest, or are confident enough of the value of persuading you that it should not be tion areas is bad science and the results of what they do to allow it to be examined, or regarded as a term of abuse. should not be relied on. both. These ‘professionals’ – in the most Let me begin by saying that some of the Academics are sometimes accused of complimentary sense of the word – are one of fault lies with us. We do not always explain hedging our findings round with all sorts of the things which makes doing academic ourselves well. For me, the sign of a genuine caveats. I hope that the examples I have given research on sentencing and beyond worth - expert in any field is a person who can explain demonstrate that we can sometimes give while for me and for many of my colleagues. their findings in everyday language. If very straightforward answers. However, watching Marcus du Sautoy for an hour on these answers raise another interesting issue Reading the riots TV can make me appreciate the value of and one which may explain why an ‘acad - Finally, in case you think it is only my own prime numbers, it is simply inexcusable for emic’ approach can be viewed as undesirable. work I am seeking to defend, let me end by academics to fail to communicate crimino - With two exceptions, the findings above referring you to one of the most accessible logical findings succinctly and clearly when were not answers to questions we were asked and valuable pieces of ‘academic’ crimi - we are writing for policy makers and practi - to investigate; and they were not favourably nology currently being undertaken in the tioners rather than each other. received (to put it mildly!) when we reported UK. This example also refutes the accusation them. that academic research takes too long to be Unexpected results useful. I am writing this a year or so since the I would like to demonstrate that this is What we do August 2011 riots. Within one month of the possible by listing a few results from some of So let me explain how we came up with riots, a team of researchers led by Professor the studies I have been involved in over the answers to questions we were not asked. Tim Newburn of the London School of last 20 years. When I am invited to evaluate or research an Economics began studying the causes. By • Young offenders on motoring schemes issue, as a criminological researcher I feel December 2011 they had published their which involved driving practice were more, honour-bound, as well as contractually first report, with the promise of more to not less, likely to reoffend. obliged, to attempt to answer the questions come. So, if you want insight rather than • Most of the offenders that magistrates the commissioners ask. Sometimes I can give polemic on what did and did not cause the referred to the Crown Court for sentencing, clear and unequivocal answers, sometimes I riots, and what did and did not happen when they considered their sentencing cannot. In either case, I do not feel during them, I refer you to Reading the Riots powers were insufficient, went on to receive constrained to answer only the questions I – a truly academic piece of work. sentences that magistrates could have have been asked and neither would any other http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents imposed. reputable criminologist. What an academic /274239/reading-the-riots.pdf.

