Inside this Edition:
Notes from Chair – The Guardian view on Labour and Prisons – PRT prison Pay Project – Minister to give Magistrates
more sentencing powers – HMP Winchester failings – Lowdham Grange 85 weapons found
Could you be an Affect Trustee? – Recalls are excessive, says Chief Inspector of Probation UNGRIPP –
MP drop-ins – A Garden by Rob Wickings
Notes from the Chair
Happy New Year. I expect, like me, you are facing 2025 with mixed feelings. Glad that the New Year is here, but worried about the World’s, and personal, difficult circumstances.
January is a long month, with little sun, and even smaller amounts of money (after all that Christmas spend!)
Now is the time to pay particular attention to our, and our loved ones’ well-being, and to work actively on our Wellness Plans. You know the ones, nutritious, sustaining food, exercise, managing stress, mindfulness,
and encouraging positive sleep patterns. It seems obvious, but we all need these reminders, particularly at this time of year. I do! Good luck!
However difficult, the benefits are always considerable, and worth the effort.
AFFECT held its AGM in December, which is a requirement under the Charity Commission rules. It was well-attended (particularly considering the appalling weather) and held in an interesting and creative venue.
There was a mix of face-to-face and Zoom attendees- a first for the organisation, so feedback is welcome.
The guest speaker, Paul Cissell, was very thought-provoking, and led us in a guided mindfulness programme. Paul reminded us of the importance of making time for ourselves, and managing stress through mindfulness.
It was reported that AFFECT has 12 TSWs supporting 16 family members, and is financially viable.
An important proposal was put to change the balance of Chair and Manager’s roles, providing more responsibility to the latter, and increasing her hours by 2, per week. This was agreed, with the financial
implications subject to further work.
There continues to be increased awareness of, and debate about the pressure, purpose and future role of prisons, and their inmates. One proposal being to reduce the prison population by increasing the numbers of home curfews. AFFECT will continue to monitor these developments and make appropriate representations.
Once again, Happy New Year, and take great care of yourselves and your loved ones.
Carol. (Chair)
Affect Board and attendees at AGM, 7/12/2024
The Guardian view on Labour and prisons: sustained courage is needed for rational reform. 12.12.24
Convicted criminals do not rank high on most voters’ lists of candidates for lavish government spending. As a result, the jail budget has historically been a soft political target for cost-cutting. The people who are most affected in the short term have little impact over public debate. Prisoners cannot vote. In the long time, deteriorated and overcrowded prisons increase recidivism, exacerbate drug and mental health issues, and foster hardened criminality. This has far-reaching consequences beyond prison walls, upsetting a wider swathe of the
electorate and placing a heavier burden on the exchequer. Skimping on justice is the definition of a false economy.
As a former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer understands this. The government is showing encouraging signs about repairing the damage done by the [previous administration]. On Wednesday 11th December 2024 the justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, committed to building four new prisons, creating 6,400 new
places with similar additional capacity to existing prisons. The justice department was an unexpected beneficiary of increased spending in Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget –with an additional £500m allocated for new prison and probation officers; £2.3bn for prison expansion over the next two years.
Former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke was appointed to lead a review into sentencing. In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Gauke indicated his thinking, of specialist courts to focus on more intensive supervision of repeat offender with addiction problems.
The sentencing review due in April, is expected to acknowledge that short prison sentences are often counterproductive, providing little deterrent or rehabilitation while transforming occasional offenders into hardened criminals. The government, already forced to release thousand early to ease the overcrowding crisis.
Despite a reasonable defence this faced a hostile media backlash. Labour inherited an unavoidable issue that the Conservatives had postponed until after an expected election loss.
The effectiveness of arguments based on blaming a former government degrades quickly. The effectiveness of arguments based on blaming a former government decreases rapidly. The case for transforming justice policy away from imprisonment as the default in all cases must be argued on its own merits. This entails preparing the groundwork for discussions regarding the wider social advantages of rehabilitation investment. Fewer repeat offenders lead to safer streets and fewer victims of crime.
PRT Prison Pay project
Last October, AFFECT Chair Carol and Project Manager Shannel met with Prison Reform Trust CEO Pia and Development Manager Sophie to discuss the proposal for partnership on the PRT Prison Pay project,
which is set to begin this year. Prison pay has not been increased in two decades, causing prisoners to become poorer while canteen prices continue to rise. The cost-of-living crisis is affecting prisoners and prison staff safety. Vulnerable prisoners borrow essential items from fellow prisoners, knowing they will be unable to repay the debt, which can result in violent attacks. Families are also financially impacted by the burden and are limited to the amount of money they can send in as prices rise in society.
