Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page 1 The work of the All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group June 2010-July 2012 Prisoner Rehabilitation: A jail sentence shouldn’t be about society’s revenge, but rather a chance to change the direction of a life. Lord Corbett, Chairman, All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group 2002-2012 Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page 2 The Prison Reform Trust aims to create a just, humane and effective penal system. We do this by inquiring into the workings of the system; informing prisoners, staff and the wider public; and by influencing parliament, government, and officials towards reform. © 2012 Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust is grateful to the Barrow Cadbury Trust for its kind support. All rights reserved First published in 2012 by Prison Reform Trust ISBN: 978-1-908504-02-9 Photo credit: Andrew Aitchison www.prisonimage.org For more information contact the Prison Reform Trust 15 Northburgh Street London EC1V OJR 020 7251 5070 www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk [email protected] Registered charity in England & Wales no. 1035525 Company limited by guarantee no. 2906362 Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page i Prisoner Rehabilitation: the work of the All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group 2010-2012 CONTENTS Foreword iii 2010 22 June - Vulnerable women in the justice system 1 6th July - Crispin Blunt MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice 7 19 October - Aileen Murphy, National Audit Office 13 2 November - Children and young people in the criminal justice system 21 7 December - Restorative justice 29 2011 18 January - The Archbishop of Canterbury 37 1 February - Perspectives on Breaking the Cycle 43 15 March - Toe by Toe: empowering prisoners to rehabilitate prisoners 49 10 May - Nick Hardwick CBE, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons 55 21 June - Arts in Prison 61 28 June - Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke MP, QC, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice 67 18 October - Community Justice 73 22 November - The Sentencing Council: 18 months on 79 2012 24 January - Multi-faith prison chaplaincy and community chaplaincy 85 6 March - Public or private prisons? 91 24 April - Working in prison 99 15 May - Youth Justice Board 107 19 June - Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 111 26 June - Intermediaries for vulnerable defendants 117 3 July - The future place of resorative justice in the criminal justice system 123 Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page ii ii Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page iii Foreword The All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group aims to increase its members’ knowledge of penal affairs and to work through parliamentary channels for reform of the penal system. With the prison population in England and Wales now above 85,000 despite cross-party agreement on the need to reduce numbers and at a time of radical cuts in public expenditure, there has never been a greater need for an active and informed group. This report comprises presentations made to the group between the general election in May 2010 and the summer recess in July 2012. They highlight good practice and innovation that should be supported regardless of the austere financial climate – indeed, in many cases the urgency and importance is heightened by these challenging times. Together they provide evidence that prompts important questions about fairness, effectiveness and value for money across much of the criminal justice system. Lord Corbett of Castle Vale had been the elected chair of the group in each year from 2002 until his death in February of this year. Robin believed that a jail sentence should not be about society’s revenge, but rather a chance to change the direction of a life. The Robin Corbett Award for Prisoner Rehabilitation has been established in his memory. It will be presented each year, at a meeting of the group, to a small charity that has made a significant contribution to prisoner rehabilitation. Our election as co-chairs of the group in 2012 will, we hope, ensure active interest in both Houses of Parliament. We are delighted that Claire Perry MP as vice chair and Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts as the group’s secretary will continue to provide support and guidance. There are 99 Members of Parliament and 95 Peers in membership of the group. Finally we would like to thank the Barrow Cadbury Trust, who supports the Prison Reform Trust to provide the secretariat, company secretary of the Prison Reform Trust Geoff Dobson OBE, who is clerk to the group and Julia Braggins our minute taker, for their valuable assistance. The Rt Hon Paul Goggins MP General Lord Ramsbotham GCB, CBE Co- Chairs, All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group Summer 2012 iii Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page iv iv Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page 1 2010 22 June 2010: Vulnerable women in the justice system - womens’ centres and the Corston agenda. This meeting was held with the Women’s National Commission. Speakers: Clare Jones, Joint Chief Executive, WomenCentre, Calderdale and Kirklees and Chair of Women’s Centre Forum Rokaiya Khan, Chief Executive, Together Women, Yorkshire and Humberside Pip Tibbetts, Partnerships Manager, Bradford, West Yorkshire Probation Area Sister Lynda Dearlove, Director, Women at the Well, King’s Cross, London Clive Chatterton, Governing Governor, HMP and YOI Styal. And Gemma, Soraya and Dorothy, who attend the centres. Lord Corbett opened the meeting, with special thanks to Baroness Gould and the Women’s National Commission with whom the meeting had been organised. He was delighted that Baroness Corston could join the meeting, and extended a particular welcome to all new MPs and peers for this first meeting of the new Parliament. He mentioned the report of the group’s work during the last session, Too Many Prisoners, which was sent to all those who had expressed an interest. He welcomed early indications of the new Government’s thinking about spending on prisons – whatever the reason. He then went on to welcome the evening’s speakers, starting with Clare Jones, joint chief executive of WomenCentre, Halifax, and Chair of the Women’s Centres Forum, who would set the scene for the meeting. Clare Jones explained that the Women’s Centres Forum was the new umbrella body for the 38 women’s community and diversion projects now operating across England and Wales. This gave her a good insight into what was going on across so many areas, to provide ‘the holistic and women-centred community-based approaches, offering real alternatives to custody and opportunities for women. You will hear more about the situations in the lives of some of these women that result in their offending in the first place, and how they get pulled into a cycle that is impossible to get out of without some real support, and that’s what our projects are there to provide. It is fantastic to have Baroness Corston here, because it was from the recommendations in her report that we have been able to make the case for monies to be made available for our projects to be run, to be able to make differences to people’s lives. The results show the impact this work is having. The problem for us is that funding is only available until March 2011. We are working with 2,000 very vulnerable women, enabling them to keep out of the criminal justice system and to make significant differences in their lives. Our main concern is that we will go back to square one by the next financial year, unless we have commitments that there will be some sustainability. 1 Prisoner rehabilitation (deleted 506f07f9-3e3800-9b37eff7)_Prisoners Rehabilitation 10/10/2012 16:43 Page 2 My day job is as joint chief executive of WomenCentre, formerly known as Calderdale Women’s Centre but now working with Kirklees as well. We offer a one stop shop. Every project works slightly differently, but the big similarity is that we trust the value of the women themselves, and build up a trusting relationship with each individual. We believe in those women, and we understand the context of those women’s lives. Many have had childhoods that have been full of abuse and neglect, and for many their day to day lives include substance misuse, domestic violence, mental health issues, housing issues, debt, finance issues, homelessness: a whole range of issues that really need specific help to help people make differences. I’m now going to hand over to Clive Chatterton, Governor of Styal Prison, who is going to talk about his experience of working in the women’s estate. Clive Chatterton thanked the group for the opportunity to speak. He was really grateful, because he felt quite strongly about this issue. He continued: ‘I joined the Prison Service thirty five years ago, and over that time I have served in fourteen male establishments – all kind of establishments, top security, Victorian locals, remand homes, juvenile establishments, and I got to the point after all those years coming through the ranks that I thought I’d seen most things. But I got more than a slight shock last July when I was given the opportunity to go and run Styal, the third prison that I’d governed. When I got there I was quite shocked by what I found. So much so that the first couple of months while I was there, driving home past the airport, I was thinking ‘Am I up for this? Can I handle it? What’s this about?’ because I’d never seen anything like it in my life.