Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation in Wales

We heard mixed evidence when it came to ensuring that Ministry of Justice policy reflected the specific needs of Wales and Welsh people. While some witnesses told us that there was a disconnect between policymakers in Whitehall and service users in Wales—especially when it came to commissioning services—we also saw evidence of the Department working to ensure Wales was accounted for in recent policy initiatives, such as the establishment of the Women’s Justice Board. (Conclusion, Paragraph 11)

We recommend that the Ministry of Justice engage and co-ordinate with the Welsh Government and its associated agencies as early as possible when formulating policy, adopting co-design and co-commissioning approaches where feasible, so as to ensure that policy meets the needs of Welsh offenders and is sensitive to Wales’ unique delivery landscape. The Department should seek to replicate the collaborative approach displayed in the design of the Women’s and Youth Justice Blueprints, as well as in the recent agreement for the two governments to develop a Memorandum of Understanding for probation and youth justice in Wales. (Recommendation, Paragraph 12)

We are pleased to hear that there is a positive, productive and effective working relationship between the UK and Welsh Governments as it relates to supporting and managing offenders in Wales, and we welcome the development of initiatives, such as the use of secondments among officials, to align and harmonise the work of the two governments. However, we are concerned that much of this relationship depends on the goodwill and effort of a number of officials and ministers, and, in some cases, is not underpinned by any formal frameworks. (Conclusion, Paragraph 16)

We recommend that the UK and Welsh Governments continue to develop innovative ways of co-operating, collaborating and co-commissioning, drawing on feedback from stakeholders and officials as to where closer collaboration may be needed. As part of this work, we call on the UK 65 Government to co-author a Memorandum of Understanding to place bodies such as the Criminal Justice Board for Wales on an established footing, thereby ensuring that this effective model of collaboration endures for the future. (Recommendation, Paragraph 17)

We recognise that the justice system in Wales has been under immense strain in recent years—peaking in the summer of 2024 when demand for prison places came concerningly close to exceeding supply—and agree with Minister Timpson that it is best to wait until the system has stabilised before introducing further changes. However, exploring the devolution of aspects of the justice system was a manifesto commitment, and cannot be delayed indefinitely. We are persuaded that there is merit in testing and exploring the benefits of a devolved approach to probation and youth justice. (Conclusion, Paragraph 25)

We recommend that the UK Government continues to prioritise bringing stability to the prisons and probation service, but that this be balanced with meeting its manifesto commitment to explore and consider the devolution of probation and youth justice to the Welsh Government. The UK Government should include in its response to this report a checklist of measures and steps that need to be taken—with accompanying timelines—in order for a final decision to be reached as to whether to devolve these aspects of the justice system. (Recommendation, Paragraph 26)

We, like our predecessors, have long called for the publication of Wales- specific justice data and we welcome the Department’s decision to publish an annual Wales-specific justice data release, as well as its commitment to publish further datasets relating to homelessness and the Welsh language. Now that some disaggregated justice data is available, it is vital that it is analysed and used to inform future policymaking. We recognise that resource constraints may impact the timeframe of publishing further datasets, however we would be disappointed if future progress in this area were to take as long as it took to secure this initial release. Additionally, we expect the Ministry of Justice to learn from this process and to consistently comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, responding to FOI requests appropriately and only classifying requests as ‘vexatious’ when there are legitimate grounds to do so. (Conclusion, Paragraph 33)

We call on the Ministry of Justice to continue its engagement with the Wales Governance Centre and the Welsh Government regarding the publication of Wales-specific justice data. As part of this work, the Department should provide us with annual written updates—aligned with the date of the annual Welsh Justice Data releases—regarding its 66 progress in publishing the remaining datasets that have been identified as necessary by the Wales Governance Centre and the Welsh Government. (Recommendation, Paragraph 34)

The imprisonment rate in Wales has consistently been shown to be higher than that seen in England, as well as in most of Western Europe. This is a concerning trend that needs to be understood and addressed. While we appreciate the candour of the Department regarding its lack of understanding in this area—as well as its acknowledgment of the importance of this information—we are concerned that there do not appear to have been significant previous attempts to address this longstanding trend. (Conclusion, Paragraph 37)

