Recommendations & Conclusions
18 items
2
Recommendation
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
We are disappointed that the Ministry places inadequate importance on the living conditions of female prisoners. Twelve of the 117 prisons in England & Wales hold female offenders, none of which are in Wales. Despite women making up 5% of the prison population, the Ministry was unable to answer basic …
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We are disappointed that the Ministry places inadequate importance on the living conditions of female prisoners. Twelve of the 117 prisons in England & Wales hold female offenders, none of which are in Wales. Despite women making up 5% of the prison population, the Ministry was unable to answer basic questions about the female prison estate or demonstrate that conditions in these prisons are adequate for the needs and safety of prisoners. The Ministry has not prioritised investing in the female prison estate, meaning women continue to serve their sentences in locations far from home. HMP Holloway, a women’s prison with a track-record of high-quality prisoner care and services, was sold in March 2019. But the £81.5 million raised was used to fund the Prison Estate Transformation Programme, which was focused on improving the male estate, and to ease pressures elsewhere, rather than being re- invested in the female prison estate. The Ministry’s strategy for female offenders focuses on community centres. It is unable to show how it ensures that its female prisons get proper investment and meet the needs of female offenders. The prison 6 Improving the prison estate environment, including the condition of buildings and facilities, plays an important role in how prisoners behave. We are deeply concerned that women’s prisons have by far the highest levels of self-harm across the prison estate. Proper investment in the female estate is necessary to ensure female offenders do not become further marginalised. The Ministry has promised a greater focus on investing in women’s prisons and community provision for women as part of its long-term strategy. Recommendation: The Ministry should write to the Committee within three months explaining how it plans to improve conditions in women’s prisons.
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Government response AI summary
The government accepted the recommendation, committing to write to the Committee by January 2021 with plans to improve conditions in women's prisons and an update on longer-term estate planning.
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HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
In 2015, the Ministry failed to protect taxpayers’ interests through its naïve approach to the outsourcing of facilities management services. The Ministry admits that its approach prioritised delivering at speed and achieving predicted £79 million in cost savings at the expense of the quality of the service provided. It outsourced …
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In 2015, the Ministry failed to protect taxpayers’ interests through its naïve approach to the outsourcing of facilities management services. The Ministry admits that its approach prioritised delivering at speed and achieving predicted £79 million in cost savings at the expense of the quality of the service provided. It outsourced a complex service without fully understanding what it was contracting out, the condition of the assets in the prison estate or the services required, and without properly testing its assumptions. Demand for reactive maintenance work as a result of poor-quality assets or vandalism has cost the taxpayer almost £143 million more than expected. In attempting to outsource a problem rather than first understand and address it, the Ministry has repeated many of the mistakes that we observed in its Transforming Rehabilitation programme. Five years after the contracts were first let, the Ministry still does not fully understand the condition of the assets within the prison estate. We have seen across government that once a fundamental mistake is made, it can take years to unpick. The Ministry’s contract with Carillion went badly wrong, but it asserts that the terms of the contract it agreed meant it was too expensive for the Department to exit early. The consequences of its poor handling of outsourcing facilities management services could be felt for many years to come. The Ministry must learn lessons from its failed approach and get a better grip on its assets and providers. Recommendation: On completion of its asset survey across prisons, the Ministry should write to the Committee explaining how it: • has applied learning from this exercise to improve facilities management services and inform future commercial decisions; and • will ensure that it captures detailed asset records up front for new prison builds to avoid repeating past mistakes.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees to the recommendation, stating the Prison Estate Asset Capture Survey will complete by March 2021 to inform future contracts and asset management. They confirm detailed asset records are already being captured for new prison builds using a Building Information Management system.
