The Howard League for Penal Reform has responded to a joint
inspection report, An Inspection of Through the Gate
Resettlement Services for Prisoners Serving 12 Months or
More, published today (Wednesday 21 June).
The report, published jointly by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Prisons and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, studies the
quality and impact of ‘Through the Gate’ services – the support
provided to people as they leave prison and return to the
community.
The inspectorates’ conclusions are damning – Through the Gate
services have no real prospect of having any impact on
reoffending, and if they were removed tomorrow it would not make
much difference.
It is the latest in a series of critical reports published by
inspectorates since the Ministry of Justice introduced its
Transforming Rehabilitation programme – the part-privatisation of
the probation service in England and Wales.
Under the reforms, a large part of the probation service was
handed to 21 privately-run Community Rehabilitation Companies
(CRCs), who are now responsible for preparing prisoners for
release and helping them to resettle in the community. This
includes helping prisoners to find accommodation, as well as
employment, training or education, and help with managing their
finances, benefits and debt.
Inspectors found that CRCs were focusing most of their efforts on
meeting their contractual targets, to produce written
resettlement plans, and not giving enough attention to responding
to the needs of prisoners.
Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for
Penal Reform, said: “This is a devastating report
on a growing scandal.
“The break-up of the public probation service, with a large part
of it handed to private companies, was supposed to turn lives
around, reduce reoffending and make us all safer.
“Instead, successive inspection reports have shown that the risk
to the public has increased, and now we learn that Through the
Gate services are so useless that they could stop tomorrow and we
would not notice the difference. People who are trying to lead
crime-free lives are being let down.
“One of the first challenges for the new government is to sort
out this mess. It is time to end the dangerous experiment of
‘community rehabilitation companies’ and return to the single,
successful, probation service that we used to have.”
The report is based on inspections of nine resettlement prisons
and 98 cases. Only two of the 98 prisoners were found
accommodation thanks to the Through the Gate arrangements, and
more than one in seven prisoners were released without knowing
where they would sleep that night.
No prisoners were helped by Through the Gate services to get
education, training or a job after release. Only one prisoner had
received support through a mentor scheme introduced under Through
the Gate.
Inspectors found that Through the Gate services had made a
“minimal” contribution to addressing the needs of women who had
been victims of abuse.
The report also raises problems caused by overcrowding and staff
shortages in prisons. Because prisons are spread unevenly across
England and Wales, and because of overcrowding in jails in London
and the South East, prisoners were often some way from home
during their resettlement period.
Inspectors were told that some prisons in the South East had been
exempted from completing prisoner screenings due to staff
shortages. They were producing blank screening documents, which
provided no information for Through the Gate staff when they came
to complete resettlement plans.
The report comes less than a fortnight after the Howard League
published analysis showing how the number of people recalled to
prison has spiralled out of control following the probation
shake-up.
As recalls have soared, so pressure has grown on a prison system
already failing to cope with overcrowding, a lack of resources
and record levels of violence and self-injury.
The majority of people sent back to prison are recalled for
technical reasons, such as failing to attend appointments with
probation officers. These cases could be better dealt with in the
community and are often linked to services failing to support
people properly on release.
The total number of recalls for all types of sentences has grown
sevenfold in 15 years. In the year 2000-01, there were 3,182
recalls to custody. By 2003-04, this number had risen to 11,268.
It then rose steadily to 17,701 in 2014-15. In 2015-16 – the
first full year after the Ministry of Justice’s Transforming
Rehabilitation programme was introduced – overall recalls leapt
to a record high of 22,412.
Notes to editors
- 1. 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.
- 2. The Howard League’s analysis of
recalls to custody can be found on the charity’s website
at:www.howardleague.org/news/recallsspiraloutofcontrol/
- 3. An Inspection of Through the
Gate Resettlement Services for Prisoners Serving 12 Months or
More will be available from Wednesday 21 June
at: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation
