17 - General

Question 1

Historical Context

16th and 17th Century

Answer 1

Punishment as public; prisons for holding only

Question 2

Historical Context

18th Century

Answer 2

Prison ships and transportation- Bentham and Howard – one prisoner per cell

Question 3

Historical Context

19th Century

Answer 3

Prison as a disposal in its own right – reform and nationalisation

Question 4

Historical Context

20th Century

Answer 4

Private prisons, benchmarking, rehabilitation revolution?

Question 5

Impact of different governments on penal policy

Answer 5

1998 Labour landslide - Education, education, education

Now - Justice Secretary - Prisons not in crisis (2014) - Book ban – truth or fiction

Question 6

Issues…

Answer 6

Suicide & Self harm

Drugs & Alcohol

Lack of regime

Mental health

Corruption prevention

Vulnerable prisoners

Staffing shortages and retention

Population pressures

Question 7

H M Prison Service

Objectives

Answer 7

To protect the public and provide what commissioners want to purchase by:

Holding prisoners securely

Reducing the risk of prisoners re-offending

Providingsafe and well-ordered establishments in which we treat prisoners humanely, decently and lawfully.

Question 8

HMP Leicester - History

Answer 8

Opened in 1828

3 acres – very small footprint

40ft brick wall – approx 2m bricks

1847 – Main wing built

1990 – Administration / visits building

1995 – Healthcare centre

Question 9

HMP Leicester - Population

Answer 9

Maximum 400

Average 340

60% Remand

30% BME

10% Foreign nationals

Question 10

Role of the Prison…

Answer 10

Keep prisoners in custody

To serve the courts of Leicester and Leicestershire

Hold prisoners on remand, awaiting trial or newly sentenced

Assess convicted prisoners and send them to training prisons

Question 11

The Future … Challenges and Hope

Answer 11

Safety and violence; reflection of issues outside

Change in structure of Prison Service/ change in government

Prison Population (up or down)

Autonomy

Question 12

Running a prison – part of the communuty

Answer 12

Regional Manager

IMB

HMIP / MQPL

Auditors: Financial/Standards/Security

Local MP/Local Bishop

Prison Service / NOMS Headquarters

Ministry of Justice

Local Community – Square Mile Project (Leicester)

Local/National Media

Families/friends of prisoners

Local Criminal Justice board

Question 13

Manage the Internal environment…

Answer 13

Communication

Security & Order and Control

Finance

Staff Issues

Prisoner issues

Risk management

Creating a safe & decent environment for all who work and live in prison

Question 14

Deaths in prison

Answer 14

There were 107 self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales in the year to September 2016, the highest number on record.

Eight were women—the highest number since 2007, when Baroness Corston published her report following the deaths of six women at HMP Styal within a 13-month period.

The rate of self-inflicted deaths amongst the prison population is 130 per 100,000 people—amongst the general population it’s 10.8 per 100,000 people.36 There were 58 deaths in prison that occurred between June 2013 and January 2016, where the prisoner was known, or strongly suspected, to have been using new psychoactive substances (NPS) before their death. 39 of these were self-inflicted.

Question 15

Leaving Prison…

Answer 15

Leaving prison Re-offending rates among offenders are high - about two thirds are reconvicted within two years of release. Among men aged 18-21 the rate is about three quarters.

Accommodation problems are common - nearly one in three will not have somewhere to live upon release.

A majority of prisoners will have no job to go to and six out of 10 employers automatically exclude those with a criminal record.

Question 16

Working in a Prison…

Answer 16

Described as – “the most complicated people management task you will ever come across”

Not seen or appreciated by the public - a multitude of stereotypes exist

Closed shop and our families, friends and the community at large do not see and appreciate the work we do everyday

Resilient, Caring, Innovative, Team worker, Integrity, Organised, Problem Solver, Decision Maker, Embrace change.

In spite of all the problems – three quarters of prisoners when questioned said that staff “treated them with respect” ; a challenging job at its most difficult. People skills are the most important asset to have.

Question 17

Pains of Imprisonment: Suicide and self harm…

Answer 17

Rates of self-harm are at the highest level ever recorded. There were 36,440 self-harm incidents in the year to June 2016—a 52% rise in just two years. A quarter of self-harm incidents occurred within the first month of arriving in a prison—9% were during the first week.

