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UK Justice Policy Review UK Justice Policy Review Volume 6 From the General Election to Brexit 7 May 2015 to 23 June 2016 by Richard Garside, Matt Ford, Helen Mills and Rebecca Roberts UK Justice Policy Review Volume 6 From the General Election to Brexit 7 May 2015 to 23 June 2016 by Richard Garside, Matt Ford, Helen Mills and Rebecca Roberts About the authors Richard Garside is Director, Matt Ford is Research and Policy Assistant, Helen Mills is Research Associate and Rebecca Roberts is Senior Policy Associate, all at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Acknowledgements Without the generous support of The Hadley Trust this publication would not have been possible. We thank them for their support for this series. Thank you to Tammy McGloughlin for her production work, to Steve Swingler our designer, and to Callum Allison for background research. Registered charity No. 251588 A company limited by guarantee Registered in England No. 496821 Centre for Crime and Justice Studies 2 Langley Lane Vauxhall London SW8 1GB [email protected] www.crimeandjustice.org.uk ©Centre for Crime and Justice Studies June 2017 ISBN: 978-1-906003-54-8 UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 6 7 May 2015 to 23 June 2016 2 Contents Executive summary 4 Introduction 6 Speeches 8 Legislation 12 Police 14 Data dashboard 20 Courts and access to justice 22 Prisons 26 Probation 32 Coming up: Between Brexit referendum and another General Election 36 Technical appendix 38 CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES Executive summary This is the sixth volume in the UK Justice Community Justice (Scotland); and, the Policy Review series, covering the period Justice (No 2) Act in Northern Ireland. from the May 2015 General Election to the Brexit referendum in June 2016. It assesses Policing and explains criminal justice developments across the United Kingdom’s three criminal The policing section begins with an overview jurisdictions of England and Wales, of the five different police governance and accountability models in force across the Scotland and Northern Ireland. UK’s three criminal justice jurisdictions. This Review, like previous editions, focuses Page 15 includes an infographic of the on the key criminal justice institutions of Serious and Organised Crime Assessment by policing, the courts and access to justice and the UK-wide National Crime Agency. prisons and probation across the UK. It Two developments affecting the whole of combines concise, critical analysis of policy the UK are then discussed: police spying developments with key data on the main trends. controversies and enquiries into historic child sexual abuse. A selection of the major Speeches controversies facing different forces across the UK are highlighted in an infographic on The first section covers four representative page 17. speeches made by leading politicians in each jurisdiction. The rest of this section highlights important activity and debate particular to each jurisdiction. In England and Wales, this includes Theresa In England and Wales, this included issues May’s speech to the Police Federation in around understanding police demand and a May 2015 where she set out her programme new funding allocation formula. of police reform, and David Cameron’s February 2016 speech on prison reform. An infographic on page 18 summarises the results of the second set of Police and Scottish Justice Secretary Michael Crime Commissioner Elections, held during Matheson’s September 2015 speech, the year under review. ‘Fairer Justice’, is examined, as is outgoing Northern Ireland Justice Secretary David In Scotland, controversies continued to Ford’s speech in March 2016, ‘The Social blight the new national police force. Value of Justice’. As in previous years, the difficulties in ensuring the independent investigation into Legislation historical deaths resulting from civil conflict persisted in Northern Ireland. The next section covers legislation that passed through the UK parliament and Data dashboard the devolved assemblies during the period under review. This includes: the UK-wide The data dashboard shows changes in Psychoactive Substances Act; the Policing criminal justice expenditure, staffing levels and Crime Bill in England and Wales; the and the number of people criminalised UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 6 7 May 2015 to 23 June 2016 4 and subject to various criminal justice followed by analysis of key developments. sanctions, in each jurisdiction between the An infographic about Just Solutions review year and 2011/12 and 2014/15. International, the commercial arm of the Ministry of Justice, wound up in the year Courts and access to justice under review, is included on page 28. It then considers some of the regime The section on courts and access to justice challenges, particularly the growing crisis begins with an outline of developments in the of prisoner safety and violence. Page 30 continuing disputes over legal aid between includes an infographic on deaths, self-harm the London and Belfast administrations and and assaults in prisons. Developments in their respective legal professions. youth justice are also covered. The raft of former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling’s criminal justice policies abandoned Probation by his successor Michael Gove are highlighted in an infographic on page 22. The probation section highlights the heterogeneity of developments across the Then follows an overview of moves to codify three jurisdictions. rights and protections for victims of law- breaking. This includes specific measures The new structure of privatised probation around tackling domestic violence and in England and Wales, is outlined. A map of abuse. The strategies developed by the new arrangements is included on page each jurisdiction are summarised in an 33. A selection of reviews and inspections of infographic on page 24. the new arrangements are highlighted. In England and Wales, there were some Legislation to reorganise probation delivery important developments around injustices at a more local level in Scotland is covered. experienced by people who are criminalised. Minor tweaks to the probation service in This included challenges to the doctrine Northern Ireland are discussed. of Joint Enterprise and the system of disclosure for criminal convictions. Finally, this section considers the ongoing controversies around electronic monitoring. Moves on court closures and efficiency in all three jurisdictions are also covered. Coming up Prisons This final section previews some of the main developments that will be covered in The section on prisons opens with a more detail in the next edition of UKJPR. discussion of the relative sizes of the The implications of Brexit and ongoing custodial estates and prison populations austerity have been determinative of in each jurisdiction, summarised in an much that has unfolded since the Brexit accompanying infographic on page 26. referendum. Criminal justice policymaking Then follows an outline of plans to renew since the referendum has unfolded in a far the prison infrastructure across the UK, more unpredictable and turbulent context. CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES 5 Introduction Between General Election and Criminal justice policy is therefore influenced by referendum a wide array of individuals and institutions, but it is easy to get lost in complexity and detail. In The 13 month period covered by this edition of keeping with the approach of previous editions UK Justice Policy Review (UKJPR) is bookended of UKJPR, the focus is on assessing the main by two notable political events. At one end is criminal justice policy developments across the May 2015 General Election, which returned the three jurisdictions, as decided upon and the first majority Conservative UK government implemented by the UK government (in England for nearly two decades. At the other is the June and Wales), the Scottish Government and the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the Northern Ireland Executive. This means missing European Union, which inaugurated a new period out, or glossing over, much detail that some will of politics and policymaking, distinctive in many consider important. The justification for this is ways from that which preceded it. This edition of that the detailed implementation of criminal UKJPR is concerned with assessing and explaining justice policies is generally contingent on the criminal justice developments across the UK’s broad direction set by national and regional four nations and regions – England, Wales, governments. It is the broad direction of criminal Scotland, and Northern Ireland – between these justice policy that this Review examines. two events. Developments since the referendum, examined in brief in the ‘Coming up’ section at the The key players end of this edition, will be treated in more detail in subsequent editions of UKJPR. Regardless of the wider consequences of the 2015 General Election, the main decision-makers remained largely unchanged. In two of the UK’s Three different jurisdictions three criminal justice jurisdictions – Scotland and Three criminal justice jurisdictions span the Northern Ireland – criminal justice policymaking four UK nations and regions: the combined was a devolved matter. The Scottish First Minister jurisdiction of England and Wales, and the and Justice Secretary – Nicola Sturgeon and separate jurisdictions of Scotland and of Northern Michael Matheson – had been in post since late Ireland. The institutions performing analogous 2014. In Northern Ireland, the First Ministers – criminal justice functions – such as the police
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