Custodial Review issue 77 March 2016

Custodial the

Review

The Custodial Review informing the Prison, Border Agency and Police Services Edition 77

The Clink Charity Ball 2016 raises nearly ÂŁ50,000 for prisoner hospitality training schemes

Presenteeism in prison officers is a serious health and safety risk see p10 Eoin McLennan-Murray, just before he hung up his keys see p10 Children affected by parental imprisonment see p16

Digital technologies for learning in prison: what one Australian university is doing see p18 Restorative Justice in custodial settings information pack see p24 Prisoners’ lives can be significantly improved - and sometimes even saved - for the price of a stamp see p28

www.custodialreview.co.uk For thousands of products, services and links

Campsfield House Immigration Centre install Fireworks Fire Protection High Pressure Watermist Fire Suppression System

to be re-instated very quickly and without water damage to the surrounding cells .Hydramist Fire protection systems have already saved many lives in prisons to date, The speed of the installation ensured continuity of accommodation for other detainees, and allowed the remainder of the immigration centre to be kept open whilst works were completed. Overall this minimised any possibility of disruption to the day to day business of the detention centre.

Experience Fireworks have installed Hydramist equipment has been installed throughout UK prisons since 2006. The UK home office figures for current prison population is over 86,000 inmates and prisons in the UK are now mostly protected by Hydramist equipment.

Hydramist systems were selected by the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office after extensive fire testing at the UK Building Research Establishment proved that Hydramist systems were much more effective than traditional hose reel systems and would save lives in prisons.

The BRE test criteria were:

Campsfield House Immigration Centre is a privately run immigration detention centre located in Oxfordshire. It was converted from a Young Offenders Institute to an immigration detention centre in 1993 and has a capacity of 215 persons.

The Problem Campsfield House Immigration Centre has been suffered two fires in the last 5 years. The last fire (in 2013) spread from a cell area into the roof space above and extended along the roof of a wing of the accommodation block. The resulting conflagration required 10 fire tenders to get the blaze under control; the fire resulted in the hospitalisation of 2 men. The procedures needed for evacuation of an Immigration detention centre are far more challenging than that of an open access building.

The Solution Fireworks designed and installed a Hydramist’s Anti-ligature in-cell fire protection system in the cells and Hydramist Ordinary Hazard Group 1 fire protection system in other areas of the detention centre.

The Hydramist in-cell anti-ligature fire protection system has been proven by UK Building Research Establishment (BRE) to suppress the fire, maintain a tenable atmosphere - allowing the detention centre time to respond to the fire threat - and evacuate the detainees safely.

The Hydramist ordinary hazard group 1 fire protection system has been 3rd party certificated by Lloyds Register to CEN TS14972:2011 to suppress the fire in an Ordinary hazard group 1 fire risk. The certification testing proved that the Hydramist system is more effective than a sprinkler at reducing consequential loss whilst using less water – the result is that the facility has less consequential damage and can return to operation more quickly.

Employing high pressure watermist allows water to be used in its most efficient fire suppression mode – resulting in the cell being able

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Maintain a tenable atmosphere for a period of 20 minutes when fire tested in accordance with the specifications

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Discharge a relatively small amount of water

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Deliver a spray of water mist with sufficient momentum to discharge droplets to the back wall of a cell.

The Inundation was to last for 5 minutes after pre-burn and operation of internal cell fire detection systems, then a simulated ‘rescue’ of an inmate involving opening the door for a set period of one minute would occur, followed by Re-closing the door and waiting 10 minutes during which time the fire was not to resume.

Watermist Ltd tested Hydramist® products as follows: •

Mobile 8 and Hose reel mounted hand held lances.

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Fixed in cell nozzle with glass frangible bulb operation using a locally mounted pump unit.

In all tests Hydramist®: •

Successfully extinguished the fire at the first attempt

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Dramatically reduced cell temperature, toxic gases & smoke to ‘tenable’ levels.

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Ensured sufficient oxygen was available to sustain life throughout the cell.

Note: During the ‘rescue’ and the ten minute waiting period after inundation that the fire did not resume; temperatures & toxic gases in the cell continued to fall, remaining well below levels that could be harmful to life.

The life-saving capabilities of the Hydramist system were borne out within weeks of the first installation when a young woman’s life became at risk due to a fire breaking out in her cell. The Hydramist system was deployed and she was safely evacuated – this was the first of many lives saved.

For more information please contact Lewis Oxley our Custodial Account Manager on 01953 458420 or email lewis@fireworks-ltd.com or visit www.fireworks-ltd.com

Contents Issue 77

the Custodial Review Editorial Sales: Tracy Johnson, Martin Petty Tel: 01234 348878 sales@custodialreview.co.uk

Annual Subscription £30 Free to qualifying individuals

Administration: Lyn Mitchell Design/Production: Amanda Wesley Production Editor: Richard Shrubb Publisher: Steve Mitchell

4 News 10

Presenteeism in prison officers is a serious health and safety risk

10

Eoin McLennan-Murray, just before he hung up his keys

14

The Clink Charity Ball 2016 raises nearly £50,000 for prisoner hospitality training schemes

16 Children affected by parental imprisonment 18

Digital technologies for learning in prison: what one Australian university is doing

22

The BSRIA has launched a Legionella Topic Guide

24

Restorative Justice in custodial settings information pack

26

BIM – the implications beyond April 2016

28

Prisoners’ lives can be significantly improved - and sometimes even saved - for the price of a stamp

30

News

The publisher will consider financial reimbursement for relevant articles. If you have an article, or wish to compose one, on a relevant topic then please contact the publisher on stevem@pirnet.co.uk. It’s subject to acceptance so please contact prior to starting and it will appear on the Custodial website.

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The Publisher holds all copyright and any items within may not be reproduced in any way, for any purpose, without the written permission of the Publisher.

This publication contains Crown Copyright material reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.

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Ministerial Statement made by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Michael Gove in Nov 2015 Social Reform is at the heart of this government’s programme, and nowhere is that more true than in criminal justice.

We are embarking on a radical reform of our prisons to rehabilitate offenders, cut crime and enhance public safety. Investment for nine new prisons which will have better facilities for work and education has already been announced.

I can also announce a new beginning for female offenders with women prisoners serving their sentences in more humane surroundings better designed to keep them out of crime. We will close the inadequate and antiquated Holloway prison and invest in 21st century solutions to the problems of criminality.

For women offenders in London, we are now in a position to hold them on remand in the more modern facilities at HMP Bronzefield. We will also re-open newly refurbished facilities at HMP Downview as a women’s prison later next year. This will allow sentenced women to be held in an environment that is more appropriate for many of those currently sent to Holloway.

Both provide a better setting for children visiting their mothers. Both are well located with good transport links to London.

I am very grateful to the hardworking staff in the prison who have deservedly won praise for their work. Despite their inspirational efforts, Holloway’s design and physical state do not provide the best environment for the rehabilitation of women offenders. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons’ last published inspection of Holloway noted that the “size and poor design make it a very difficult establishment to run”.

I am extremely mindful that Holloway holds many vulnerable women. For that reason, no one will be moved immediately and we will not close the prison until services similar to those currently provided for women offenders are in place elsewhere.

We expect the prison to close by summer next year.

The closure of Holloway underlines our determination to invest in a high-quality, modern prison estate with better facilities to help prisoners turn away from crime.

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The government’s response to the report of the independent review into self-inflicted deaths in custody of 1824 year olds The Harris Review into self-inflicted deaths in custody of 18-24 year olds began its work in April 2014. It was asked to examine whether appropriate lessons had been learned from the self-inflicted deaths in custody of 1824 year olds after the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork process (ACCT) was fully rolled out in April 2007, and if not, what lessons should be learned and what action taken to prevent further deaths.

The Harris Review was published by the government on 1 July 2015. The review made 108 recommendations to the government.

It can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/486564/govresponse-harris-review.pdf

Ministry of Justice’s settlement at the Spending Review 2015 The Chancellor has published the results of the spending review, including details of the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ’s) budget over the course of this Parliament.

The Spending Review and Autumn Statement delivers on the government’s priority to provide security to working people at every stage of their lives. It sets out a four year plan to fix the public finances, return the country to surplus and run a healthy economy that starts to pay down the debt. By ensuring Britain’s long term economic security, the government is able to spend £4 billion on its priorities over the next four years.

For the MOJ this means

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Ministry of Justice £ billion Baseline Plans

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21(2)

Resource DEL (1) 6.2

6.5

6.3

5.8

5.6

*

Capital DEL 0.4 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.1 Total DEL 6.5 7.2 7.0 6.5 6.0 * (1) In this table, Resource DEL excludes depreciation (2) 2020-21 Resource DEL departmental budgets have only been set for some departments. For the rest, these budgets will be set in full at the next Spending Review

Long term investment £1.3 billion will be invested to reform and modernise the prison estate to make it even more efficient, safer and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation. The government will build nine new, modern prisons – five of which will open this Parliament – with better education facilities and other rehabilitative services, while selling ageing, inefficient prisons on prime real estate to free up land for new homes.

Efficiency and reform By investing in the prison estate, the government will reduce running costs in prisons by £80 million a year when the reforms are complete. New investment will also fund video conference centres, allowing up to 90,000 cases to be heard from prison instead of court, and will deliver more safety improvements in prisons, including body scanners and mobile phone blocking technology.

These reforms will reduce reoffending through more effective rehabilitation, and will reduce the cost of transporting prisoners between courts and prisons, stamp out the organisation of crime from within prisons, and stem the availability of drugs and other illicit substances.

This builds on the probation reforms undertaken in the last Parliament, which will reduce the costs of the system and reinvest them into extending probation support to 45,000 short-sentence offenders for the first time, to tackle reoffending.

more than £700 million investment in the courts and tribunals system to create a swifter, more proportionate justice system, which will generate savings of approximately £200 million a year from 2019-20

The Spending Review invests in the ongoing HM Courts and Tribunal Service reform programme, which is rationalising the underused court estate. Over £700 million will be invested to fully digitise the courts and create a more modern estate. This will generate savings to the taxpayer of approximately £200 million a year from 2019-20. The government will also look at changes to court fees as it continues to put the courts on a more sustainable financial footing.

savings to the department’s administrative budget of 50% by 2019-20

Together the investment in the courts and prisons systems will enable MoJ to release land for more than 5,000 homes.

£1.3 billion of capital investment over the next five years to transform the prison estate to better support rehabilitation

overall resource savings of 15% by 201920 including by delivering efficiencies within the prisons and courts systems Page 4

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By focusing on its reform priorities and delivering significant efficiencies within its back office running costs, MOJ will be able to reduce its administrative budget by 50% by 2019-20.

Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice, Michael Gove, said:

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Sir Michael Barber has joined the board of the Ministry of Justice as a non-executive member

“This Spending Review allows us to create a one nation justice system which better serves the public.

It provides the funding we need to reform the courts, so they provide swift and certain justice.

We will also transform prisons, so they become places of rehabilitation - helping to reduce reoffending, cut crime, and improve public safety.”

Nick Hardwick is the new Parole Board chair

Nick Hardwick reached the end of his term as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons on 31 January. His appointment as Parole Board Chair is for 3 years and the starting date is to be negotiated. He will succeed the current Chair, Sir David Calvert-Smith, who is due to leave by 31 March.

In addition to his experience as Chief Inspector, Nick Hardwick has been a member of the Parole Board Serious Case Review Committee (2010-15), Chair of the Housing Ombudsman Service (2010-2013), Executive Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (2003-10) and Chief Executive of the British Refugee Council (1995 to 2003).

He also has a part time role as Professor of Criminal Justice, School of Law, Royal Holloway University of London.

The recruitment exercise for the Parole Board Chair was run in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Code of Practice. The appointment was made in line with the Code’s principles of openness, fairness and merit. the Custodial Review

Sir Michael Barber brings with him extensive experience of public service reform around the world, with a focus on effective implementation, standards and performance.

From 1997 to 2001, he was Chief Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education on School Standards. From 2001 at the Prime Minister’s request, he founded the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, and led it for four years.

Since leaving government he has worked for McKinsey & Company and Pearson.

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change for the public.”

As set out in the government’s Code of Practice, non-executive board members should be appointed directly by the Secretary of State and are not civil servants. Their role is to:

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Give advice to ministers and officials on the operational and delivery implications of policy proposals

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Provide independent support, guidance and challenge on the progress and implementation of the department’s strategic direction

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Advise on performance and support the development of Key Performance Indicators to monitor implementation of the department’s business plans.

Inspectors of police, probation and prisons to speak at Howard League conference What: Justice and Penal Reform – a three-day international conference When: Wednesday 16 March to Friday 18 March 2016 Where: Keble College, Oxford, OX1 3PG

He will join current non-executive board members Liz Doherty, Sir Martin Narey, Lizzie Noel – who all joined the board in August – and lead non-executive board member Sir Theodore Agnew.

The heads of five different watchdogs, charged with inspecting police, probation and prisons, are all scheduled to appear at an international justice conference held to mark the 150th birthday of the Howard League for Penal Reform.

Appointed by the Secretary of State, nonexecutive board members are senior figures from outside government. They are appointed to provide challenge and advice to government departments.

Dame Anne Owers, Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, will be joined on the panel by Sir Thomas Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary; Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons; Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation; and David Strang, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland.

Commenting on Sir Michael’s appointment, Justice Secretary Michael Gove said: “I am delighted Sir Michael has agreed to join the Ministry of Justice as a nonexecutive board member.

No one knows more about delivering public service reform than Sir Michael. His global perspective, experience and advice will be invaluable as we embark on vital reforms within our prisons, making them places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition.”

Sir Michael Barber said: “I am looking forward to joining the Ministry of Justice at a time of such change. The Secretary of State has made clear his plans for reform of the prison system, putting a clear emphasis on providing offenders with education and giving them the skills to contribute to society. I look forward to providing advice and challenge on policy proposals to ensure they deliver the necessary

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Their discussion will take place on Wednesday 16 March – the opening day of the Howard League’s conference, ‘Justice and Penal Reform: Re-shaping the penal landscape’, at Keble College, Oxford.

The three-day event promises to be the largest criminal justice conference of the year, with more than 100 papers to be delivered by academics and experts working in jurisdictions across the globe.

Panel sessions will feature experts from the UK, Ireland, Canada, Hungary, Philippines, Croatia, Brazil, US, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Turkey, Pakistan, Poland, Netherlands, South Africa, Israel, Slovenia, Belgium and Morocco.

The second day of the conference, Thursday 17 March, will include a discussion about public perceptions of penal reform, featuring continues overleaf u

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Joe Twyman, of YouGov; Professor Neil Chakraborti, of the University of Leicester; Yvonne Roberts, journalist and Chair of Women in Prison; Dr Tim Bateman, Policy Development Lead for Youth Justice at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner; and Neena Samota,Visiting Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Westminster.

Later that day, the impact of economics on penal policy will be considered by experts including Professor Richard Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham Medical School and co-author of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better.

The session will be followed by a discussion on human rights law and penal reform.

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Howard League pamphlet calls for overhaul of police bail Police bail powers should be radically overhauled as their current use is neither proportionate nor necessary and often punishes innocent people, a criminal law professor argues (Thursday 4 February).

In a pamphlet for the Howard League for Penal Reform, Professor Ed Cape writes that a person can be placed on police bail having been arrested “on the basis of little or no credible information” and in circumstances “where they are arrested despite the fact that they are willing to cooperate with the investigation”.

Drawing on the testimonies of people affected, Professor Cape finds that being subjected to a long period on bail can have a massive detrimental impact on a person’s physical and mental wellbeing, as well as putting stress on their families.

His recommendations for change are outlined in ‘What if police bail was abolished?’, the latest in a series of pamphlets published by the Howard League and the Mannheim Centre at the London School of Economics with the aim of challenging conventional thinking on penal and criminal justice issues.

The pamphlet has been published as MPs and peers prepare to consider new legislation, which the government claims would put a stop to people remaining on bail for months or even years with no independent oversight of the police’s investigation.

Alison Liebling, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Cambridge.

The third day of the conference, Friday 18 March, will begin with a session on terror and penal reform, featuring Professor Alison Liebling, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Cambridge; Professor Lucia Zedner, Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Oxford; and Professor Mary Bosworth, of Oxford Centre of Criminology.

The conference will end with a session looking beyond mass incarceration, featuring three speakers from the US – Michael Jacobsen, Executive Director of the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance; Dr Todd Clear, Professor at Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, Newark; and Professor Lisa Miller, of Rutgers University.

For more details about the conference, including information about other panel sessions, visit: http://www.howardleague. org/justice-and-penal-reform/

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Professor Cape, Professor of Criminal Law and Practice at the University of the West of England, Bristol, writes: “Police powers to impose pre-charge bail, originally introduced as a safeguard of liberty, have become, particularly with the relatively recent addition of the power to impose conditions, a serious infringement of liberty which blights the lives of many people.”

Professor Cape draws a distinction between “street bail” – where police place someone on bail immediately after an arrest, without taking them to a police station –and “precharge bail” – whereby someone is put on bail after being taken to a police station, either because there is insufficient evidence to charge or because officers wish to carry out further investigations before making a charge decision.

He argues that street bail should be abolished, while pre-charge bail should be limited to 14 days.

Professor Cape writes: “Street bail should be abolished. We know almost nothing about how it is used, and it is contradictory to require police officers to determine that it is necessary to arrest a person, and Page 8

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then allow them to immediately release the person on bail.

“The power to attach conditions to precharge bail should be abolished. They are virtually unenforceable, and court review of their necessity and proportionality cannot work effectively.

“With regard to pre-charge bail itself, since the alternative is unconditional release, there is no effective enforcement mechanism. As a result, ironically, the imposition of pre-charge bail is more likely to adversely affect the lives of law-abiding people than it is to control the conduct of those who have little to lose.”

Professor Cape adds that, while police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office have consistently argued that precharge bail is a necessary feature of modern police investigation, “they have produced no evidence of its efficacy”.

He writes: “It may be a step too far to abolish it altogether, but the time limit should be short and, since the courts have proved themselves unwilling to take responsibility for supervising police investigative decisions, the time limit should be absolute.”

Proposed changes to police bail are included in a Policing and Criminal Justice Bill, to be debated in Parliament in the near future.

The Bill would create a presumption that suspects will be released without bail unless it is necessary.

It would initially limit pre-charge bail to 28 days, with an extension of up to three months, authorised by a senior police officer.

In exceptional circumstances, police would have to apply to the courts for an extension beyond three months.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This is the latest in our series of influential pamphlets that push the boundaries of traditional thinking on justice issues.

“These reforms would save money and stop the downward spiral of the reputation of our justice system.

“The Howard League is expecting government to introduce legislation to mitigate the worst excesses of police bail, but we are urging bold action.”

The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the world. It is a national charity working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison.

Professor Cape’s pamphlet, What if we abolished police bail?, can be read online at: https://d19ylpo4aovc7m. cloudfront.net/fileadmin/howard_ league/user/pdf/Publications/What_if_ police_bail_was_abolished.pdf Previous editions in the ‘What if…?’ pamphlet series can be read online at: http://www.howardleague.org/what-if0/

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Just before he hung up his keys see as better working conditions. There has also been a public sector pay freeze for quite some time now and it all comes down to money at the end of the day. The Service has responded to this problem by offering retention allowances and recruiting people who start mid-way up the pay range rather than the bottom. They are also looking at schemes that make working in prisons as attractive as possible, but it is still a struggle in high cost of living areas. Those high cost areas are generally inside the M25 and just outside, including Coldingley, The Mount, and in Kent on the Isle of Sheppey.

Eoin McLennan- Murray retired from HMPS in November 2015 as a governing Governor after 37 years’ service. He will not be idle though as he is relocating his home to Spain and has accepted an invitation to be a Trustee of the Howard League with whom he worked a number of times.

At one stage he was a commissioner on their enquiry into sex among young people, looking at consensual and coercive sex. I spoke to him in Late November 2015, I wanted to ask him how he views the future for the Prison Service, I wasn’t disappointed.

Custodial Review. (CR) Last time we spoke you suggested that many prisons have not reached the required numbers of staff that Benchmarking requires?

Eoin McLennan- Murray. (EM ) Many prisons in the North of England actually have reached the required numbers. The policy was to over recruit in the north so that HMPS could provide detached duty for cover for those prisons in the South where they could not reach their benchmarking levels as quickly.

That policy has been successful and detached duty has been running for about a year. There are still some hotspots; they are in London and Kent in particular though there are some isolated prisons in the Home Counties with the same recruitment issues.

We used to have Local Pay Allowances, these were scrapped under the Fair and Sustainable programme however this issue is being looked at again. In reality all these things such as Retention Allowances are just a euphemism for Local Pay Allowances. I think we have to face up to the fact that money is the issue and the only way we are going to get around it is to offer a competitive rate of pay.

In private sector prisons this has been recognised and in establishments, such as Bronsfield who are not far from Coldingley, their starting pay was higher than ours. So the private sector understand the market forces concept. The service acknowledges the concept, and has fairly elaborate schemes of retention allowances and one off payments.

Money is the issue and it is about finding an acceptable way of packaging that without contravening their previous arrangements of not having additional allowances.