Independent Monitor • November 2012 15 SENTENCES

and which underline the importance of 2007, at one of the earlier cases seeking to Back inside prisons having in place a robust management clarify the meaning of the legislation, he strategy for recalled prisoners. described it as ‘opaque and ill-drafted’. By The report identified a number of proce - 2010 his exasperation at still having to adju - dures and processes that required attention, dicate on the problems it created spilled over not least to cope with a staggering increase in in the following comments: the number of prisoners being recalled. The ‘One can but pay tribute to the succession Recall can be a report expressed particular concern at the of judgments which have sought to grapple vulnerability of prisoners who had been with the intractable problems of construc - cruel route back to recalled, noting that significant numbers tion thrown up by these ill-conceived prison. Last year were in considerable distress: transitional provisions.’ ‘The first day back in custody was experi - Despite the troubled legal history, the over 16,000 people enced differently by those in our sample. practical problems and input that prisoners were recalled to Some slipped back into their previous require after a recall can be understood and routine quite smoothly, but some experi - acted upon without the need for a profound custody; in March enced it as a very dark time. Some were understanding of the law. Here is a basic this year there were 5,500 recall recalled because they had been destabilised guide to the different types of recall and their by a major personal setback, and the recall consequences. prisoners – 6% of the prison constituted a further setback that could be population. Simon Creighton , a overwhelming. Recalled prisoners, although Recall of prisoners serving treated as remand prisoners for the purposes solicitor specialising in prison determinate prison sentences of sentence planning, were often treated as The three key agencies involved in the recall law with Bhatt Murphy, looks sentenced prisoners for the purposes of first process are: night support and induction, which it could • the probation trust responsible for super - behind the statistics be assumed they did not need. They also vising the licence In the last Monitor, one of the series of case struggled to get an early visit with their fami - • the Public Protection Casework Service studies that I presented (from the AMIMB lies or partners to enable them to adjust to (PPCS), the department at Noms who deal conference) dealt with the confusion that their new situation and make plans.’ with all casework decisions prisoners have when trying to understand The importance of recalled prisoners • the Parole Board. the current recall powers and procedures. having accurate information about what The system broadly deals in the same This problem aroused great interest among would happen to them next was identified as manner with all determinate sentenced pris - delegates at the conference as it was clear that a particularly important factor in alleviating oners who have been recalled since July there was very little understanding of how to that stress. 2008. The recall can be be fixed-term – for a address these concerns. Seven years on, many of the problems period of 28 days, or standard – detention Recall can be immensely stressful and identified by HMIP are still with us. potentially until the prisoners’ sentence frustrating for prisoners who have been expiry date. released on licence, especially for those who How do prisons get it wrong? Fixed-term recalls were designed to be think the decision was unfair. These are the It is not surprising that IMB members do not used in cases where it was felt that the indi - questions that will commonly be asked by feel well informed about this area, or that vidual was not complying with their licence prisoners who have been recalled. prison staff make mistakes. Since the intro - conditions and required a sanction stronger • Will I be released automatically after 28 duction of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, than a simple warning, but could ultimately days? there have been a series of attempts to ratio - continue to be managed in the community • I haven’t been given the reasons for my nalise the parole and recall laws into a unified without putting the public at risk. The recall – when will I be told? scheme. These have been hampered by probation service instigating the recall will • Do I have the chance to put my side of the poorly drafted legislation: regrettably, the make a recommendation to PPCS as to case? attempt to bring about unity has usually led whether the recall should be fixed or stan - • Who do I send it to? to far more confusion, with several schemes dard. However, certain prisoners are not • Will there be an oral hearing? running in parallel. eligible for fixed term recalls and will always • If I am acquitted of the further charges, Lord Brown demonstrated how judicial be subject to a standard recall: will I be released automatically? concern grew to frustration with one partic - • anyone serving an extended sentence – • Can I get any help? ularly notorious bit of legislation that has sentences that have an extended licence Although the legislative framework is been the subject of repeated litigation. In period and are imposed upon people who formidable and at times seems impenetrable, have been convicted of sexual or violent the majority of these concerns are actually offences where the court considers they pose fairly easy to answer or resolve. This article Reasons for recall a risk to the public should provide the ammunition for that. About 30% of people recalled for breach • anyone convicted of a violent or sexual of licence have transgressed by being ‘out offence specified in schedule 15 of the Crim - Why is recall an area of concern? of touch’. About 20% are breached for inal Justice Act 2003 – a wide variety of The last major review of the recall system was problems with their behaviour, 8% for violent and sexual offences by the prisons inspectorate in 2005. breaking residency conditions and 18% • if they have already been released from a Although the law has changed considerably for ‘other reasons’. Only 24% were previous fixed-term recall on the same since it was written, that report identified a recalled to face a further charge. sentence number of concerns that persist to this day In all other cases, the decision will be a