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HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
We are not convinced that the Ministry’s plans to create more capacity will allow it to match the expected increase in the prison population whilst keeping prisoners safe under its care. Rising demand for prison places, places being taken out of use and delays in building new prisons have put …
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We are not convinced that the Ministry’s plans to create more capacity will allow it to match the expected increase in the prison population whilst keeping prisoners safe under its care. Rising demand for prison places, places being taken out of use and delays in building new prisons have put significant pressure on the capacity of the prison estate. Almost two-thirds of adult prisons in England and Wales are already crowded, with the top ten most crowded prisons running at 147% or higher than their intended capacity. Demand for prison places could outstrip supply by 2022–23. A lack of capacity within some types of prison means that many prisoners already live in unnecessarily stringent security conditions while others live in low- security environments relative to their higher risks. Current demand for prison places has slowed as a result of the cancellation of jury trails during the COVID-19 Improving the prison estate 7 pandemic, creating a backlog of over 524,000 cases that will eventually flow through into the prison system. Both the Ministry and HMPSS expect demand for prison places to increase as the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service return to full capacity. HMPPS needs headroom in the prison estate to deliver its reconfiguration project, undertake essential maintenance and deal with potential further waves of COVID-19. It has so far averted major loss of life from the COVID-19 pandemic thanks in part to the heroic efforts of prison staff. It will need robust plans to manage further waves of the virus and the impact on staff and prisoners. Recommendation: The Ministry should write to us in six months to explain how its plans to create the right type of capacity within the prison estate will be resilient to rising demand and further potential shocks from Covid-19, and create sufficient headroom to allow it to address the maintenance backlog. It should set out: • How it expects the prison population to change in the coming years (including the impact of
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and will publish prison population projections by the end of 2020, forecasting future changes. By April 2021, the department will provide an update on progress, including plans for managing capacity and COVID-19 in the prison estate, meeting the committee's …
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HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
The Ministry’s efforts to reduce the £18.1 billion cost of reoffending are being put at risk by the absence of a cross-government strategy. Reoffending has a substantial cost to the economy, in addition to its considerable impact on the emotional wellbeing of victims and wider society. The Ministry recognises that …
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The Ministry’s efforts to reduce the £18.1 billion cost of reoffending are being put at risk by the absence of a cross-government strategy. Reoffending has a substantial cost to the economy, in addition to its considerable impact on the emotional wellbeing of victims and wider society. The Ministry recognises that the best way to tackle crime is to reduce reoffending, and that this must involve Departments across government. HMPPS has recently appointed a Director responsible for reducing reoffending and is working with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to reduce reoffending through initiatives such as the Prison Leavers Project and the Through the Gate programme. Despite our recommendations in May 2019, there is still no sign of a cross-government strategy for reducing reoffending. The way offenders are treated on their release from prison has a significant impact on how they re-integrate into society. Sustained progress in reducing reoffending relies on providing the support offenders desperately need on leaving prison, including securing stable accommodation. While the Ministry and HMPPS assure us that they have carefully sought to secure stable accommodation for those who have left prison during the pandemic, we are concerned by cases of prisoners being released without settled accommodation. Recommendation: As we have previously recommended, the Ministry should publish a cross-government reducing reoffending strategy within three months. This should: • set out roles and responsibilities, clear targets supported by activities and how it will measure whether the strategy is working; and 8 Improving the prison estate • explain how its long-term strategy for the prison estate will contribute to reducing reoffending.
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Government response AI summary
The government accepted the recommendation for a cross-government reducing reoffending strategy, stating its ambition was outlined in the Smarter Approach to Sentencing White Paper. They committed to publishing an update 'in due course' and writing to the Committee with further details before the end of …
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HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
Deteriorating conditions within the prison estate have been a concern for many years. HM Inspectorate of Prisons (the Inspectorate) has consistently reported that many prisoners endure unsafe, poor and overcrowded living conditions. Between 2015–16 and 2019–20, the Inspectorate rated more than 40% of prisons it inspected as ‘poor’ or ‘not …
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Deteriorating conditions within the prison estate have been a concern for many years. HM Inspectorate of Prisons (the Inspectorate) has consistently reported that many prisoners endure unsafe, poor and overcrowded living conditions. Between 2015–16 and 2019–20, the Inspectorate rated more than 40% of prisons it inspected as ‘poor’ or ‘not sufficiently good’ for safety.14 In their written evidence to us, stakeholders and academics also told us of the “dreadful … and often totally inappropriate conditions” within prisons.15 The Ministry recognised that the prison estate did not meet the basic standards of being decent and secure, and told us that this was a key driver in its aspiration to renew the estate.16
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Government response AI summary
The government accepted the observation as a recommendation, committing to update the Committee in January 2021 on prison building plans and strategy scope, consult in early 2021, and publish a comprehensive strategy by summer 2021.