CR Last time we spoke about Payment by Results, you said the jury was still out. In your opinion have the jury given a verdict on it?

You were also waiting to hear as to whether the CRCs had come up with any new ideas not already thought of in regards reducing recidivism. Have they?

CR How do you see the issue of recruitment in these hotspots being resolved in the foreseeable future?

EM On PBR the jury haven’t given a verdict yet. The CRCs in this part of the world have been slow in getting their act together. They are just beginning to get a bit of traction in the London prisons now. It’s still too early just yet to say what the results are and I haven’t seen any figures or evidence yet about the reoffending rates from the CRCs. My personal view is that there isn’t anything under the sun that we didn’t already know in regards to reducing reoffending. We have run several schemes over the years including Blantyre House as an example, as well as the resettlement estate so we have seen just about everything.

EM The problem is that they are competing with other professions for suitable people.

In Kent there is a direct comparator as the Met have been recruiting police officers. As the economy has picked up they are also competing with other employers who are offering more money for what some would

Back in the early 2000’s we were reducing reconviction rates by tackling employment and accommodation problems as well as carrying out interventions in terms of thinking skills. We know from the record now that had an impact on reducing reoffending rates. We know what type of programmes make a difference. The

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important issue is you have to support them when they transition into the community. I don’t think there’s a magic bullet or something that will be a bolt out of the blue to us from the CRC’s because we already know what works.

It is just about organising ourselves and doing it consistently. I don’t think the CRCs will come out with anything that we haven’t already tried ourselves.

CR The government’s recent announcement of a planned closure of Victorian prisons and the building new ones outside the towns is made on the grounds that the Victorian ones are expensive to run. Are Victorian prisons less efficient?

EM Victorian prisons aren’t a bad design. The radial layout gives good observation and lines of sight so we know that they can be efficient.

What has caused the problems over the years has been the lack of investment in things as basic as drainage, roofs and gutters. This has meant that many of these prisons now have to have quite a lot of money spent on them for maintenance. They are old, and were not constructed using modern building techniques, they are expensive to run when compared to new, more energy efficient buildings. They are also incredibly overcrowded, we use them not just to hold remand prisoners but most of the short sentence population too.

We accommodate thousands of category C prisoners serving sentences as little as a few weeks in these old prisons. We’re using them for something they weren’t originally designed for.

CR The government has announced they are closing a number of these Victorian town centre prisons and selling the land off for a lot of money to house builders, and building fewer, larger prisons outside of towns. Can you see issues resulting from this?

EM The current thinking is ‘big is beautiful’ due to economies of scale. Going back to the Wolfe Report, he recommended that the optimum prison size was between 400 to 500 inmates. In the eyes of Wolfe ‘500’ was a big prison. I’m of a generation that absolutely believe that to be the case. Big prisons don’t foster the environment where you create good relationships with your staff and prisoners because people become too anonymous.I think small is beautiful, that 400 - 500 is a good size.

In terms of cost however if you have it much larger you do reduce your cost per prisoner place however money is driving this. On the evidence and in an ideal world you would go for smaller units but on cost considerations you’d build large units.

The Inspectorate will also tell you that you get better outcomes from smaller prisons.

The desired solution will be to get good ‘small prison’ outcomes from the large prisons. continues overleaf u

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Just before he hung up his keys continued Larger prisons have a lower cost short term but in terms of reoffending rates it will cost more in the long run unless they can achieve a regime where large prisons produce the same reoffending output as smaller ones. That is where the payment by results programmes comes in. If these are effective, we will get better outcomes from larger prisons. At the moment that hasn’t been achieved and we’ll have to wait and see whether it can be.

that would be a better and cheaper way of managing people who aren’t a high risk in terms of the severity of their offending. They may be a higher risk in terms of the likelihood of their reoffending, but you control those factors with tagging and so on, keep them in employment and the accommodation they were in.You save the taxpayer an awful lot of money and I suspect you will impact positively on reoffending rates as well.

Another thing about closing local prisons is that one can’t assume that the new ones they build will be local prisons. They could be another type of prison. Local prisons should really hold remand prisoners and sentenced prisoners should go to the new prisons and these will primarily accommodate shorter sentence prisoners.

Short sentences aren’t effective in terms of reoffending rates, so I would only put people in custody who present a real risk to the public in terms of their reoffending.You could also expand the open estate to accommodate short termers too but there’s a cost to that.

CR Is that a good of bad result?

EM Some of the population in locals only spend a few weeks in prison and it is a very expensive option to keep them in a secure local. If we could imagine a reconfiguration of the prison estate, where you held prisoners in conditions that met the risk that they pose it would work out at a lower cost and could have better outcomes.

Whether that will impact on reconviction rates is too early to say. Whether these short termers, who are often a lot harder to manage, can be held in less secure conditions, is an interesting question.

Are they more difficult to manage at the moment because they feel that they are being held in too secure conditions and therefore are rebelling against it? Would they behave differently in conditions where they had more responsibility and freedom of movement and such like? Would there be the control measures that we feel that we need to manage that particular type of the population? If we were to treat these prisoners differently, then there is a good chance that they would behave differently and require less security and supervision. Currently, this cohort of the population is held in closely supervised and very secure accommodation which has a high cost attached to it.

CR What would you do if you were given a clean sheet of paper?

EM I would be bolder. I would say if people were only going to be in prison a few weeks, then they could be managed in the community. I’m not a fan of short sentences, I don’t think they achieve very much at all. If you’ve got a prisoner who’s working and has accommodation if he goes to prison for a few weeks quite often he loses both of those things. We know these are really big drivers for reoffending. If you could maintain those by keeping the person in the community and keeping them tagged, and perhaps with a curfew for their punishment, but you don’t disrupt their lives any more than that, the Custodial Review

Or go one step further and use technology and temporary release, tagging, curfew, etc.

To manage them in the community. It is bold; however the cost savings would be very, very large. It would require a step change in our thinking and whether the public are ready for that boldness is another question in terms of doing something which would be really radical and potentially very effective? That is what I would do, but I would probably be willing to take more risk than others! There’s a political acceptability issue to it too.

CR Looking back at your career in the Prison Service, do you have any good memories in particular?

EM My time at Blantyre House was the high point of my career. Not in terms of rank or the size of the prison, but on an institutional basis we were able to impact positively on the lives of many prisoners. It was scaled up to a prison scale, not just individuals. The institution wasn’t huge but it worked on a prison wide scale. I’ve never worked anywhere else where we’ve had that degree of impact on changing people’s lives for the better (or should I say facilitating them to be able to make the change). For me that would always be the one thing that stood out in my career. However, I’ve never managed to replicate it anywhere else. I’ve never been in a prison where we’ve been as successful as it was when I was at Blantyre House.

CR Where do you think the prison service will be in five years’ time and what will be the growing pains?

EM If Mr Gove is in his post for the next five years, what we will see is a very different landscape in terms of prisons. We will see governors having far more autonomy, and a greater emphasis on education. There will be devolution so the great big centre of the prison service will change, and perhaps governors will become accountable to local communities, mayors or police and crime Page 12

commissioners even. The structure will change so there is devolution as well as greater autonomy for governors. That’s if Mr Gove is able to drive through these changes.

He has certainly spoken about autonomy for governors and devolution. Mr Gove has a view about how public services should be delivered.

He believes that professionals should be able to get on and run it. We have seen it in schools and to some extent in the health service.

Schools however are a single issue business, just education. Prisons are far more complex.

I don’t think it is that easy to say that because that model works in education it should work across prisons. We are more complicated than schools, so I think we will always need mutual support between establishments. A governor will never ever have enough resource in their prison to deal with, say, a loss of control.

You must have arrangements in place where a governor can call on support from other prisons. So there needs to be some sort of structure that facilitates that. If governors are completely autonomous and they need another prison’s support you cannot be in a situation where that governor can say “I’m not going to give it!” There needs to be some overlaying system that brings us all together.

CR Last time we spoke you said that governors should be allowed to govern, and that over the years this had been very seriously cut back. This sounds like it may be opening it up again, will it work?

EM Yes it could, but we’ve had the reductions in the autonomy of governors because many management functions have been taken out of the prison and centralised.

This was done as a way of saving costs. The service was very successful at saving a lot of money over the last Parliament by doing this.

If they were to give governors autonomy, for instance by giving them the ability to do their own recruitment, the facility to do that would have to be re installed into the prison and there would have to be some reinvestment.

Without new money around it is difficult to see how governors are going to have the resource to actually give them the ability to have more autonomy. If you have autonomy but you have no new resource, how are you going to realise it?

If they said, “Here’s your budget you can do all your recruitment now”? Governors would realise that they don’t have an accountant any more, don’t have the HR lead. All of these things have been regionalised so governors don’t have the capacity or the knowledge to do these things themselves. That’s why you need such people on the management team!

Those resources would have to be put back into the prisons and it’s difficult to see how that would happen when we’re not spending any more money. If you did this and did not give governors new resource some people would be able to innovate and have some great ideas,

and somehow get resources from outside but others wouldn’t.

world for so long now. It is a real challenge but is also a very seductive proposition.

Comparing again with education, if heads don’t deliver they get sacked and that’s a danger for governors as well. Prisons are much more complex than schools and even with the best governors things can go wrong in jail. It’s not their fault but they could be held accountable in the total autonomy approach.

CR Are you optimistic about the future this will bring or are you sitting on the fence?

We’re all trapped to some extent in the philosophy we’re brought up in. We’ve all moved toward this centralised, corporate approach. It’s very difficult to think of a world beyond that when you’ve been inhabiting that

EM I’m excited for the potential that’s there.

It is exciting, and then you unpick all the things that have got to happen and then ask the question whether it is so complicated will it be too difficult to achieve? You could be so consumed in the complicated nature of making it work that having autonomy wouldn’t be compensation because it would be such a hard job to make it work when you don’t have the resource to do it with. In the cold light of

day, would you say, “I’m really glad I did this now”? Or, “Is it really quite a tall order and I’d prefer it as it was”? Like any huge change you’re never quite sure how it is going to pan out. This is change on an impressive scale and would be undoing much of what we have done over the last five years in order to save money.

It is very hard to give governors the autonomy Mr Gove wants. However, there will be some things that can be done quite quickly and easily but full autonomy for governors is still a long way off.

CR Thank you for talking to Custodial Review.

Presenteeism in prison officers is a serious health and safety risk “More than half of prison officers feel pressure to go into work while unwell, with serious implications for their health and the safe running of prisons.”

For further information contact: British Psychological Society press centre, 0116 252 9500 or presscentre@bps.org.uk The British Psychological Society is the representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK. We are responsible for the development, promotion and application of psychology for the public good.

For more information please visit www.bps.org.uk

That is the finding presented on Thursday 7 January 2015, to the annual conference of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology in Nottingham by Professor Gail Kinman from the University of Bedfordshire.