We recommend that the Ministry of Justice and the Welsh Government co-commission a joint academic review to investigate what is driving the relatively high imprisonment rate in Wales. The findings of this review should be shared with us in twelve months’ time. (Recommendation, Paragraph 38) The Welsh Prison Estate: Oversight, Capacity, and Staffing

Independent Monitoring Boards play a vital role in ensuring that prisoners are safe, healthy and engaged in effective regimes. However, the lack of oversight provided by IMBs during a significant period of turmoil and unrest at HMP Parc causes us great concern. Recruiting public appointees to staff IMBs in the current context of a cost-of-living crisis is undoubtedly hard, but renewed efforts and innovative approaches are required to ensure that IMBs in Wales are sustainably and sufficiently resourced to carry out their vital oversight functions. (Conclusion, Paragraph 44)

We call on the Ministry of Justice to work with the Independent Monitoring Board’s National Chair to prioritise the sustainability of IMBs across Wales by undertaking a targeted recruitment campaign—with a focus on bilingual Welsh speakers—to ensure that each of Wales’ IMBs is fully resourced and able to undertake its statutory obligations. We expect the Department to outline the staffing levels of each of Wales’ IMBs in its response to this report, noting current figures as well as full complement target figures. (Recommendation, Paragraph 45)

The prison capacity crisis in England and Wales reflects a trend of inflating sentences and insufficient investment in the prison estate by successive governments. While population pressures are facing both England and Wales, we are concerned by reports of particular pressures in Wales as a result of higher recall rates, as well as by the fact that Wales is having to house an increasing number of out-of-area prisoners. The UK Government 67 has told us that the Sentencing Act 2026 will alleviate some of these pressures, as will its renewed focus on reducing reoffending, and we hope that it is proved correct. (Conclusion, Paragraph 51)

The Ministry of Justice must maintain its focus on reducing the prison population pressures across the prison estate. We welcome the introduction of the Sentencing Act 2026, which has been described as a vehicle to do this. With this in mind, we recommend that in 18-months’ time, once the Act has had time to bed in, the Department conduct a review of its approach to prisoner placement across the estate, focusing particularly on the placement of Welsh prisoners, and that the findings of this review be shared with us. As it stands, far too many prisoners are serving sentences far from home: this poses challenges for the prisoner, their family, and the staff working to support them. A prison estate with greater capacity offers the potential for the Department to change its current approach. (Recommendation, Paragraph 52)

For prisons to be safe settings conducive to rehabilitation—where prisoners can spend time out of their cells, build relationships with staff, and take part in purposeful activity—there must be enough staff with the right experience to operate effectively. This requires investment in staff and ensuring that their concerns around pay and conditions are heard. (Conclusion, Paragraph 56)

We recommend that the Ministry of Justice meet with the Welsh justice unions representing prison staff in Wales to identify the main barriers to recruiting and retaining staff. These concerns should be addressed as soon as possible through investment in the people who work hard to keep prisons operational and prisoners—as well as the public—safe. (Recommendation, Paragraph 57) Far from Home: Welsh Women’s Experiences of the Criminal Justice System

The number of Welsh women receiving custodial sentences in Wales is rising, as is the number of those offenders receiving short sentences. This is despite longstanding and ever-increasing evidence that prison—and short sentences—pose particular harm to women and do little to reduce reoffending. The establishment of the Women’s Justice Board—and the publication of its report—is a positive step to tackle this concerning trend. However, strong partnership working between the UK and Welsh Governments, and their associated agencies, is required to realise the Board’s vision of a world where less women are sent to prison. This work will also need to be supported by the Welsh magistracy and court 68 system, which must make greater use of the available alternative to custody options when sentencing women. The UK Government’s recent recruitment drive in this area poses a good opportunity to embed this work. (Conclusion, Paragraph 68)

We recommend that the Ministry of Justice and Welsh Government redesign the Female Offending Blueprint for Wales to take account of the policy changes since it was published in 2019, drawing on the recommendations contained within the Women’s Justice Board’s report. Additionally, we recommend that the training for magistrates across England and Wales be enhanced, with a greater emphasis on alternatives to custody, especially in Wales. As part of this training, magistrates should be required to visit women’s prisons in order to better understand the implications of handing down short sentences to women. (Recommendation, Paragraph 69)

The Residential Women’s Centre in Swansea was due to open its doors two years ago; however, the previous UK Government reallocated the funding and we are still waiting on the current UK Government to decide whether the project will be going ahead at all. These delays are unacceptable, as is the lack of clarity around how exactly the centre would operate and what its admissions criteria would be. Wales does not need a women’s prison, however there is great need and desire for trauma-informed alternatives to custody. If the centre proposed for Swansea can deliver on this and not just become a prison in all but name, then we welcome it. (Conclusion, Paragraph 73)

We call on the Ministry of Justice to confirm its plans for the Swansea Residential Women’s Centre as soon as possible. These plans should confirm whether the site will be opening, and, if so, when it will open. Additionally, it should confirm its admissions criteria so that expert stakeholders and lived experience groups can confirm that the centre is indeed providing a genuine alternative to custody before any further sites are introduced across England and Wales. (Recommendation, Paragraph 74)

The self-harm rates at HMP Eastwood Park and HMP Styal, which hold the vast majority of Welsh women offenders, are deeply concerning. While we recognise that the self-harm rates are higher in the women’s estate than the men’s estate generally, the fact that there are such high rates at the two prisons that hold the most Welsh women suggests that there may be a correlation between distance held from home and tendency to self-harm or engage in other destructive behaviours. The Department must determine the extent to which distance held from home is a contributing factor in instances of self-harm in prison. In the meantime, the Department must continue to invest in supporting Welsh women and making it easier for them to maintain familial contact. (Conclusion, Paragraph 78) 69

We call on the Ministry of Justice to record the nationality of offenders— with Welsh provided as a separate identity to English—so that it can measure the number of self-harm incidents by nationality. We recognise that the Department may not be able to publish some of this data due to the risk of individuals being identified, however the data should still be collected so as to provide the Department with some clarity on the potential link between self-harm and distance from home. Additionally, we call on the Department to accelerate its work in reducing the costs of phone calls for both male and female prisoners and it should expand its collaboration with third sector partners who support Welsh families to visit relatives held in prisons in England. (Recommendation, Paragraph 79) Meaningful Sentences: Purposeful Activity, Education and Employment

Engaging with purposeful activity, such as education and skills provision, is vital to reducing reoffending rates among prisoners. While the situation in Wales appears to be slightly better than in England, there are too many prisoners in Wales who are spending too long in their cells, unable to partake in the kind of rehabilitative activities that the public expects them to be undertaking during their sentence. (Conclusion, Paragraph 85)

We call on the Ministry of Justice to support prison leaders in designing and delivering regimes that prioritise time out of cell and engagement with purposeful activity alongside safety and order. The Department must work with prisons to ensure that they have sufficient staffing levels to unlock prisoners, facilitate purposeful activity, and ensure prisoners are attending classes. As the population pressures facing prisons begin to ease, we expect to see improvements in the purposeful activity scores received by each Welsh prison at their next inspection. (Recommendation, Paragraph 86)

We were encouraged by what we heard regarding education provision in Welsh prisons. Governors in Wales are able to benefit from a more flexible approach to contract, in which contracts are managed individually— rather than through lots—and governors are afforded a greater degree of autonomy. However, we are deeply concerned by the cuts facing the Prison Education Service contracts in England, where a significant number of male and female Welsh offenders are held. Similarly, we are concerned by the relative lack of transparency around education provision in Welsh prisons, which stems from the Welsh Government’s decision to not publish data equivalent to that available in England. (Conclusion, Paragraph 91) 70

We call on the Ministry of Justice to immediately reverse its real-term cuts to the prison education budget in England and to ensure that future funding grows in line with inflation and is aligned with the true costs of delivery. The Department should also work with the Welsh Government to come to an agreement about the publication of education data for Welsh prisons, using that which is available for prisons in England as a guide. (Recommendation, Paragraph 92)