16 Independent Monitor • November 2012 IMB TENURE

they have done, helps them understand the What can I do next? real impact of their actions and allows them to take responsibility and make amends. The Crime and Courts Bill currently before Parliament includes new legislation for RJ with adult offenders and their victims before sentencing and there are a number of Emma Wicken of the PRT, and an AMIMB intern, with advice for volunteering opportunities in this inter - esting and expanding area. There are a redundant IMB members number of projects operating within prisons which are based on restorative principles and The 15-year limitation on tenure for IMB participate in reviewing and questioning encourage the use of volunteers – for members means there will be a number of local MAPPA statistics. Like IMB members, example, becoming a trained tutor to raise experienced people looking to take on a new MAPPA lay advisers engage and contribute victim awareness among offenders and teach volunteering challenge. It would be a great to management functions, where necessary them about RJ. The Restorative Justice shame to lose the knowledge of those closed challenging the professionals involved. Council has developed a new trainers and institutions that few members of the public The Crown Prosecution Service has practitioners register so that people inter - ever see inside. Fortunately there are many established a number of scrutiny panels, ested in volunteering can contact ways ex-IMB members can put their interest made up of independent members, who organisations delivering RJ in their area, and in the criminal justice system to good use. examine all aspects of the criminal justice find out what groups they work with. The Prison Reform Trust will shortly be system to ensure cases are prosecuted effec - launching a comprehensive guide to volun - tively. Members are able to discuss and Find out more teering in the criminal justice system – consult with the CPS professionals. These are merely a few examples; the guide opportunities in prison, youth justice, profiles many more. As you will know, good courts, chaplaincy, and the police. Here are a Dealing with people communication skills, reliability and a non- few. If you’re looking for a more people-centred judgemental attitude are essential The police are assisted by independent challenge, and an opportunity to train and characteristics for all volunteers, especially custody visitors who make unannounced expand your skills, you may want to get within the criminal justice system. As one visits in pairs to places of police detention to involved in restorative justic (RJ). Restora - door closes be sure to open another. check on the welfare of those detained. tive processes give victims the chance to tell Publication of What Can I Do? will be Noms appoints MAPPA lay advisers that offenders the real impact of their crime, to announced in the Prison Reform Trust e- monitor and evaluate public protection, get answers to their questions, and an newsletter. Subscribe to the newsletter at assist in the preparation of annual reports and apology. RJ holds people to account for what www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/newsletter matter of discretion for PPCS based on the for other prisoners serving determinate offence of violence or is connected with orig - recommendation of the probation service. sentences. A slightly more stringent test for inal risk factors such as drug use, will very With a fixed-term recall, the prisoner can release applies, as the prisoner can be often be treated as a good enough reason to appeal against the decision. In practice, the detained after a recall right until the very end justify the recall. short period of recall (28 days) and the delays of the licence period. If the prisoner is subsequently acquitted in the disclosure of paperwork almost always of the new charges, this does not automati - mean that there is not enough time for the Lifers and indeterminate cally lead to re-release. Re-release has to be at appeal to be processed. sentences the direction of the Parole Board or the When a prisoner is received into custody When people serving life or other indetermi - Secretary of State. The Board will still want on a standard recall , the prison must notify nate sentences (such as IPP) are recalled, to look at the circumstances of the new crim - PPCS and the prisoner should receive the they can be detained indefinitely as per the inal charges (and acquittal) to see if they raise recall papers setting out the reasons for the original sentence. They will be released only any concerns. In the most extreme cases, the recall within 24 hours of receiving that notifi - at the direction of the Parole Board. In Parole Board can re-hear the evidence from cation. The case will be referred to the Parole recognition of the fact that the recall can the criminal charge and reach its own deci - Board after 28 days and the prisoner has the potentially authorise indefinite detention, sion on the balance of probabilities (rather opportunity to make written representations the case will always be referred to an oral than the more stringent criminal test of (either in person or through a solicitor). The hearing in front of the Parole Board. beyond reasonable doubt). Parole Board will consider the case just on the basis of the recall papers to begin with. Further criminal charges Getting help with recalls They can decide to release the prisoner; Recalls will often take place because the pris - Prisoners are entitled to legal advice for all confirm the recall; defer to obtain further oner has been charged with a further criminal forms of recall and to be represented at any information; or to refer the case to an oral offence. The mere fact that a charge has been oral hearing that is convened. Legal aid is hearing. If the Parole Board confirms the made is not, in itself, good enough reason for available, subject to the prisoner being finan - recall, they must also set a date for the next a recall to be initiated by probation or cially eligible. Prisoners can obtain a list of review of the case (which must not be longer confirmed by the Parole Board. However, as solicitors who have contracts to provide than 12 months). the licence will always prohibit any criminal publicly funded advice on prison law from Reviews for those recalled on an behaviour, the concern raised by the decision the Prisoners’ Advice Service. extended sentence are broadly the same as to charge, especially if the charge is for an Details in PSO 6000 online

Independent Monitor • November 2012 17 CAMPAIGN

to continue in the relationship. Those with A black sheep in the family children face further difficulties around child protection when the prisoner is released. The increase in the prosecution of historic offences has also meant that couples who have been married for decades are now affected. In some cases the partner has lived group – Supporting the Families of Serious in blissful ignorance for many years. These and Sex offenders. older prisoners tend to have older visitors who may have fewer financial resources and What is APF is trying to do? more health barriers to visiting. Some will be We launched this group in 2007, with a living with the knowledge that the prisoner, meeting of family members, specialist their life partner, will die in prison. support groups, prison service and a lifer on For families of prisoners serving short licence. We held a residential conference for sentences of a few months and then released families in 2008 and ran focus groups with without doing any sex offender treatment families of prisoners at Whatton and with programmes, life can be very difficult indeed. prisoners in Kingston. There are publica - They have a loved one who has been labelled tions (including Someone in my family has as a sex offender, received no treatment, is a sexually abused children – see www.prisoners - social pariah and has been rendered virtually families.org.uk) and information about unemployable. MAPPA and the sex offender register as well as a list of resources for families. We are Visits piloting a telephone support group for fami - Sex offenders’ relatives may also experience lies which aims to reduce the isolation and difficulties when visiting, particularly where stigma they suffer. their visits are held at the same time as pris - oners on normal location. This issue has also The family reaction been a theme in the Inside Times letters page. In the same way prisoners deny their Families report other visitors no longer offending and are angry with the system, talking to them once they find out who they many families too deny the prisoner’s guilt, are visiting. But for some visitors, such as AMIMB continues its programme probably as this is the only way they feel able those going to Frankland and Whatton to deal with the enormity of it. Families tell where the visitors’ centre is run by an inde - on sex offenders with this view us that their relative is not treated fairly in pendent charity, the visitors’ centre is seen as from Sarah Salmon , deputy prison, but their one overwhelming worry, a safe haven. particularly in locals, is for the prisoner’s Families with children that have been director of Action for Prisoners’ physical safety. visiting for some months sometimes find that Families Evidence clearly shows that having a contact is curtailed at very short notice. partner helps reduce re-offending, but APF Explanations may be curt: ‘security’ or ‘child The Jimmy Savile revelations have certainly is concerned that women maintaining the protection’ with no further details. In order brought the issue of sex offending to the fore partnership receive no information or for visits to be reinstated assessments have to of the public’s mind, but despite his family’s support from prison or probation. Partners be undertaken by local children’s services reaction, not the possible impact of being who have no knowledge about the impact of which may take many months. related to a sex offender. So APF welcomes living with someone who is on the sex Given the vital importance of family the involvement of AMIMB and we are offender register are unable to make contact for sex offenders, interruption delighted it is represented on our advisory informed decisions about whether they want should be minimised.