The research, conducted with Dr Andrew Clements and Dr Jacqui Hart, involved 1682 prison officers from across the UK completing questionnaires about working while unwell and the reasons they may do this. Levels of job demands, control and support at work and jobrelated burnout were also assessed.

The results showed that 84 per cent of prison officers feel pressurised to work while unwell at least “sometimes”, whereas more than half “always” experience such pressure. Staff shortages, pressure from management, fear of letting colleagues down and feelings of job insecurity were the main explanations provided for presenteeism.

Prison officers who found their work more demanding, and who lacked control and support from managers, were the most likely to work while sick. This had serious implications for health as officers who continued to work when unwell on a regular basis were typically more burned out.

Professor Kinman said: “The findings of our research have serious implications for the health of prison officers and for the safe running of prisons.

The number of prison officers has reduced dramatically and number of violent prisoner incidents is increasing rapidly. Although organisations may see presenteeism as a short-term solution to maintain safe staffing levels, it is considerably more costly long-term. Prison officers who continued to work while sick were more likely to be emotionally exhausted and have cynical attitudes towards prisoners. They were also more likely to worry about work when “off the job”. The implications of the findings for the safe running of prisons are clear.

Improved staffing levels and support from managers should help reduce presenteeism and the subsequent risks to staff and prisoners”

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The Clink Charity Ball 2016 raises nearly £50,000 for prisoner hospitality training schemes Changing attitudes, transforming lives and creating second chances.

Prisoner rehabilitation initiative The Clink Charity held its first ever fundraising extravaganza – The Clink Charity Ball 2016 – on Friday 15 January, in association with venue partner Lancaster London on Hyde Park.

The total raised from ticket sales, the auction and raffle tickets reached a staggering £47,278.50. The money will be re-invested into the charity’s work to reduce reoffending rates through the provision of accredited City & Guilds NVQ training and assessment in food preparation and food service.

Guests at The Clink Charity Ball 2016

The proceeds from the evening will support the continued development of further Clink training projects across Her Majesty’s Prison Estate too, following the same framework as the successful schemes currently in operation at HMP Styal, HMP High Down, HMP Brixton, HMP Cardiff and HMP Send.

With the charity’s ethos of developing long-term careers in this hospitality sector, the concept of The Clink Charity Ball embraced its sustained approach to social responsibility, engaging a talented workforce of hospitality trainees from across London.

Alberto Crisci MBE, Clink graduates and the team of CentrePoint students

Students from Lambeth College, the University of West London and Westminster Kingsway along with graduates of The Clink training programme, apprentices from Lancaster London and young people on the CentrePoint scheme took to the kitchens and the floor to prepare the dinner and serve more than 400 guests.

The evening started with a Champagne reception with canapés created and served by Clink Events, under the watchful eye of The Clink Restaurant founder and director of Clink Events Alberto Crisci MBE. An exquisite four-course menu created by Ben Purton, executive chef at Lancaster London, followed with each dish being created using ingredients kindly donated by the hotel and The Clink’s generous suppliers.

A trio of Scottish salmon was served as guests enjoyed live cabaret from students of the London College of Music followed by butternut squash and roasted red pepper risotto and a main course of herb-crusted rack and slow braised haunch of lamb. Rounding off the menu with a burst of fruitiness was a Granny Smith mousse with blackcurrant curd along with a selection of cheese, some produced just 30 miles from London.

Vic Laws MBE, Alberto Crisci MBE and Clink graduate Michael Ballogan

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Speaking of the charity’s inaugural ball, Chris Moore, chief executive of The Clink Charity, said, “I am most grateful to the event committee, chaired by our group restaurant ambassador Vic Laws MBE, for all their efforts.

Lancaster London staff and apprentices, Clink graduates, and students from CentrePoint, UWL, Lambeth College and Westminster Kingsway

and it’s great to see the next generation of hospitality professionals show such passion and dedication to excellence. I look forward to The Clink Charity Ball 2017 which is sure to be another roaring success.”

Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, Clink Chef Amassador, introducing the brigade of chefs and serving staff

To find out more about The Clink Charity and its prisoner training initiatives please visit www.theclinkcharity.org.

Chris Moore, Chief Executive, The Clink Charity

“This was the first event of its kind that we have held and I’m thrilled to say it was a huge success. The amount that was raised will take us another step closer to reaching our goal of 10 prisoner training schemes in operation by the end of next year.

“Without the incredible support from our partners, sponsors and guests it wouldn’t have been possible. I’d like to say thank you to Lancaster London’s general manager Sally Beck, their executive chef Ben Purton and the whole Lancaster London team, Booker who supplied all the wine for the evening, all the food suppliers that kindly provided the produce used in the menu, and charity friends who generously donated raffle and auction prizes. Finally, I’d like to extend my thanks to all those who bought a ticket and chose to widen

their support of The Clink Charity beyond our restaurants by joining us for what was a very special occasion.”

Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, owner of Café Spice Namasté and Clink chef ambassador, took to the floor after dinner to introduce the extensive brigade of hospitality professionals, including students and Clink graduates, who dedicated their time to making the event such a success.

Commenting on the evening Cyrus added, “The evening was a fantastic event and an incredible opportunity for the students involved to gain solid experience of working a formal occasion on a large scale. Seeing the hard work from the young chefs in the kitchen and those front of house was inspirational Page 15

About The Clink Charity The Clink Charity represents a genuine opportunity for change. Each prisoner who works in a Clink Restaurant studies for accredited NVQs in food preparation, food service and cleaning.While working in a Clink Restaurant, prisoners gain experience within an exciting, operational business and receive in-depth guidance to find full-time employment within the hospitality industry once released.

About Lancaster London Lancaster London is steps away from Hyde Park and Lancaster Gate Underground (Central Line).

The 18-storey hotel has fantastic views from its 416 guestrooms and suites, plus two restaurants, Island Grill and Nipa Thai. Lancaster London is devoted to helping the community. As well as operating its own apprentice scheme, the hotel is a dedicated supporter of The Clink Charity. www. lancasterlondon.com

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Children affected by parental imprisonment Author Neera Sharma leads the Children Affected

by Parental Imprisonment (CAPI) strategy team for Barnardo’s.

A new research report from Barnardo’s: Locked Out looks at children’s experiences of visiting a parent in prison. It makes recommendations, based on children’s voices, as to how prison visits could be positive and meaningful for children, so they feel more inclined to visit their incarcerated parent.

Prison rule 4 is clear: “Special attention shall be paid to the maintenance of such relationships between a prisoner and his family as are desirable in the best interests of both.”

Evidence shows that maintaining strong family ties is key to helping prisoners resettle, and can reduce reoffending rates by 39 per cent (1) . Tragically 45 per cent of fathers lose touch with their children while inside (2).

Over the past year Barnardo’s has been speaking to children with a father in prison and their families about their experiences of visiting men’s prisons. Through focus groups, home visits, and family visit days in three male prisons, Barnardo’s sought to explore what needs to change within the prison system to make families feel more able to stay in touch with the prisoner, helping the process of reducing reoffending.

Our research shows that on the whole prisons understand that maintaining strong family ties is the key to successful resettlement. However children told Barnardo’s researchers that visits to a parent in prison could be uncomfortable making them feel they ‘had done something wrong’.

One of the main barriers to comfortable, positive visits was the assumption that family members—even small children—who visit prisons are a security risk. The majority of prisons put visits management in the hands of their security teams meaning that searches and the conduct of domestic visits are tinged with suspicion, leading to feelings of stigma and shame for children.

Children aged five to 18-years in focus groups, as well as mums and grannies, told researchers that each time they were searched they felt the Custodial Review

anxious and humiliated. They told us quite young children were asked to stand on the spot separately from their carers—who, worryingly, were often already behind a closed door; dogs sniffed the faces of the smallest children; guards did not speak to them, and hairbands were removed and taken away. Researchers even heard about a weekold baby whose nappy was searched and expressed breast milk opened and sniffed.

Barnardo’s recommends intrusive searches are restricted to cases where there is clear intelligence of smuggling, as there is no evidence all parents are doing this routinely.

Searches should also be made more childfriendly and proportionate to the security risks posed. Staff could speak to children they are searching and even smile. Young children should be searched together with their carer. Prisons must consider how much risk is actually posed by hair bands and small items of jewellery before taking these away from children.

Barnardo’s researchers joined play workers inside visits halls and observed children whilst providing play activities. There was a noticeable difference between regular domestic visits and the friendly, informal atmosphere on Family Visit days. Children attending those days really appreciated the difference, especially the chance to have physical contact and play freely with the parent in prison. Sharing a special meal, having cuddles and doing crafts together during a visit of four or five hours visibly improved the closeness of children to their dads. Significantly, though, family visit days in most prisons are only available to prisoners on enhanced status.

Barnardo’s recommends prisons make a cultural shift in the way they approach family visiting – making it part of the family intervention / integration process, rather than a matter for the security team.

This has already been achieved at HMP Parc where the report notes that during social and family visits officers actively engage with families to promote positive relationships between fathers and their children. Parc prison is currently analysing reoffending data and noting improvements, as well as better behaviour during, and after, family visits.

Another significant recommendation from Barnardo’s report is that children’s visits to male prisons should be separate to the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme (IEP), which wastightened up in 2013. This would impact on thousands of families, allowing many more to have improved and extra visits and special child-friendly family visit days.

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Between 2012-2014 there was a 52 per cent increase in the number of prisoners on basic status (900 men) and a 16 per cent decrease in enhanced (5,900). For many more children this will have reduced meaningful contact with their fathers (3).

Readers of Custodial Review will be aware that it is now much harder to achieve enhanced status, especially for prisoners in overcrowded jails, or with mental health or addiction problems; researchers met some children who had never had a family visit day and were unlikely to have that close contact with their father or even have more frequent domestic visits.

Visits from family are not in the same category as games consoles, TVs or gym time, so Barnardo’s argues they should not be part of the IEP scheme. The guidance for women’s prisons states that children should not be penalised from visiting or contacting their mother because of the mother’s behaviour.

The number of visits by children should not be restricted to service the needs of an incentives scheme. Incentives schemes should therefore never be linked to any access to family visits. Barnardo’s would like to see this sound guidance acted on in both men’s and women’s prisons.

The guidance for women’s prison explicitly acknowledges the right of the child to have contact with their parents according to the UK-ratified United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. From Barnardo’s perspective this is the most important reason to promote positive visits for children to their parent in prison. This right should not be affected by the behaviour of the parent— with downgrades on the IEP sometimes decided on the word of just one officer.

Furthermore the child’s right to maintain contact with a parent through prison visits should not depend on the gender of that parent. This is why Barnardo’s is asking for visits to be detached from the IEP in men’s prison exactly as recommended for women.