When it comes to supporting prisoners into employment, both during and following their sentence, Welsh prisons are performing well when compared with the average figures for England and Wales. We were encouraged by the positive experiences described to us by businesses working with prisoners and prison leavers in Wales, as well as by their recommendation that other businesses consider getting involved in prisoner training and recruitment schemes. However, for these partnerships to work effectively, prison leaders must ensure that prisoners are gaining the right qualifications and skills and that they are providing adequate support and advice to employers. (Conclusion, Paragraph 96)

We recommend that the Ministry of Justice supports prison leaders in their engagement with local employers—identifying what skills and experience they would like to see from prospective hires—and ensures that employment provision within prisons is tailored accordingly. This should be balanced against the need for provision across the prison estate to have a degree of uniformity, so that prisoners are not disadvantaged by transfers to other parts of the estate, where courses may not be available and they are unable to continue their progress. (Recommendation, Paragraph 97) Healthy and Housed: Healthcare and Post- release Accommodation

Prisoners in Wales should not be disadvantaged when it comes to healthcare provision just because they are in prison, nor should they expect better or worse service depending on the prison they are held in. As it stands, the current health board-led model for healthcare provision in Welsh prisons is failing to ensure that the care prisoners receive is equivalent to that seen in the community, just as it is failing to provide consistency of service and transparency around service provision. (Conclusion, Paragraph 107)

We recommend that the Ministry of Justice and the Welsh Government co- commission an independent review of the provision of healthcare services in prisons in Wales. This review should specifically investigate the effectiveness of the current health board model and should consider the potential merits 71 and demerits of moving to a national oversight model overseen by NHS Cymru. In the meantime, we suggest that health boards in Wales commit to making prisoner healthcare a standing item in their governance agendas and to publishing regular data releases on individual healthcare provision in prisons compared with the community. We also call on the UK Government and Welsh Government to collaborate on the production of a Memorandum of Understanding between NHS Cymru and the Department for Health and Social Care to standardise processes for health record transfers, medicines reconciliation, and continuity of care for prisoners moving between England and Wales. (Recommendation, Paragraph 108)

Prisoner populations in Wales have higher, more complex and more concentrated healthcare needs than those seen in the community. In this context, it is concerning that the UK Government’s recurrent transfer to the Welsh Government to support healthcare provision in HMPs Cardiff, Swansea, and Usk & Prescoed has not changed since 2014. The prisoner population has grown significantly since then, and inflation has meant that this funding is increasingly insufficient to cover the costs of healthcare within these prisons. (Conclusion, Paragraph 114)

The UK Government must revise its funding formula for the recurrent transfer it has sent to the Welsh Government to support prisoner healthcare services at HMPs Cardiff, Swansea and Usk & Prescoed. The transfer amount should be uplifted in line with inflation to maintain the recurrent funding in real terms. (Recommendation, Paragraph 115)

We were impressed by the large network of partners—including multiple UK and Welsh Government funded housing advisors as well as third sector providers—working hard to ensure Welsh prisoners were released into suitable accommodation and not released into homelessness. However, we are concerned by the multiple reports we heard of prison resettlement teams making referrals to local authorities at extremely short notice: this poses significant challenges to those responsible for identifying suitable accommodation, whether temporary or permanent. Similarly, we are concerned by the significant impact that the UK Government’s decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance rates until 2027 will have on Welsh prison leavers’ abilities to maintain their tenancies and avoid homelessness, given that we have seen evidence showing that Wales is disproportionately affected by the freeze in rates. (Conclusion, Paragraph 125)

We call on the Ministry of Justice and prison leaders to prioritise timely notification of upcoming releases to local authorities and other relevant stakeholders, giving them the best chance to identify suitable accommodation among an already limited stock of options. Additionally, we call on the UK Government to review its decision to freeze Local Housing 72 Allowance Rates until 2027. As part of this review, it should conduct a Wales-specific impact assessment that should be submitted to this committee. (Recommendation, Paragraph 126) Changing Course: Probation and Youth Justice