PRT will be working with prisoners and prisons, and AFFECT would like to contribute by providing families with an opportunity to share their experiences in the research through questionnaire form. Including families will demonstrate how important it is for prisoners to receive fair and equal pay. AFFECT will include a contact information in a future Newsletter edition, once PRT have confirmed the project has commenced.
Minister to give Magistrates more sentencing powers (BBC News report 17.10.24)
Magistrates in England and Wales will be able to jail offenders for up to 12 months from November to stop cases clogging up crown courts. The plan was first tried by the former Conservative government before scrapped as prisons filled. Labour says its version will work long-term.
Magistrates in England and Wales have historically been limited to sentencing offenders of a maximum of six months for a single offence. More serious cases were referred to judges in Crown courts.
Criminal lawyers view this move as a sticking plaster for a chronic lack of cash in a crisis – ridden system.
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood told MP’s that it will ultimately help slash the record numbers of suspects being held waiting a trial. There is a backlog of around 68,000 cases in those higher courts and a record 17,000 suspects on remand waiting for a trial. Ms Mahmood told MPs that while the early release scheme was now
working as planned, there was still an acute problem in jails holding too many remand prisoners. She said that by giving magistrates the power to decide cases that would lead to jail sentence of up to 12 months, the record remand population would begin to fall. In turn, with fewer suspects having to go to crown courts, judges would gain extra 2,000 days a year to deal with the most serious cases and start to reduce unprecedented delays. Mary Prior KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “Doubling magistrates’ maximum sentencing powers will only increase pressure on reduced prison space, by speedily raising the much bigger sentenced prisoner population.”
Mark Beattie, chair of the Magistrates’ Association, said that its members welcomed the new power to help deliver swifter justice.
HMP Winchester: drugs and violence highlight systemic failings in a persistently underachieving prison HM Inspectorate of prisons report, 21.01.25
An Urgent Notification for HMP Winchester was issued on 23rd October 2024. The report has been published after an unannounced inspection took place between 7th – 18th October 2024 by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor.
HMP Winchester is a category B reception and resettlement prison with a separate category C unit. Since the last inspection violence had increased against staff and prisoners. Drug use, debt and prisoner frustration caused by staff inability to manage basic request contributed to some of the leading causes. Prisoners spending just 2.5 hours a day unlocked with a lack of purposeful activity exacerbated these issues. Self-harm was now among the highest in the prison estate, and prisoners were extremely frustrated by an inability to use phones to contact their families. Over a quarter said they currently felt unsafe and 57% said they had felt unsafe at some point in the prison.
Winchester is the ninth prison to be issued with an Urgent Notification since November 2022 and the second category B training prison. The other prisons are Exeter, Woodhill, Bristol, Bedford, Wandsworth, Rochester and Cookham Wood YOI. In this inspection, the scores for Safety, Respect, Purposeful activity all scored 1 meaning outcomes for prisoners are poor. Preparation for release scored 3 meaning outcomes for prisoners are good. full report
Lowdham Grange: 85 machetes found before Serco – Sodexo transfer (Inside Times 20.01.25)
HMP Lowdham Grange a category B prison in Nottinghamshire, holding 900 men saw the number of violent incidents recorded surge from around 15 per month in the second half of 2022, to 127 in February 2023 and increasing to 190 in March 2023.
The makeshift weapons, constructed from washing machine parts, were discovered in Lowdham Grange.
In February 2023 Serco handed over the control to Sodexo amid concerns that 87 staff had left in 12 months.
Leaving Lowdham Grange dangerously short- staffed. In March 2023, three men took their own lives at the prison within 19 days of each other. At the joint inquest into the three deaths this month, John Hewitson, Serco’s last Director of Lowdham Grange, said when he arrived in November 2022, he found the “place in chaos”.
HM Prison and Probation service stepped in to take over the running of Lowdham Grange from Sodexo, this was made permanent in 2024. The failed transfer between private operators carries lessons for the Ministry of Justice as it faces decisions over what to do at other privately managed jails whose contracts are approaching their end dates.
AFFECT needs your support!
I urge you to consider a donation, particularly a regular monthly amount, however small, e.g. £10 or £25.
Your contribution will help our service to continue to run efficiently and help others like you. Thank you for your generosity.
UNGRIPP What is an IPP sentence?- MP drop in, 15.01.25
Since the election last year, there are 335 new MPs, many of whom will be unaware of what IPP sentences are.
On 15th January 2025, UNGRIPP held a drop-in session in Room R, Portcullis House 10am – 2pm for MPs in Parliament, for them to learn about the IPP sentence and ways to help push for further change.
Last year there were some changes to the IPP licence conditions, these were the first changes made to IPP since 2008, but these changes did not go far enough and will not impact those who are still in prison on IPP. UNGRIPP continue to raise awareness by providing local MP with drop in’s.