(1) Ministry of Justice and Department for Children, Schools and Families (2007) Children of Offenders Review.

(2) Nacro (2000) The forgotten majority. Nacro, London.

(3) Prisoners can be given just 2 hours a month(two one hour visits) to see their children under the current ‘IEP system’ (2013), which award prisoners ‘statuses’ of ‘basic’ (2 hours), standard (3 hours) and enhanced (4/5 hours). Since 2012 the amount of prisoners on basic has increased by 52% whilst those on enhanced has decreased by 16%.These visiting hours are a guide, though, & in reality vary from prison to prison - with some allocating just 1/5th of the visiting time to basic prisoners in comparison to enhanced.

Source:Table 1: Prisoners by Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) status as at 31 March, 2011 - March 2014 NOMS offender equalities annual report Annex A Prisons often take away weekend visiting rights and family visit days making it extremely difficult for children to see their fathers. http://www.inbrief.co.uk/prison-law/ prison-visits.htm

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Digital technologies for learning in prison: what one Australian university is doing Dr Helen Farley is an Associate Professor (Digital Futures) at the Australian Digital Futures Institute at the University of Southern Queensland, working there since 2010. Prior to that, she was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology, and a Lecturer (Learning Technologies) at the Teaching and Educational Development Institute at the University of Queensland.

Helen has published extensively on educational technologies, particularly immersion and presence in virtual worlds, authentic movement in 3D virtual environments and the use of gaming consoles for learning.

Her current research is focused on improving digital literacies in incarcerated students through the use of digital technologies for learning.

In most Australian correctional jurisdictions, prisoners are not allowed access to the internet precluding them from participating in higher education online. ‘Making the Connection’ is an Australian government funded project which is taking digital technologies, that don’t require internet access, into prisons to enable prisoners to enroll in a suite of pre-tertiary and undergraduate programs. A version of the University of Southern Queensland’s learning management system has been installed onto the education server of participating prisons.

The second stage of the project will see notebook computers preloaded with the learning management system and course materials, allocated to participating prisoners.

At the time of writing, the project has been deployed at thirteen sites in Queensland and Western Australia, with a further three sites coming on board in time for semester I 2016 and negotiations underway for further rollout to Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.

Prisoners in most Australian jurisdictions are not permitted to access online learning technologies due to procedural restrictions prohibiting prisoner access to the internet.

Formal education and training delivery to prisoners is currently provided in non-digital forms, usually in the form of blocks of printed text. Although this method enables access to course materials, it does not develop the Custodial Review

digital literacies in incarcerated students, and these skills are becoming more essential to pursue formal learning outside of prisons.

Currently, there are few programs offered to incarcerated students that adequately prepare them for entry into higher education and even fewer that provide incarcerated students with the opportunity to use modern ICTs. Distance education has traditionally been viewed as a boon to education in prisons, delivering education and resources to students who are unable to undertake traditional face-to-face education (Salane 2008). Formal education and training delivery to prisoners in these jurisdictions is currently provided in non-digital forms using large volumes of printed copies of the course materials and learning support resources, sometimes supported by CDs for use on in-cell laptops or in computer labs (Dorman and Bull 2003).

This is costly for universities to assemble, print and post, is in no way interactive, and cannot incorporate all of the learning support resources of the course. Incarcerated students often have very little or no contact with each other and are not able to leverage the social learning supports that are available to students engaged in online courses. This undermines the social constructive pedagogy favoured in many post-secondary programs and poorly prepares students for a world in which employers expect their employees to be familiar with social networking and other Web 2.0 resources (Erisman and Contardo 2005). Furthermore, the traditional forms of delivery to incarcerated students do not enable incarcerated students to develop the crucial graduate attributes including digital literacy, collaborative teamwork and critical thinking skills required to successfully complete studies in higher education and also to obtain meaningful employment after release from prison. This article reports on a project, Making the Connection, that is taking digital technologies into prisons, aiming to help students access higher education and obtain the digital literacies they need for work or study.

The project: Making the Connection In the latter half of 2013, a team of researchers at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) were awarded $4.39 million over three years by the Australian Government under the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program for a project titled ‘Making the Connection: Improving Access to Higher Education for Low Socio-Economic Status Students with ICT Limitations.’

Beginning in early 2014, the project built on three previous projects led by USQ which trialled various digital technologies for learning in prisons. Most notable of these was ‘From Access to Success’, which developed a version of USQ’s learning management system (often called a VLE or Virtual Learning Environment), a version of Moodle called USQ StudyDesk, Page 18

which was installed onto the prison education lab server. This server had no capacity to access the internet and was physically isolated from the main prison network. This new version of the LMS was called the USQ Offline StudyDesk and it was installed by education officers from self-loading DVDs produced at USQ. The USQ Offline StudyDesk allowed incarcerated students to access course materials including interactive multimedia and assessments via computers in the education lab, without needing to access the internet. The From Access to Success project ran at two prisons in Queensland using two courses from the Tertiary Preparation Program, an enabling program run by USQ’s Open Access College.

Students successfully completing this program are granted automatic entry into various USQ undergraduate programs.

Making the Connection is building on From Access to Success by continuing to develop the USQ Offline StudyDesk so that is robust, repeatable and reliable. One of the findings from the earlier project was that incarcerated students had only a few hours a week to access the prison computer labs. This was because of the competition from other courses and programs, including vocational programs, for the space, and because students were typically employed in jobs in ‘industries’ within the prison restricting the time available to study. To help overcome these difficulties in access, the Making the Connection project will be providing notebook computers to participating students so that they can take them back to their cells and continue working in their personal time.

Developing appropriate technologies are only part of the challenge of providing higher education to incarcerated students. Appropriate courses and programs had to be adapted for use on the technologies and for use without access to the internet. Taking into account the levels of previous academic achievement in the prisons and jurisdictional sensitivities around students accruing HECS debt, there is a focus on the courses of the Tertiary Preparation Program and the Indigenous Higher Education Pathways Program, both Commonwealthfunded enabling programs. These programs are supplemented by three diploma programs: the Diploma of Arts (Social Sciences), Diploma of Science and Diploma of Business Administration.

A major part of the project is focused around engagement and outreach. The project has employed and engagement leader and also an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Engagement Coordinator. The latter is in recognition of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the correctional context. Making up some two per cent of the continues overleaf u

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Digital technologies for learning continued general population, they make up a staggering 28 per cent of the prisoner population nationally (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015).

USQ Offline Study Desk At the beginning of the project, a detailed options analysis was undertaken to ensure that the USQ Offline StudyDesk installed onto a prison education lab server was still the preferred technological approach.Various alternative options were examined including ‘Moodle-on-a-stick’ and secure cloud solutions.

A team comprised of USQ ICT Services and Making the Connection personnel determined that the preferred solution remained installing the USQ Offline StudyDesk on a separate server linked to the education lab network via network switch.

In the online environment, the USQ StudyDesk works with a Learning Objects Repository (LOR) which holds course content. Course content is vetted for copyright status and tagged with metadata to make it searchable.

When a student accesses a resource via the StudyDesk, he or she is actually accessing that resource through the Learning Objects Repository. This is obviously not feasible for those students using the USQ Offline StudyDesk. To address this issue, a bespoke piece of software, called a ‘compiler’, automatically harvests objects housed in the LOR and packages the resources with the course for export to the prison. Another piece of software called a ‘checker’, goes through each course to ensure that files within each course are functional and that links to the internet have been removed.

At the moment, the transfer of courses between USQ and the prisons occurs via DVD. In the near future, education officers will be able to download courses through a kiosk, hosted at USQ and accessed via the administrative network (which is internetenabled). The version of the USQ Offline StudyDesk is approximately one version behind the main production version to allow for any glitches to be ironed out. The USQ Offline StudyDesk is currently installed in 12 sites in Queensland and one in Western Australia (1). By the end of February 2016, there will be an additional two sites in Queensland and another in Western Australia.

Notebook computers Because incarcerated students have limited access to the computer labs, it was decided that it would be desirable for students to have a personal device that they could take back to their cells. As with the modified LMS, these devices are not permitted to access the internet. Focus groups with incarcerated students participating in eBook reader trials in a previous project were critical of the small screen size and onscreen keyboard used in these devices. Taking this feedback onboard,

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the project team conducted a detailed options analysis of some 32 tablet computers, laptops and notebooks. It was decided that a Windows notebook would be most suitable as it had an almost full-size keyboard, adequate processing power and screen real estate was not compromised by an onscreen keyboard.

In addition, students would be able to use Microsoft Office or OpenOffice to complete assessments. The project team are trialling the USQ Offline StudyDesk on the devices in preference to using a HTML presentation layer to display course materials. These options will be trialled during the next phase of the project and hope to have the notebooks deployed into prisons near the beginning of 2016.

Courses and programs The deployment of these technologies into prisons is just one part of the Making the Connection project. A suite of USQ courses and programs are being adapted for use without the need for internet access, to be used with the USQ Offline StudyDesk and the personal devices. A number of factors were taken into consideration when choosing the programs for modification. These included:

1. Average sentence length: Some 90 per

cent of prisoners are sentenced for one year or less.

2. Previous academic achievements and

experiences of the students: Most incarcerated students are from low socioeconomic status backgrounds and have low levels of academic achievement.

3. Cultural background of the students: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Low levels of education remain a key part of the ongoing cycle that leads to this overrepresentation.

4. Previous enrolment patterns for

incarcerated students: USQ has been providing education to incarcerated students for around 25 years and has records of what programs incarcerated students have typically enrolled in.

5. Vocational outcomes: The project

team consulted with careers advisors at the university about what careers ex-offenders could reasonably expect employment in and what programs would prepare them for these careers.

6. Practicality: The project team talked to

course examiners (course coordinators), Heads of School, and Executive Deans about which courses could reasonably be adapted for delivery in the correctional environment. Courses with significant practical components or residential components were considered to be unsuitable.

In addition, the jurisdictional owners expressed Page 20

concern about the potential for incarcerated students to acquire a significant Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) debt (similar to student loans). They worked closely with the project team to ensure that HECS debts would be kept to a minimum and would provide the best outcomes for students.

The Making the Connection project team selected the following programs to be used with the USQ Offline StudyDesk and personal devices.

1. Tertiary Preparation Program: Six

courses from the Tertiary Preparation Program were selected for modification.

These included general English and study skills courses, math courses and a humanities course. Successful completion of the Tertiary Preparation Program allows students automatic entry into selected USQ programs. This program is Commonwealth-funded enabling program and does not attract HECS fees.