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HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
Poor conditions and crowding within the prison estate are in large part the result of historical under-investment in maintenance. HMPPS regularly has to take prison cells out of permanent use because of the state of disrepair. Between 2009–10 and 2019–20, HMPPS took 1,730 prison cells permanently out of use for …
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Poor conditions and crowding within the prison estate are in large part the result of historical under-investment in maintenance. HMPPS regularly has to take prison cells out of permanent use because of the state of disrepair. Between 2009–10 and 2019–20, HMPPS took 1,730 prison cells permanently out of use for failing to meet the required 9 Qq 6–8 10 Qq 53, 56 11 Q 112, C&AG’s report Appendix 1 12 C&AG’s report, para 1.17 13 Qq 95, 112 14 Q 32, C&AG’s report, para 5, 1.4–1.5 15 IPE0006 - Improving the prison estate, Professor Nicola Padfield (Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice at University of Cambridge), 1 July 2020; IPE0008 - Improving the prison estate, Transition to Adulthood Alliance, 1 July 2020; IPE0003 - Improving the prison estate, Prison Reform Trust, 1 July 2020 16 Q 29 Improving the prison estate 11 legislative and prison standards. The rate at which prison cells are lost has increased, with HMPPS taking 939 cells (54%) out of use in the last three years. Based on recent trends, HMPPS expected to lose a further 500 places annually owing to the scale of disrepair.17
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Government response AI summary
The government accepted the observation as a recommendation, committing to update the Committee in January 2021 on prison building plans and strategy scope, consult in early 2021, and publish a comprehensive strategy by summer 2021.
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HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
We asked HMPPS how it was managing crowding in prisons given the extent of the issue. HMPPS told us that its reconfiguration programme across the prison estate would help ensure that people were in the right environment for their sentence, as well as help ensure that it had the space …
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We asked HMPPS how it was managing crowding in prisons given the extent of the issue. HMPPS told us that its reconfiguration programme across the prison estate would help ensure that people were in the right environment for their sentence, as well as help ensure that it had the space to carry out maintenance in areas of the estate that are too crowded. In January 2020, HMPPS re-categorised HMP Haverigg, from a category C to a category D prison which increased the number of places available. In February 2020, it similarly changed HMP Manchester to a local category B training prison with category A remand functions. HMPPS explained that some of the programme had been put on hold during COVID-19, but that it was now back on track and expected further delivery by September. It expected that it would take a further two years to complete the work.54
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's finding and will write to the Committee by January 2021 to update on prison building plans, intending to consult in early 2021 and publish a comprehensive strategy by summer 2021.
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HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, HMPPS expected demand for prison places to rise because of the government’s August 2019 announcement to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers. The NAO reported that HMPPS could need new prisons to be ready from late 2022 to avoid demand outstripping supply.55 We asked whether the …
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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, HMPPS expected demand for prison places to rise because of the government’s August 2019 announcement to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers. The NAO reported that HMPPS could need new prisons to be ready from late 2022 to avoid demand outstripping supply.55 We asked whether the new prisons would be available soon enough to meet this demand. The Ministry told us that its aim was to bring the new prisons into use in time to avoid this situation. It explained the first two these prisons, at Glen Parva and Wellingborough, were already being built, and that it had contingency plans if demand for prisons places rose faster than expected.56 50 C&AG’s report, paras 6, 1.9, Figure 4 51 Q 42 52 Qq 38–39, C&AG’s report para 1.10 53 IPE0005 - Improving the prison estate, Dr Matthew Cracknell, Middlesex University, London, 1 July 202 54 Qq 38–39, 42 55 Q 74, C&AG’s report para 1.11, Figure 5 56 Qq 42, 74 Improving the prison estate 17 The impact of COVID-19
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Government response AI summary
The government accepted the observation as a recommendation, committing to update the Committee in January 2021 on prison building plans and strategy scope, consult in early 2021, and publish a comprehensive strategy by summer 2021.