There is a significant correlation between rising self harm and rising violence – serious assaults have more than doubled in the last three years

Self harm rates have risen 50% over the same period.

Question 18

Social Characteristics…

Answer 18

Almost half of prisoners ran away as a child - compared to 11% of the general population.

About one in three female and half of male prisoners were excluded from school and a majority have no qualifications.

Less than 5% of the general population have two or more mental disorders, compared to 72% of male and 70% of female sentenced prisoners.

Question 19

Prison Population – some facts

Answer 19

Nowhere in Western Europe jails more of its population than England and Wales, where about 147 people per 100,000 are in prison.

Since the start of 1993, the number of prisoners has risen from 41,600 to more than 89000

Prison sentences are continuing to get longer. The average prison sentence is now over four months longer than 10 years ago at 16.4 months. For more serious, indictable offences, the average is now 57.1 months—20 months longer than 10 years ago

Anyone leaving custody who has served two days or more is now required to serve a minimum of 12 months under supervision in the community. As a result, the number of people recalled to custody following their release has increased dramatically. The recall population is now 19% higher than when the changes were introduced in February 2015—nearly 1,100 more people

Question 20

Rehabilitative prisons…

Answer 20

Promote desistance and reduce risk:

See engaging offenders in change as an important objective

Convey hope and optimism that change is possible

Demonstrate and teach thinking and behavioural skills

Build strong relationships that demonstrate genuine care about the individual (every contact does matter)

Enable offenders to set and work towards goals for changing their lives

Staff actively listen

Mitigate aspects of imprisonment that might lead to increased offending

Question 21

For prisons to be decent

Answer 21

Offenders feel safe

Are hopeful

Are treated fairly

Authority is used confidently, consistently, not punitively

There is a shared purpose - to change prisoners’ lives

Strong leadership

Largely determined by the attitudes and skills of frontline staff

Interpersonal courtesy, lack of aggression, avoiding insult and degrading behaviour

Getting things done

Question 22

Reducing Reoffending pathways

Answer 22

Accommodation

Education, Training and Employment

Mental and Physical Health

Drugs and Alcohol

Finance, Benefits and Debt

Children and Families

Attitudes, Thinking and Behaviour

Question 23

HMP Leicester - What are our challenges

Answer 23

Recruitment and retention of staff

CRCs – Becoming a resettlement prison

Safety

Regime

Question 24

Regime…

Answer 24

Limited work – catering & cleaning

Education – Focus on reading, writing and IT skills - Education level 1 & level 2 – equivalent to 1st year senior school.

PE – mostly recreational

Domestic visits – remand prisoners daily/ convicted twice a month

Legal visits & Video link

Question 25

Male Categories…

Answer 25

Category A
prisoners are those whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security

Category B
prisoners are those who do not require maximum security, but for whom escape needs to be made very difficult

Category C
prisoners are those who cannot be trusted in open conditions but who are unlikely to try to escape

Category D
prisoners are those who can be reasonably trusted not to try to escape, and are given the privilege of an open prison

Question 26

Prisons and Radicalisation

Answer 26

Wake of the “shoe bomber” debate about radicalisation in prison increased

12000 Muslims in prison,

100 for terrorist offences
Reports about Muslims in prison more vulnerable due to isolation and support

Parliamentary report cite staff shortages as fuelling the problem, denied by experts but the debate continues

Question 27

Resources

Answer 27

Over 200 directly 	employed staff
Uniformed staff
Administration
Catering 
Chaplains

Additional staff
Nurses
HC specialists
Drug Workers
Teachers
Probation 
Police intelligence officer
Librarian
Contractors
Volunteers
Maintenance

£9.5m budget

Healthcare commissioned by Primary care Trust (approx £1m)

Education commissioned by Learning & Skills Council

Some probation staff

Question 28

The current “crisis” and what to do about it

Answer 28

The Justice Select Committeerecently criticisedthe government for cutting the number of prison officers by almost 30%, a reduction of 12,530 staff, between 31 March 2010 and 30 June 2014.
The committee’s report also said the prisoner-to-staff ratio rose from 3.8 in September 2010 to 4.9 in September 2014.