2. Indigenous Higher Education Pathways

Program: Six courses will be adapted from this program as part of the Making the Connection project. It is expected that this program will prove popular given the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners and that Indigenous students are half as likely to have completed year 12 as non-Indigenous students. Again, this is a Commonwealth-funded enabling program for which students will not incur a HECS debt (Salane 2008).

3. Diploma of Arts (Social Sciences): Eight

courses will be modified with an emphasis on community welfare and development.

4. Diploma of Science: This program

will emphasize sustainability and the environment. Eight courses from this program will be modified.

5. Diploma of Business Administration:

Historical data shows that most incarcerated students have enrolled in business programs. Again, eight courses from this program will be modified.

Diploma programs were selected in acknowledgement of the typically short sentence length of most prisoners. Also, it was decided that it would be more beneficial to offer a selection of courses across a range of disciplines, rather than concentrate course modification efforts around one discipline as with a degree program.

Course modification happens over an eightweek period called a ‘sprint’. A ‘sprint team’ comprised of learning designers, elearning designers, elearning technical support officers, copyright compliance officers, graphic designers, multimedia designers and other elearning professionals as needed, work with course examiners to create a plan for the

modification. Online offerings of courses are moved to a specially designed Offline Course Development Area. A number of activities are involved in course modification.

The course redesign process has been so successful that some course examiners are transferring resources developed as part of the project to the online offerings of their courses.

1. Courses are scoped so that the sprint

The future

team and the course examiners gain an idea as to how much work will be involved in modification.

2. Course materials are checked for copyright compliance.

3. Course materials are moved into the Learning Objects Repository.

4. Links to the internet are removed and

alternative resources sourced if necessary.

5. The look and feel of the course is

enhanced to ensure easy navigation.

6. Alternative assessments are designed if necessary.

7. Additional self-marking quizzes are

incorporated to provide immediate feedback on knowledge recall.

8. A welcome video is created to help the incarcerated student feel connected to the course examiner.

9. The course is checked before being

readied for deployment to the prisons.

Typically, courses are modified in batches of six and are adapted in the semester before the next offer of that course. Course examiners’ time is bought out by the project. Funds are typically used for teaching or marking buyout.

The Making the Connection team will be rolling the technologies and programs to additional prisons across Australia before the end of the year. Jurisdictional owners have also expressed an interest in the availability of even shorter courses and programs to be offered to prisoners with very short sentences.

To this end, the team are working with the Open University in the UK to make a selection of their Open Learn courses available in the offline environment.

Perhaps the most exciting possibilities lie in making these technologies available for all those students without reliable internet access throughout Australia and the world. For example, broadband internet penetration is restricted in most countries within Southeast Asia due to the poor infrastructure. This is mostly attributable to a lack of private investment coupled with the severely limited capacity of the people to pay for services (Jeroschewski et al., 2013). The technologies and programs developed as part of the Making the Connection project have the potential to make higher education accessible to those otherwise unable to travel to a large city to study face-to-face, allowing people to remain in

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their communities and support the economic and social development of their regions.

By Helen Farley Australian Digital Futures Institute University of Southern Queensland, Australia Email: helen.farley@usq.edu.au References Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2015. Prisoners

in Australia, 2014. Canberra, Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Dorman, M. & Bull, D. (2003). Aligning educational needs with institutional priorities: Facilitating offender reintegration into contemporary society.

IFECSA Conference. Retrieved from www.acea.org. au/.../2003%20papers/Paper%20Dorman_Bull.pdf Erisman,W. & Contardo, J. 2005. Learning to Reduce Recidivism: A 50-state analysis of postsecondary correctional education policy.The Institute for Higher Education Policy.

Jeroschewski, A., Levisse, A., Salazar, L.,Tesoriero, R. and Ying, S. (2013). Connecting Southeast Asia through Broadband. In Enhancing ASEAN’s connectivity,B. Das,ed.

Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies: 72-90.

Salane, F. (2008). Distance education in prisons: an educational right or a privilege? The case of “student inmates”. Distances et savoirs, pp. 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.distanceandaccesstoeducation.org/contents/ DS2008-Salane-English.pdf Wong, A. (2008), Build Communities, Not Prisons: The effects of the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. Hobart, University of Tasmania.

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The BSRIA has launched a Legionella Topic Guide, opposite we are running a page from this guide, the full .pdf can be obtained free from their website.

The BSRIA Topic Guides are designed to be an ‘at a glance publication’ introducing readers to key industry topics and suggesting further reading.

The guide is aimed at those looking for basic information about legionella including definition, history and prevalence.There is also guidance on the relevant legislation and supporting documentation alongside some risk management tips to ensure compliance.

Expert commentary is provided by BSRIA’s Head of Energy & Environment, Reginald Brown, as he looks at cooling towers and whether they are beneficial to legionella management or prevent a higher risk.

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Reginald said: “Despite the serious nature of legionella, the risk of legionnaires’ disease is relatively small.

The risks in water systems can be almost eliminated through sensible design decisions and good standards of maintenance. This guide introduces you to the risks and can be used as an initial starting point in understanding how to manage said risks.”

‘At a Glance’ – Legionella is now free to download from the BSRIA website for members and non-members alike: https://www.bsria.co.uk/informationmembership/information-centre/bsriatopic-guides/

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At a Glance

Quick Facts

Legionella

Who is this topic guide for?  Facilities managers  Building owners  Building operators

INTRODUCTION This topic guide offers at-a-glance reference information to the issues of legionella bacteria, regulatory and guidance frameworks, advice and further reading.

 Landlords  Health and safety officers  Water treatment specialists

What is legionnaires’ disease?

Legionnaires’ disease is one of the infections caused by Legionella pneumophila (Lp) and other bacteria from the family Legionellaceae. The bacteria are present in the environment in soil and water and can survive and thrive in potable hot water systems. More than 50 species of legionella have been identified and half of these can cause various infections described as legionellosis.

Incidences of recorded outbreaks There are between 300-400 outbreaks recorded by the UK authorities each year - with under 200 cases originating within the UK. According to the “Annual epidemiological report 2014.

Respiratory tract infections”, about half of these figures are due to exposure to contaminated communal and healthcare facilities and the rest through travel abroad.

HISTORY OF LEGIONNAIRES’ DISEASE The name ‘Legionnaires’ disease’ was created in 1976, after a major outbreak in Philadelphia at a Legionnaires’ Convention held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. 221 attendees contracted the disease and 24 people died. On January 18, 1977, the source was traced to a previously unknown strain of bacteria, subsequently named Legionella, and the species that caused the outbreak was named Legionella pneumophila (Lp).

WHO IS AT RISK?

The latest recorded major incidences in the UK were in 2012, in Edinburgh and Stoke on Trent, when 120 people contracted legionnaires’ disease and four people died.

Legionnaires’ disease is a pneumonia that principally affects vulnerable groups whose immunity may be low such as the elderly and people with respiratory issues or pre-existing medical conditions.

The HSE’s legionella committee has examined outbreaks over a ten year period from 2002-2012 and identified common causes for outbreaks. The findings of the report are available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/ hsl_pdf/2012/hex1207.pdf

Other people may also be susceptible due to illness and suppressed immune systems. Reportedly, men are 2.6% more susceptible than women and there are more recorded incidences with people over the age of 65.

What is the impact of legionnaires’ disease?

Persons contracting the disease initially experience symptoms similar to severe flu that then develops into a life-threatening pneumonia. Legionella can be successfully treated with antibiotics if diagnosed in the early stages.

HOW IS THE DISEASE SPREAD? Legionnaires’ disease is contracted due to inhaling legionellae bacteria in water droplets or aerosol (spray) water sources, for example, from cooling towers, showers and taps. There are no recorded cases of person -to-person transmission of the disease. Domestic hot water systems operated at low temperature, as well as being ideal for bacterial growth, may also provide the means by which aerosols or water droplets are generated and the organisms dispersed into the atmosphere.

Restorative justice in custodial settings information pack - available now restorative justice can work in a prison context. These prisons should all ensure that restorative justice is used to support rehabilitation and help offenders to put their offending behaviour behind them and move on with their lives.

“Restorative approaches can also be used within prisons as a method of conflict resolution, both between prisoners and between prisoners and staff. It can therefore help prisons provide a safer and more positive environment.”

The information pack

In the wake of David Cameron’s recent speech on prison reform, the Restorative Justice Council (RJC) has published an information pack on restorative justice in custodial settings. The pack is aimed at helping governors of prisons, young offender institutions (YOIs) and other custodial establishments to recognise the benefits of restorative justice and make high quality restorative justice more widely available.

Current reforms: an opportunity for restorative justice The government’s plans for reforms to the prison system envisage greater autonomy for prison governors, more transparency around reoffending rates for individual prisons, and a pilot of six new ‘reform prisons’. These reforms are intended to ensure that the prisons are focused on rehabilitation, with the available resources directed towards work to reduce reoffending.

The reforms will incentivise governors to make restorative justice more widely available, with robust research demonstrating that it is an effective intervention proven to reduce reoffending by 14%. It holds offenders to account for what they have done and helps them to take responsibility and make amends, while helping victims to put the crime behind them and move on.

In response to these proposed reforms, the RJC’s chief executive officer, Jon Collins, said: “If prison governors want to reduce reoffending while promoting the interests of victims in the justice system, it is vital that they ensure restorative justice is available.

“The initial pilot of six ‘reform prisons’ will provide an opportunity to show how well

the Custodial Review

In order to support custodial establishments to understand the benefits of restorative justice and how best to deliver or commission it safely, the RJC has developed an information pack on restorative justice that has been sent to every prison and YOI in England and Wales. Endorsed by the National Offender Management Service and the Prison Reform Trust, the information pack contains contributions from independent restorative justice providers and custodial establishments from across the country, and provides information on potential delivery models for high quality restorative justice in custodial settings.

The pack outlines two potential delivery models – building capacity within the prison and creating a supportive environment to enable external agencies to deliver restorative justice on their behalf. It references guidance to help prisons provide a supportive environment for external providers and features an article outlining how such partnership delivery – often with voluntary sector organisations – can work in practice.

The pack also contains an article on the restorative prison concept, where restorative approaches can be applied to the management of whole prisons. This can help to tackle violent behaviour, improve desistance and build positive relationships between prisoners and prison staff, some of the drivers of much needed change to the prison estate which will support the effective rehabilitation of offenders.

Additionally, the information pack contains the stories of people who have taken part in restorative justice in a custodial setting.

These case studies successfully illustrate the life-changing effects of the restorative process.

One case study features Jason, a young man sentenced to five years at a YOI. Jason turned his life around after meeting his victims in a restorative justice conference.

Another case study features Ed and Rumbie, a young couple who were given the opportunity to meet their offender at Pentonville prison.