The Probation Service in Wales is performing well under exceptionally challenging circumstances, and we were proud to hear of its status as the ‘vanguard of change’ in the system. The tools being piloted across the service in Wales promise to alleviate some of the pressure on an overworked and understaffed service, and the North Wales PDU is setting the standard for good practice across the country. However, probation staff in Wales have been stretched to their limit and without tangible investment in additional officers at a national level—as well as measures to improve retention—the service runs the risk of being overwhelmed in the future. The UK and Welsh Government’s recent agreement to produce a MoU for probation offers an exciting opportunity to consider new ways of delivering probation, and we were pleased to see that it aligned with HM Chief Inspector of Probation’s call for greater information sharing and collaboration between local partners. The committee is of the view that the UK Government should consider the benefits that might accrue from the devolution of probation with a focus on delivering better outcomes through a more localised and granular focus on provision to the benefit of people on probation in Wales. (Conclusion, Paragraph 132)

We call on the Ministry of Justice to increase its support for the staff of the Probation Service in Wales. The upcoming strategic review of probation should be accompanied by a review of the service’s staff numbers, pay and working conditions so that the Department can best realise its ambition to increase its use of community alternatives to custodial sentences. (Recommendation, Paragraph 133)

The youth justice system in Wales is evidently an example of strong partnership working between two governments who are focused on securing the best possible outcomes for children in Wales, and who wish to see children diverted away from the secure estate wherever possible. We welcome the recent reforms to the youth justice system that will see greater use of multi-year funding settlements, providing certainty for youth justice services for the future, as well as the commitment to identify an expanded role for the Welsh Government in the delivery of these services. (Conclusion, Paragraph 143) 73

We recommend that the UK and Welsh Governments build on the existing success of the youth justice system in Wales, working in lockstep to support children, provide funding certainty to youth justice services, and ensure that the welfare of children underpins decision-making in this area. The committee is of the view that the UK Government should consider the benefits that might accrue from the devolution of youth justice with a focus on delivering better outcomes through a more localised and granular focus on provision to the benefit of young people in Wales. As part of this work, both governments should review the case for embedding speech and language therapists within all Youth Offending Teams in Wales, as well as for utilising smaller modular units across Wales that would allow children in the secure estate to maintain their family connections. The findings of this review should be shared with this committee. (Recommendation, Paragraph 144) Just Talk: Welsh Language Rights

Welsh-speaking prisoners should be able to exercise their rights to speak Welsh no matter where they are held in the prison estate: not just for the sake of the language, but for the sake of their rehabilitation. Reports of HMPPS failing to protect and respect the rights of Welsh-speakers are deeply concerning: however, we acknowledge the candour shown by the Department in this area, along with its willingness to address the findings of the Welsh Language Commissioner’s investigation into this matter. Ensuring consistency in the Welsh language obligations placed on Crown agencies operating either side of the England-Wales border should help to improve compliance and to drive the cultural change needed to embed respect for the language within prisons across the estate. (Conclusion, Paragraph 153)

We recommend that the UK Government work with the Welsh Government to subject Crown agencies to the Welsh Language Standards Regulations 2023. (Recommendation, Paragraph 154)

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons is responsible for inspecting the conditions and treatment of prisoners in England and Wales, with one of their inspection ‘expectations’ explicitly highlighting the importance of prisoners interacting with staff who are able to implement culturally competent practices. The Inspectorate has said that one way of measuring performance against this expectation is assessing the extent to which prisoners in Wales are able to live their lives through the medium of the Welsh language if they choose to do so. We do not believe this metric is currently being assessed uniformly or consistently and, as HMI Prisons have confirmed that they have full responsibility for designing the questionnaires and surveys they use during their inspections, we look to them to address this shortcoming. (Conclusion, Paragraph 160) 74

We call on HMI Prisons to work with the Welsh Language Commissioner to design an additional survey for Welsh-speaking prisoners, with questions specifically designed to gather information about the quality and availability of Welsh language services in Welsh prisons. The information gathered through this survey should inform a dedicated section—designed to be uniform and consistent, to allow for effective comparison—on the Welsh language within all of the inspectorate’s future reports for Welsh prisons. (Recommendation, Paragraph 161) 75