A case in point Troubled? Confused? I have recently worked with the family of a man in prison because he had a relationship Uncertain? Harassed? with a girl of 16. This was consensual and she was over the age of consent at the time of the offence (related to breach of trust). But because she was under 18, he has been classified as a risk to children and so is not allowed any contact with his sons (aged 6,8 and 11). It will take about 8 weeks for his appeal to go through (going from my previous experience). His AMIMB wife, the children’s mother, is desperate for contact to resume since the children have accused her of preventing them from having contact with their dad. One child said to her: ‘I hate you, you won’t let me see my dad!’ Helpline Why can’t this process be speeded up and why do so many agencies need to be involved? I am told that written consent has to be received from social worker, parent/guardian, police, probation. Surely the distress caused to the children should be For support or advice from AMIMB the paramount consideration? email [email protected])

18 Independent Monitor • November 2012 PENAL AFFAIRS

investor, with financial protection, reduction The Politics of Justice in 2012 in costs and greater productivity assumed to follow. That assumption is a matter of polit - ical conviction and ideology rather than based on evidence, and experience in other areas of public service has not been reas - suring. There is little protection for the David Faulkner is on the general problem of crime. There is taxpayer when things go wrong, as they did however the risk, or perhaps it is the govern - with the provision of G4S security guards for an academic ment’s hope, that their rhetoric will lead to the Olympics. criminologist and another surge in custodial sentencing. If it Serious issues of accountability and legiti - does, it must be open to question whether macy arise when punishment, public co-author of Where Kenneth Clarke’s assurance that the ‘rehabil - protection or even justice itself are treated as Next for Criminal itation revolution’ will continue is still products or commodities to be bought and sustainable, or what the wider impact on sold in the market place and delivered by Justice? prison and probation might be. powerful multi-national corporations answerable first and foremost to their share - The speeches by Chris Grayling and Theresa It’s just business holders. Commercial confidentiality is hard May at the Conservative Party conference Less prominent at the conference and in to reconcile with democratic accountability. this year invite comparison with Michael subsequent comment has been govern - As Dr Beeching said ‘The concept of public Howard’s in 1993. All were at a time of ment’s continuing and perhaps increasing service blurs the concept of commercial internal divisions within the party and poor commitment to what Philip Bobbitt has enterprise’. The same is true in reverse. ratings in the opinion polls. There was the called the ‘market state’. Bobbitt’s argument From another perspective, the market same, now familiar language of being tough is that whereas the old nation state based its state’s focus on individual achievement and on crime and on the side of the victim, of legitimacy on a promise to better the material failure perpetuates and reinforces a division making community sentences more punitive well-being of the nation as a whole, the between the economically productive and of sending more people to prison. There market state promises to maximise the members of society – rewarded and was again the sense of a change of direction opportunity of each individual citizen, and protected and the criminal minority – away from supposedly liberal policies. to use the mechanisms of the commercial controlled and coerced. It pays little atten - A difference is that Michael Howard had market to do so. That has been characteristic tion to communities or to social conditions plenty of scope for 27 pledges on more puni - of successive governments for the last 20 or and responsibilities, and enables the tive policies; this government has very little. 30 years. Outsourcing and commissioning favoured majority to escape responsibility for There is not much room for further restric - services from the private sector and payment social disorder and blame in on the crimi - tions on the courts’ discretion in sentencing, by results are one aspect; an emphasis on nality of individuals (as was done after last for making community sentences more individuals is another. year’s riots). It has little sympathy or compas - unpleasant without increasing the rate of The arguments about the principle of sion for prisoners or those with criminal failure, or showing more support for victims contracting out prisons, hotly debated convictions. It is more interested in punish - against offenders. The barrel was already during the 1980s, have been largely ment than rehabilitation. almost empty and not much more could be forgotten and private prisons are now taken There is at present little interest in chal - scraped from it. The detail of the measures for granted. Outsourcing, or ‘contesting’, is lenging the market state in mainstream that were announced and their practical however a live issue for probation and police, politics. But progress in prisons, or in crim - consequences have still to emerge, but their and further prisons may well be contracted inal justice more generally, will be difficult direct impact is likely to be limited. Their out to the private sector. The main purpose, while the present consensus persists. announcement served a purpose in the as the government sees it, is the transfer of Where Next for Criminal Justice? is conference hall, but they will have little effect financial risk from the tax payer to the published by The Policy Press).