The restorative justice meeting took place after their new flat was burgled two weeks after moving in. About the meeting, Ed said: “It was a valuable experience. It made both of us less worried that we’d been targeted, but it also concluded some of the emotional aspects – it closed a chapter for us. Now, I’ve got a sense of perspective on what happened to us.”

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In both cases, the participants were left feeling relieved, empowered and in a much stronger position to move on with their lives.

Delivering quality restorative justice In order to achieve these positive outcomes, restorative justice must be delivered to a high standard. The RJC has developed clear, evidence-based standards and guidance to support the delivery of quality restorative practice and has put mechanisms in place to enable organisations, including prisons, to demonstrate they meet those standards.

Two years ago, HMP Leeds celebrated becoming the first prison to achieve the RJC’s Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM), an award for organisations which can demonstrate that they provide high quality restorative justice that meets the six Restorative Service Standards. Their experience is described in the information pack, which also includes further information on the RSQM. Restorative justice delivers transformative outcomes for victims, offenders and custodial establishments. This information pack is intended to help prisons and YOIs across England and Wales to work in partnership with the restorative field to provide high quality restorative justice.

The Restorative justice in custodial settings information pack is available to download at www.restorativejustice.org. uk/prison-pack.

PRODUCT NEWS Keep mail safe from prying eyes with Securikey Post Boxes Leading physical security supplier Securikey has extended its best-selling secure post box range with the addition of four new models.

The new sleek, weatherproof and corrosion-resistant post boxes have been expertly designed for outdoor environments to protect letters and small packets from theft or prying eyes. Offering both front and top loading options to meet different preferences, the new range features a high quality cam lock with two keys to keep contents secure from intruders but easily accessible to the key holder via the hinged door.

Each model in the Securikey post box range is constructed from galvanised steel with a tough black powder coated finish to give years of service.

Incorporating many of the benefits offered by Securikey’s existing HS High Security post box range, the new models feature a magnetic ‘anti rattle’ continuously hinged flap that minimises noise whilst preventing rain and dust from entering through the letter slot. Both sizes are suitable for wall mounting and will accept A4 mail comfortably.

For more information, please contact Securikey on 01252 311888, email enquiries@securikey.co.uk or go to www.securikey.co.uk

Prison flooring gets clean, green makeover A leading supplier of resin flooring to the custodial sector has taken advantage of improvements to technology associated with Polyaspartic materials and is launching a cleaner, greener and easier to use range of flooring products.

Elladur from Resin Surfaces Ltd (RSL) is a five-strong product range which is ideal for use in prisons and other high security environments because of its low odour, quick return to service benefits.

Customers are already in discussions with RSL on taking Elladur products into prisons where fast-turnaround, low impact features are essential.

The Elladur range will be low odour, low VOC, UV stable and have a degree of flexibility as well as being simple to use, providing speedy return to service even at low temperatures.

The initial range will include: Elladur SF Clear - clear, high build Polyaspartic coating with a gloss finish

The company will work with a number of specialist contractors in the first instance to introduce the new products into the prison sector.

Elladur SF Colour - coloured high build Polyaspartic coating

Ivy Wroe, Managing Director of RSL, said that it was exciting for the company to be taking advantage of one of the very latest developments in technology for the flooring sector.

Elladur Deco FL, a decorative flake system Elladur Deco BC, a decorative quartz system with enhanced slip resistance

She said: “Polyaspartic materials are excellent for quick return to service projects and an eco-friendly alternative to other materials in the market place. We know Elladur will help us open up new opportunities for us and our partners across the UK custodial sector.�

Elladur LM – a high build Polyaspartic, fast-cure line marking coating New systems will be added to this line throughout 2016.

The products can be applied to a wide range of substrates and are recommended into areas needing a high performance finish. The range is also good for decorative floor areas and adds durability to good looks, reducing the need for costly and time-consuming repairs.

For more information visit us at www.resinsurfaces.co.uk, follow us @ResinSurfaces or call 0161 483 1232.

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BIM – the implications beyond April 2016 The compulsory introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM) – the availability of digital representations of components to be used in buildings - is set to have far-reaching effects on all stakeholders with responsibility for building design, construction and management.

Here, John Mercer of CP Electronics, examines some of the implications.

With less than six months to go till the introduction of compulsory BIM compliance for Government construction projects, the minds of non-compliant manufacturers are now increasingly focused on creating BIM objects to ensure their products are still able to be specified.

However, the longer-term implications of BIM are likely to be much further-reaching for suppliers of products such as lighting systems, particularly when it comes to ensuring the final building is constructed in line with original specification.

BIM is already proving its value in significantly reducing the costs and lead times of new build projects of all kinds. An architect working with CAD versions of all the desired components can know instantly whether or not they will fit where planned (and how many of each will be needed). BIM is allowing a quicker way of completing different schedules by working digitally rather than manually, reducing design time and increasing productivity.

This is a far cry from previous ways of working where potential ‘collisions’ – products being found not to fit where they are meant to – do not come to light until the actual time of installation, leaving contractors with a desperate rush to find an alternative to meet the completion deadline. The knock-on effects of this can be numerous but in an era where minimising energy consumption is a watchword for so many, the use of less efficient products than was originally planned is not something that the customer and end users of the building will be prepared to countenance.

BIM requirements will place greater power in the hands of consultants and specifiers who will in effect supply project contractors with a list of products which they have to buy, many of which will have been selected on the basis of their energy efficiency level.

This will make for a more efficient transfer of the project from the consultant to contractors and installers and will effectively ‘tie in’ manufacturers of products, drastically the Custodial Review

reducing the opportunity for original specifications to be broken.

The breaking of specification has been a common theme on many build projects, particularly in the area of lighting. As lighting systems are among the final products to be installed, they have frequently been seen as an area where economies can be made if costs in other parts of the build have been higher than anticipated. Instances have occurred where the original lighting budget is required but the budget has been reduced by 50 per cent.

However, not only is this practice likely to result in the specification of an inferior product in terms of performance, functionality and reliability, but energy efficiency will almost inevitably be compromised too. However, in the era of BIM with its associated requirement for proven energy efficiency, the use of products and systems which do not come up to scratch in this key performance area will simply not be permitted by those with the responsibility for signing off the final build.

About CP Electronics CP Electronics is a world leader in helping organisations to achieve their energy consumption objectives. We benefit from over 40 years in the design and manufacture of cutting-edge energy saving controls for heating, lighting and ventilation.

Our energy management products can help organisations comply with legislation such as the UK’s Part L Regulations and reduce the impact of taxation like the Climate Change Levy.

Our products are available from a wide range of distributors and contractors throughout the UK. Click here to find a stockist online, or call us on +44 (0)333 900 0671 for UK and International enquiries.

For further information, please contact: Luke Bull / Jonathan Desmond, Wyatt International luke@wyattinternational.com / jonathan@wyattInternational.com Tel +44 121 454 8181

With BIM in place, contractors will have the opportunity to work with the chosen manufacturer who has the opportunity to examine the specification in detail and recommend the most appropriate and cost-effective solution which will also satisfy energy efficient requirements.

Not only does this process enable closer collaboration between contractor and manufacturer but best pricing is guaranteed, as is on-time delivery as the supplier knows when the products will be needed and can plan production accordingly. All this is a far cry from last-minute ‘shopping around’ to find a supplier who can deliver, for example, several hundred luminaires, within a few days after the products originally specified were found to be the wrong size or unavailable for any other reason.

The advent of BIM and likely future developments in and around it are set to drastically change the overall specification, purchasing and build process and therefore the relationships between those involved.

Future developments in BIM are likely to be driven more by Government targets in the area of speed of build rather than by the requirements of consultants for greater information – but even so BIM represents a great opportunity to ensure optimum environmental performance while reducing overall build times through a smooth, coherent design and build process with all parties from consultants, specifiers and contractors to installers and manufacturers working in true partnership.

For further information visit www. cpelectronics.uk.com.

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Sonia Kapur, CP Electronics PRODUCT NEWS sonia.kapur@cpelectronics.co.uk TelSecurikey +44 203 188 3415and safes are police mirrors

approved Leading UK physical security s u p p l i e r Securikey has achieved ‘Police Preferred Specification’ status for nine models within its convex safety mirror range, demonstrating that the company has met the high standards set by Secured by Design (SBD), a national Police crime prevention initiative which aims to reduce burglary and other crime types using the principles of good design and appropriate physical security measures.

Securikey worked with Bennett Mirror Technologies, a leading mirror specialist with over 60 years of mirroring expertise, to develop the Institutional Polycarbonate, Institutional Stainless Steel and AntiVandalism safety mirror ranges, ensuring they meet the exacting standards of both Police and Secure Facility requirements. The mirrors have also been developed in conjunction with prison architects and rigorously tested to meet stringent UK Home Office, London Metropolitan Police and The Prison Service regulations. Providing real-time surveillance, these mirrors effectively eliminate blind spots to ensure the safety of inmates, patients, staff and visitors who might be at risk from surprise attacks or collisions.

For more information, please contact Securikey on 01252 311888, email enquiries@securikey.co.uk or visit www.securikey.co.uk

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Prisoners’ lives can be significantly improved - and sometimes even saved - for the price of a stamp Gwyn Morgan was educated at Somerville College Oxford and then joined Gray’s Inn. She practised as a barrister before moving on to manage a partnership specialising in writing and editing legal materials. She has been the Director of Prisoners’ Penfriends since its inception.

Deaths in custody and incidents of self-harm are surely among some of the most difficult episodes in the life of those working in prisons.

Prison governors and staff looking for ways of reducing such events may be interested in a report from the University of Warwick: “Imagining more than just a prisoner: the work of Prisoners’ Penfriends”, by Professor Jacqueline Hodgson and researcher Juliet Horne, published in April 2015 and launched at an event in the House of Lords in June.

Prisoners’ Penfriends makes it possible for volunteer correspondents, in the community outside prison, to write to prisoners and receive letters in return. Several procedures are in place to ensure the security and safety of those taking part. The scheme, which has been in operation since 2005, has been approved by the National Offender Management Service, which also gave specific approval to its extension to sex offenders in 2013.

The Warwick report finds that prisoners taking part in this scheme describe themselves as less lonely, more hopeful and happier – all of which mitigates the risk of suicide and selfharm. In addition, because the scheme is so highly monitored, prisoners threatening harm to themselves (or others) are detected early and concerns reported back to the prisons where they are resident.

Independent research To date, there has been little research on prison letter-writing schemes. Setting their findings in the context of a prison system where there are pressures on resources and rising suicide rates, the authors of this report sought to discover whether the simple process of exchanging letters with volunteers outside prison could contribute to prisoner well-being and the possibility of rehabilitation.

All prisoners and volunteers in the scheme were contacted and their views were gathered using a combination of telephone interviews and written questionnaires – all of which were prepared with the consent and participation of NOMS National Research Committee.

