Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Deferred
Access to meaningful activities and short courses for remand prisoners is inadequate.
Conclusion
Although we recognise that those held on remand are under no obligation to engage with prison regimes, they should be encouraged to take part in meaningful activities and HMPPS needs to ensure that prisons with high remand populations have opportunities available for those held in them to utilise if they so desire. We welcome the increasing availability of shorter courses for those not anticipated to be in prison for long periods of time to take part in, and recommend that the Ministry of Justice ensures that such courses are in place in all Category B prisons by the end of
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation, but the response discussed various initiatives related to bail decisions for women, mental health remand reforms, and probation resettlement services, only vaguely committing to update the Committee on extending Commissioned Rehabilitative Services for women, without addressing meaningful activities or short courses in Category B prisons for remand prisoners.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We accept this recommendation. The Bail Act 1976 sets out that a court should only consider remand in custody if there is a real prospect that the defendant if convicted would face a custodial sentence. We currently offer a Bail Information Service (BIS) in every woman’s public sector prison with prisoners on remand from England and Wales. The BIS provides courts with factual and verified information about a woman’s individual circumstances which enables courts to make fully informed decisions about bail or custodial remand. The Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan, published on 31 January 2023, committed to commencing first hearing bail report pilots in Cardiff and Ipswich Magistrates’ Courts to ensure those courts receive advice from BIS on all women defendants. These pilots began in December 2022. In the draft Mental Health Bill, published on 27 June 2022, we set out reforms which will prevent courts from remanding a defendant for their own protection solely on mental health grounds, including where their concern relates to a risk of self-harm. Following the unification of the Probation Service in June 2021, the new resettlement approach provided an embedded pre-release provision, delivered by the Probation Service, in women’s resettlement prisons. Pre-Release Teams help to address immediate resettlement needs for all women in the prison, including the unsentenced. This includes sustaining accommodation on reception where possible, making referrals for accommodation and signposting women towards specialist advice for finance and debt support. Currently Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) Women’s Services are only available for sentenced women in prison and women on probation in the community. We will update the Committee on plans to extend CRS Women’s Services to unsentenced women in due course.