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Independent Monitor • November 2012 19 LAST WORD from Carp

Old inside Pensioners are the fastest- growing age group in prison, not because they’re doing more crime, but because of harsher sentencing and natural ageing of the prison population. Their numbers doubled between 2002 and 2011; there are now almost 3,000 prisoners over the age of 60 , and 40 over 80. There is one aged 92 – or at least there was last year. As a result, natural causes has replaced suicide as the principal cause of death in custody. Last year, half of the 142 natural deaths in prison were of people over 60.

Regional re-offending year’s ruling which denied that having to use a bucket at night in his The MoJ has published figures comparing re-offending rates in cell infringed his human rights. This time around, Lord Justice Davis different parts of the country. In the last five years, things have got said it was more or less unthinkable that such cases would have trou - significantly worse in the east of England, the north west, south east, bled the courts before the recent boom in human rights litigation. He and Wales. London, the west midlands , Yorkshire and Humberside dismissed the claims as based on ‘unreality’, adding that there was have improved. even a ready solution. ‘Air fresheners were provided in case the need to urinate or defecate should arise.’ Had the appeal succeeded it would Vital statistics have opened the way for around 360 other inmates or former inmates A new analysis of prison suicide statistics reveal some interesting varia - to claim compensation. tions. Between 2001 and 2011, 833 prisoners killed themselves, 646 by hanging. Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester topped the list, with 78 Young people dying in custody between them. Looking just at 2011, and taking into account the Lack of action over the number of children and young people dying number of prisoners housed, the ‘worst’ prisons for suicide were behind bars represents a ‘devastating indictment of bad practice’ Bedford, Leicester, Gloucester and Shepton Mallet. Thankfully, after according to a report by the Prison Reform Trust and Inquest. Nine seven years where prisons averaged 85 suicides a year, since 2008 the children and more than 190 other young people aged 24 and under toll has levelled out at less than 60 too many. have died in prisons or secure training centres in the last 10 years. The report claims that systemic failures in prisons, the justice system and Mistranslated agencies are contributing to the deaths. Looking at the experiences of In May, Last Word warned about the awarding of the contract for 98 who died, researchers found they were ‘some of the most disadvan - translation services in the criminal justice system to Applied Language taged in society’ and had experienced problems with mental health, Solutions. Sure enough, the National Audit Office (NAO)reported self-harm, alcohol and drugs. In many cases there were communica - in September that the MoJ’s due diligence on the bid was not thor - tion failures between community agencies and prisons; others were ough and did not give sufficient weight to the concerns of many placed in prisons with unsafe environments and cells. Poor medical interpreters. Initially ALS’s performance was wholly inadequate, care and limited access to therapeutic services in prison also caused leading, for example, to people being remanded in custody unneces - problems, and some children and young people had been exposed to sarily. Things have improved since, says NAO (is this your bullying, segregation or restraint. experience?) but they also say it’s too soon to know if the deal repre - sents good value for money. Who volunteers? IMB members are just a few of the vast army of volunteers, sometimes Still slopping out? Just use air freshener labelled do-gooders. Lazy critics might even call us religious do- As the IMB National Council report made clear a year or two ago, gooders. In fact, recent Home Office research actually suggests that slopping out is not over. Nor is its justification by judges. Desmond the religious volunteer less than the non-religious when it comes to Grant of the Albany bit of Isle of Wight prison appealed against last practical good works. So there.

AMIMB works to maximise the effectiveness of its members by providing: AMIMB • encouragement in the robust and efficient performance of their duties • training support statement • best practice advice on the treatment of prisoners and the administration of prisons • information on relevant developments in penal affairs of purpose • support for members who seek advice in times of difficulty. AMIMB also helps to enhance public awareness of the work of Independent Monitoring Boards.

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