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HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
By 19 June 2020, some 500 prisoners and 10 children in custody had tested positive for COVID-19. A further 992 staff within HMPPS had tested positive for the virus. Up to 26 June 2020, 44 people categorised as ‘HMPPS service users’ had died where COVID-19 was the suspected cause. Of …
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By 19 June 2020, some 500 prisoners and 10 children in custody had tested positive for COVID-19. A further 992 staff within HMPPS had tested positive for the virus. Up to 26 June 2020, 44 people categorised as ‘HMPPS service users’ had died where COVID-19 was the suspected cause. Of these, 23 were prisoners and 21 were probation service users. At the time of our evidence session, there had been no COVID-19 related deaths of service users since the week ending 29 May.57
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Government response AI summary
The government committed to publishing prison population projections by the end of 2020 and providing an update by April 2021 on its COVID-19 management strategy for the prison estate, including plans for temporary accommodation. They also highlighted progress on new prison builds to deliver 10,000 …
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HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
When infections take hold in prisons they can be very serious, so we were relieved to hear that the scale of the pandemic in prisons had not been as bad as was predicted at the outset. The Ministry and HMPPS nonetheless needed to make changes to the prison estate to …
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When infections take hold in prisons they can be very serious, so we were relieved to hear that the scale of the pandemic in prisons had not been as bad as was predicted at the outset. The Ministry and HMPPS nonetheless needed to make changes to the prison estate to try to reduce infection rates in prisons. The Ministry told us that it had worked with Public Health England to identify how best to respond to the pandemic within the prison estate. This included measures such as compartmentalisation and ‘reverse cohorting’ – making sure that new or transferring prisoners were separated from others for 14 days. The Ministry told us that while it initially thought that it would need to release a “fairly dramatic” number of prisoners, the measures it had taken meant this had not been the case.58 The Ministry also created extra prison capacity by using shipping containers as temporary cells.59 HMPPS told us that the dedication and excellent performance of working across prisons and probation could be clearly seen throughout the pandemic.60 The Ministry agreed that the quality of care and staffing provided by prison and probation staff during the pandemic had been extraordinary.61
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation on managing the prison estate, committing to publish prison population projections by the end of 2020, continue new prison builds, and provide an update by April 2021 on progress, including plans for temporary accommodation.
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HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
As part of our inquiry, we received written evidence from the Prison Reform Trust, Professor Nicola Padfield the University of Cambridge, and from Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge. They told us that shortcomings in the prison estate, particularly the extent of crowding …
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As part of our inquiry, we received written evidence from the Prison Reform Trust, Professor Nicola Padfield the University of Cambridge, and from Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge. They told us that shortcomings in the prison estate, particularly the extent of crowding in prisons, had been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Institute of Criminology was concerned that people were essentially being left to “rot” in their cells, “bored out of their minds and sometimes banged up in overcrowded cells”.62 Both Dr Padfield and the Institute of Criminology told us that prisoners were being locked up to 23 hours per day, often with poor sanitation, with inadequate access to exercise, education or rehabilitation activity and that family visits had been suspended.63 The Prison Reform Trust told us that the Ministry’s compartmentalisation approach was made much more difficult to implement by crowding in prisons. It explained that crowding in prisons meant that there was no reliable means of ensuring that someone with COVID-19 was not sharing a cell with a prisoner who did not yet have the virus. It also said that overcrowding meant that keeping cells clean was an “impossibility” which increased the risk of transmitting disease and, in 57 Qq 14–15, Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service COVID-19 Official Statistics Data to 26 June 2020, 3 July 2020 58 Qq 20–21 59 Q 108, IPE0007 - Improving the prison estate, Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe (Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Director of the Institute of Criminology at Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge) 1 July 2020 60 Q 98 61 Q 103 62 IPE0007 - Improving the prison estate, Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe (Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Director of the Institute of Criminology at Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge) 1 July 2020 63 Professor Nicola Padfield (Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice at Universit
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation and commits to publishing prison population projections by the end of 2020. They also highlight ongoing new prison builds to deliver 10,000 spaces by 2026 and will provide an update by April 2021 on progress and temporary accommodation …
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HM Treasury
30
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
The prison population fell during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the cancellation of jury trials and fewer cases coming through from the courts.67 In March 2020, almost half of all courts were closed and jury trials were paused to minimise social interaction between court users.68 By June 2020, …
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The prison population fell during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the cancellation of jury trials and fewer cases coming through from the courts.67 In March 2020, almost half of all courts were closed and jury trials were paused to minimise social interaction between court users.68 By June 2020, the media reported that this had created a backlog of 483,000 cases in the magistrates courts and 41,000 in the Crown courts, and that this was increasing by up to 3,000 cases per week. We asked the Ministry what plans it had to manage the impact of this backlog on the prison estate. The Ministry told us that it was determined to get the Crown courts back up and running. It was unable, however, to give us a month or year by which we could expect it to have cleared the backlog of cases.69 The Ministry told us that the Lord Chancellor would be making an announcement “very shortly” which would provide more information. Following our evidence session, the Lord Chancellor announced a recovery plan for the Courts and Tribunals Service on 1 July 2020. The plan committed to reopening all courts and tribunals which had been closed to public and stated that all remaining sites would be opened in July.70
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation to manage the impact of court backlogs on the prison estate, committing to publish prison population projections by end of 2020 and provide an update on progress and temporary accommodation plans by April 2021.