The researchers describe the response rate as “excellent”, with 58% of the prisoners surveyed and 69% of the volunteers (some surveyed, some interviewed) taking part. the Custodial Review

Tangible benefits for prisoners The report finds that, “even within the constraints necessary for the protection of volunteers, simple letter-writing relationships can lead to tangible benefits for both prisoners and volunteers.”

Many of the prisoners were found to be serving long sentences and often said that they had no contact at all with anyone outside prison other than their penfriend. A few were so institutionalised that they feared release.

Many felt that they were outcasts, with no hope of ever being accepted by those in the world outside prison.

But, through taking part in Prisoners’ Penfriends, some of these feelings had changed.

“Prisoners say that, through their contact with their Penfriends, they find help in getting through their years in prison, they reported changes in their self-perception, improvements in their social and communication skills, growing feelings of engagement with ‘the outside world’ and feelings of acceptance by ‘normal people’.”

The following quotation from a prisoner is typical:

“ I feel less isolated. I have a greater hope for life after prison. I feel less stigmatised about my offences and feel that someone is interested in me as a person. Someone actually cares about me. When we talk about current events and life experiences I realise that I am more than just a prisoner: people will want to associate with me and be my friend when I leave prison.”

The report presents a compelling case that the provision of a caring and committed correspondent can make a real contribution to the prisoner’s chances of successful rehabilitation. “Through their involvement with the scheme, prisoners report renewed hope for a future outside prison, they gain confidence that they can find acceptance in ‘the outside world’, they are prompted to plan for their future life.”

Volunteers – safety and security paramount As for the volunteers, the report found that they experience emotional and intellectual satisfaction from taking part and also gain new insights and understanding of the realities of what is going on in our prisons.

Chapter 7 of the report is devoted to the safety, training and support offered to volunteers. The organisation has established firm rules and there is compulsory training.

All volunteers use pseudonyms and must Page 28

remove all identifying information from their letters. Every letter – in either direction – goes through a PO box and the correspondence is highly supervised.

Letters written by volunteers to prisoners are checked (three times each) to ensure that no addresses or names are revealed, that there is no other identifying information and that the volunteer is writing in an appropriate tone, observing sensible boundaries and sticking to the guidelines. Penfriends never meet each other.

To quote one of the volunteers: “[The director] is very supportive. I know she reads all letters and will intercept anything. I have also spoken to her a few times about issues that have arisen and have attended several training courses.”

Tailored operation Prisoners’ Penfriends is set up to suit each individual prison. Sometimes, the scheme is organised through chaplains but safer custody officers, resettlement managers, heads of public protection and others also take the lead in implementing the scheme within prison establishments.

Although the minutiae are agreed on a prisonby-prison basis, the general outline is:

• • • • • •

leaflets about the scheme are distributed among prisoners; interested prisoners write direct to Prisoners’ Penfriends’ office; the prisoner is sent an application form and a letter setting out the limitations of the scheme (in particular that it is no sort of ‘dating agency’); the prisoner takes the form to be counter-signed by chaplain, safer custody officer or other officer, as agreed in the particular prison; the form is returned to Prisoners’ Penfriends; a volunteer is asked to write the first letter to the prisoner concerned.

All letters are logged and the log is available for the prison’s inspection at any time.

Prisoners writing inappropriately are immediately banned. There has not been a single security incident since the inception of Prisoners’ Penfriends, over ten years ago.

In that time, over 19,000 letters have been exchanged.

Written by Gwyn Morgan Hodgson, J. and Horne, J. (2015) Imagining more than just a prisoner: the work of Prisoners’ Penfriends.

University of Warwick, online at: http://www2.warwick. ac.uk/fac/soc/law/research/centres/cjc/impact/policy/ para 8.1 at p 49 1

2

ibid. para 8.3 at p 50

3

ibid. para 6.11 at p 30

4

ibid. para 8.5 at p 50

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Life in prison: Peer support. A findings paper by HM Inspectorate of Prisons ‘This findings paper is part of a series which focuses on daily life in prisons and young offender institutions (YOIs) holding young adults aged 18 to 21 years. The series explores particular topics that are regularly reported to us as an issue during our routine inspections. We hope these findings papers will give people an insight into the reality of life in prison and will be of interest to practitioners and encourage further discussion. We expect that our findings and the good practice detailed in this paper will support the development of prison services.’

This findings paper summarises literature surrounding peer support in prison. It draws on evidence from recent inspections of local prisons undertaken by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and survey data from inspection reports published between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.

This data is aggregated and overall responses for the year are presented. Comments from confidential prisoner surveys conducted as part of the inspection process are also included in this report; these quotes are not ascribed to individual prisons or inspection reports.

The paper explores the range of peer support schemes we came across in our inspections, prisoners’ experiences and access to support, and the potential benefits and issues we identified through inspections.

The full report can be downloaded in pdf format at http://www.justiceinspectorates. gov.uk/hmiprisons/ ‘Life in prison: Earning and spending money’. A findings paper by HM Inspectorate of Prisons This findings paper is part of a series which focuses on daily life in prisons and young offender institutions (YOIs) holding young adults (aged 18 to 21). The series explores particular topics that are regularly reported to us as an issue during our routine inspections. We hope these findings papers will give people an insight into the reality of life in prison, will be of interest to practitioners and be used to encourage good practice and further discussion. We expect that the findings and good practice detailed in this paper will support the development of prison services.

This findings paper summarises literature surrounding earning and spending money in prison. It draws on evidence from recent inspections of adult prisons undertaken by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and survey data from inspection reports published between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015. This data is aggregated and overall responses for the year are presented.

Comments from confidential prisoner surveys conducted as part of the inspection process are also included in this report; these quotes are not ascribed to individual prisons or inspection the Custodial Review

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reports. The paper focuses on adult men and women held in prisons and young adults held in YOIs and the experiences they have earning and spending money in these prisons.

The full report can be downloaded in pdf format at http://www.justiceinspectorates. gov.uk/hmiprisons/

New Psychoactive Substances in prisons aren’t going away - we need to work together to address it The issue of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in prisons has made increasing headlines in the past 18 months, and for good reason. Last year, RAPt (the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) released figures which showed a seven fold increase in the number of people in prison asking for help with NPS, also known as ‘legal highs’ or ‘spice’, compared to one year ago.

Our frontline staff, based in 26 prisons across the country, recorded 87 prisoners seeking help around NPS in April - September 2014, compared to 622 in the same period in 2015 (1). Our serious incident reporting process also showed significant levels of violence and health problems as a result of NPS. In a three month period (April to June 2015) across nine prisons RAPt frontline staff reported 54 serious incidents that related to NPS (2). Nearly half resulted in a prisoner being admitted as a patient to prison healthcare or hospital; six incidents involved inmates acting violently and assaulting prison officers; and four incidents involved prisoners assaulting other prisoners.

We’re not the only ones to have found evidence about the increasing use, and associated dangers, of Spice - according to the National Offender Management Service, prison seizures of spice have increased from 15 in 2010 to around 737 reported in 2014 (3). Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) recently identified NPS as “the most serious threat to the safety and security of the prison system”.

The Government has, quite rightly, prioritised the development and piloting of new tests that can detect the most common forms of NPS, and security teams in prisons throughout the UK are doing an admirable job to try and stem the growing problem of people smuggling the drugs into prison in the first place.

But there’s only so much that testing and security checks can do to control what has clearly become a vibrant and profitable market.

We have learnt through decades of experience of drug use and markets in prison that the key to undermining an established prison drug market is the integration of demand reduction initiatives with creative use of prison incentives, privileges and sanctions.

A good example of this integrated approach is Page 30

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dedicated drug recovery wings. These facilities combine security, drug testing and incentives to stay free from drugs, alongside intensive programmes that work with prisoners to challenge their patterns of drug use and offending, with the aim of staying drug free through the sentence and on release. Our aim is to maintain a dominant anti-drug culture amongst prisoners on a recovery wing, in which the peer pressure on the landings discourages drug use and dealing.

Over half of all prisoners in this country (55%) report committing offences connected to their drug taking, with the need for money to buy drugs most commonly cited (4). A period of imprisonment is an opportunity to break this cycle. Independent research shows that RAPt’s intensive rehabilitation treatment programme leads to a 20% reduction in the numbers of released prisoners re-offending, and a 65% reduction in overall number of offences (5).

Despite the scale of the problem, less than 2% of drug or alcohol dependent prisoners have access to this proven rehabilitation treatment.Yet for every 100 people completing this programme an estimated £6.3million is saved on reduced crime and re-sentencing. Making the programme available to just 10% of drug or alcohol dependent prisoners would equate to potential savings of £440million a year.

Only a handful of prisons in the UK have drug recovery wings that incorporate intensive treatment - imagine how many more people, not to mention their loved ones and wider communities, could benefit if every prison had one.

Mike Trace, CEO, RAPt Footnotes 1. NPS use is captured and recorded in the assessments conducted by RAPt staff on all new referrals to its prison-based substance misuse services.The figures from each of the prison services are collated on a quarterly basis to gain an overall picture of use of NPS by prisoners referred to RAPt. 2. These figures come from RAPt’s serious incident reporting process.

A serious incident or serious untoward incident (SUI) is in general terms a severe adverse incident or near miss, with the potential to cause serious harm, either to a service user, other prisoner, member of staff (either prison or RAPt) or RAPt as an organisation. Where staff based in our service teams deem that an incident meets this criteria they complete a form with details of the incident, submit to our Governance Department. All incidents are then logged in a database.

3. Hansard,Written answers and statements, 21 October 2014 http:// www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answersstatements/written-question/Commons/2014-09-26/209374 NB: Only data for the first seven months of 2014 is available and the total figure for 2014 of 737 is an estimate based on available data.

4. Ministry of Justice (2013). Gender differences in substance misuse and mental health amongst prisoners, London: Ministry of Justice.

5. Kopak, A. M., Dean, L.V., Proctor, S. L., Miller, L., & Hoffmann, N. G. (2014) ‘Effectiveness of the rehabilitation for addicted prisoners trust (RAPt) programme’, Journal of Substance Use, [Online] pp.1-8.

Available from: doi:10.3109/14659891.2014.904938.

About RAPt RAPt has accumulated over 20 years of experience in treating drug and alcohol dependence amongst offenders in the UK.We have always put great emphasis on conducting research and analysis to understand the nature of the problem, constantly review our services and measure our outcomes.This experience and research analysis is now being brought together in a series of RAPt Policy and Research Briefings, the latest of which provides a comprehensive overview of the issues being faced by the prison system in relation to NPS. For RAPt’s full briefing on new psychoactive substances visit www.rapt. org.uk/npsbriefing For more information, please call 020 3752 5560.

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