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HM Treasury
31
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
The Ministry and HMPPS told us that the fall in cases coming through from the courts, and the subsequent lower demand for prison places, had given it the headroom it needed to manage the prison estate during the pandemic. They explained that at the start of the pandemic they had …
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The Ministry and HMPPS told us that the fall in cases coming through from the courts, and the subsequent lower demand for prison places, had given it the headroom it needed to manage the prison estate during the pandemic. They explained that at the start of the pandemic they had aimed for headroom of between 3,500 and 5,550 places to deliver a safe COVID-19 regime. HMPPS said that, despite the need to create opportunities for people to shield and to isolate prisoners with symptoms of COVID-19, it had “got pretty close to that”.71 The Ministry recognised that it was vital that it was able to provide the places that would be needed as courts started sending people to prison again.72 64 IPE0003 - Improving the prison estate, Prison Reform Trust, 1 July 2020 65 IPE0003 - Improving the prison estate, Prison Reform Trust, 1 July 2020; and IPE0007 - Improving the prison estate, Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe (Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Director of the Institute of Criminology at Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge) 1 July 2020 66 Qq 27–28 67 Qq 21, 61, IPE0009 - Improving the prison estate, Howard League for Penal Reform, 1 July 2020 68 Ministry of Justice, Press Release – Priority courts to make sure justice is served, 27 March 2020; and Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, Review of court arrangements due to COVID-19, 23 March 2020 69 Q 116 70 HM Courts and Tribunals Service, COVID-19: Overview of HMCTS response, 1 July 2020 71 Qq 21, 61, 108 72 Qq 46, 116 Improving the prison estate 19
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee, stating it will publish prison population projections by end 2020 to forecast changes and confirms new prisons are on track for delivery by 2026. It will also provide an update by April 2021 on progress and plans for expected …
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HM Treasury
32
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
In its written evidence to us, The Prison Reform Trust asserted that there was nothing in the government’s planning, short or long term, which would better prepare the prison service for a future outbreak of COVID-19 or a similar pandemic. It told us that, in the immediate future, the prison …
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In its written evidence to us, The Prison Reform Trust asserted that there was nothing in the government’s planning, short or long term, which would better prepare the prison service for a future outbreak of COVID-19 or a similar pandemic. It told us that, in the immediate future, the prison service was likely to be in an even worse position should infection rates rise.73 We asked HMPPS what plans it had in place to ensure that it was as prepared as possible if there was a second wave. HMPPS told us that it was making sure that it kept the headroom that it needed, including working with Public Health England to identify what options were available to it. This included exploring whether it could quarantine incoming prisoners more efficiently and move people out more quickly than 14 days. It assured us that it was confident that it could cope with a second wave.74 73 IPE0003 - Improving the prison estate, Prison Reform Trust, 1 July 2020 74 Qq 61, 109 20 Improving the prison estate 3 Reducing re-offending
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation, committing to publishing prison population projections by end 2020 and providing an update on progress and plans for temporary accommodation by April 2021. It also confirms new prisons are on track and the COVID-19 strategy for prisons is …
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HM Treasury
33
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
Almost half of those who spend time in prison will go on to reoffend within a year of their release. Reoffending costs society and the economy £18.1 billion each year. Over half of this (£10 billion) is the direct costs to individuals and services due to a crime taking place.75 …
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Almost half of those who spend time in prison will go on to reoffend within a year of their release. Reoffending costs society and the economy £18.1 billion each year. Over half of this (£10 billion) is the direct costs to individuals and services due to a crime taking place.75 Reoffending can also have a considerable impact on the emotional wellbeing of victims and on wider society. The Ministry recognised that the best way to tackle crime was to reduce reoffending. HMPPS similarly told us that it was working hard to ensure that when people leave prison, they have the right support in place and do not reoffend. It told us that it had recruited a new director for reducing reoffending, specifically to help it look more widely at how it could reduce reoffending, as well as having established resettlement and training prisons to help prisoners address the behaviour that led to them to reoffend. HMPPS also told us that it was working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to identify how they could provide the proper support for people leaving prison through initiatives such as the Prison Leavers Project. It explained that this was aligned with its Through the Gate programme, which looked at the needs of people leaving prison and started working with them several weeks before they leave prison to try to address their needs. Witnesses explained that reoffending was not just an issue for HMPPS or the Ministry and that addressing it would require a cross-government effort.76
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Government response AI summary
The government agreed with the committee's observation on the need for a strategic approach to reoffending and outlined its ambition in the Smarter Approach to Sentencing White Paper. It committed to publishing an update on this work and providing further details to the Committee before …
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HM Treasury
34
Recommendation
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
In our 2019 review of the Ministry’s progress in transforming rehabilitation, we concluded that the Ministry would not make sustained progress with reducing reoffending until it could provide the support offenders desperately needed on leaving prison, including securing stable accommodation. We recommended that the Ministry, working with the Reducing Reoffending …
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In our 2019 review of the Ministry’s progress in transforming rehabilitation, we concluded that the Ministry would not make sustained progress with reducing reoffending until it could provide the support offenders desperately needed on leaving prison, including securing stable accommodation. We recommended that the Ministry, working with the Reducing Reoffending Board should report back to us, setting out a cross-government strategy to reduce reoffending, by the end of June 2019.77 The Government accepted our recommendation in July 2019. In its response to our report, it agreed that an overarching strategy focused on reducing reoffending was required and committed to implementing our recommendation by the summer of 2020.78 Despite this, a cross-government strategy has not yet been published. We therefore asked the Ministry when this was likely to take place. It said that it was “not sure if there is an imminent publication”. It committed to taking advice and coming back to us on this issue.79
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Government response AI summary
The government agreed with the recommendation for a cross-government strategy to reduce reoffending, acknowledging past delays and committing to publishing an update in due course and writing to the Committee with further details before the end of 2020.
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HM Treasury
35
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
The way offenders were treated on their release from prison has a significant impact on how they re-integrate into society.80 We received written evidence from Middlesex University, which told us that poor or inadequate resettlement pathways had resulted in lack of adequate housing options for prisoners on their release.81 On …
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The way offenders were treated on their release from prison has a significant impact on how they re-integrate into society.80 We received written evidence from Middlesex University, which told us that poor or inadequate resettlement pathways had resulted in lack of adequate housing options for prisoners on their release.81 On 4th April 2020, the Government announced that up to 4,000 prisoners could be released to prevent the spread 75 Q 43, Ministry of Justice, Economic and social costs of reoffending, Alexander Newton, Xennor May, Steven Eames & Maryam Ahmad, 2019 76 Qq 43–44 77 Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming Rehabilitation: A progress review, Ninety-Fourth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 1747, 3 May 2019 78 HM Treasury, Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Ninety-Third to the Ninety- Fourth and Ninety-Sixth to the Ninety Eighth reports from Session 2017–19, CP 151, July 2019 79 Q 45 80 IPE0007 - Improving the prison estate, Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe (Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Director of the Institute of Criminology at Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge) 1 July 2020; Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming Rehabilitation: A progress review, Ninety-Fourth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 1747, 3 May 2019 81 IPE0005 - Improving the prison estate, Dr Matthew Cracknell, Middlesex University, London, 1 July 2020 Improving the prison estate 21 of the disease. Eighty-one prisoners had been released by 8th June 2020.82 We asked the Ministry how many of those who had been released did not have settled accommodation to go to on their release. The Ministry told us that it had set clear conditions that people would not be released unless there was a housing solution available to them on their release. Both the Ministry and HMPPS told us that accommodation had been available in 100% of cases. HMPPS explained that this was often accommodation that the prisoner had arranged for themselves, and that it had w
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation for a strategic approach to reoffending, committing to publishing an update and further details before the end of 2020. This approach will focus on ensuring individuals have jobs, homes, and medical treatment, building on cross-government work and dovetailing …
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HM Treasury
36
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison…
Accepted
In April 2020, the Chief Inspector of Prisons similarly found that, within local prisons, resettlement assessments and planning for release had been limited as a result of COVID-19. It found that good efforts had been made to address accommodation needs at several prisons and few prisoners were released homeless. However, …
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In April 2020, the Chief Inspector of Prisons similarly found that, within local prisons, resettlement assessments and planning for release had been limited as a result of COVID-19. It found that good efforts had been made to address accommodation needs at several prisons and few prisoners were released homeless. However, it was clear that for many prisoners the only provision was short-term, emergency accommodation that was often found only on the day of release. It also heard of one instance where proactive work by the health care department in liaison with a community housing provider had ensured that temporary accommodation was found for a man who had recently recovered from COVID-19 who would otherwise have been released homeless.84 82 IPE0007 - Improving the prison estate, Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe (Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Director of the Institute of Criminology at Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge) 1 July 2020 83 Qq 22–26 84 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Report on short scrutiny visits to Local prisons, 28 April 2020 22 Improving the prison estate
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Government response AI summary
The government accepted the observation as a recommendation, committing to a strategic approach to reoffending, including publishing an update by March 2021, focusing on ensuring prison leavers have jobs, homes, and medical treatment.
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HM Treasury