ROOF Blog

A report commissioned by the Howard League for Penal Reform has called for a reduction in the number of prisoners and the closing of some jails. The report said that prison and probation funding should be diverted to tackling the causes of crime, and suggested that short-term prison sentences be replaced with community-based responses. The report said that overcrowding threatened to ‘bring the penal system to its knees’ with the prison population doubling in the past two decades to an all time high of around 84,000.

HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight has been described as a ‘troubled institute’ by the chief inspector of prisons after a report found a litany of problems. One disabled prisoner was unable to wash property for more than a year because staff refused to take him to the showers, while for another disabled offender it was six months because there was a lack of staff trained to push his wheelchair. The report has also said prisoners were poorly supervised by staff, violence was endemic and there was widespread abuse of prescription drugs.

A landmark report published yesterday has found that too many offenders with mental health problems and learning disabilities are ending up in prison without access to the appropriate treatment. The report by former home office minister Lord Bradley said that many offenders with mental health problems would be better off serving community sentences instead of jail time, which would reduce reoffending rates and save millions of pounds. He has made a series of more than 80 recommendations calling for improvements in policing, courts and prisons, which ministers pledged to implement.

A controversial scheme to house bailed and tagged offenders in residential areas may be expanded, justice minister David Hanson has suggested. The bail hostels, which are unsupervised and without formal planning approval, are opposed by residents, but Mr Hanson says the scheme has been a success in reducing prison numbers. However, his comments came as talks began over whether to close a London bail hostel due to violence and antisocial behaviour.

A leaked memo has revealed that government ministers have signed a deal with a private company to build 200 bail hostels, but local residents and councillors will not be consulted on their location. The memo advises local authorities that councillors and residents will not be notified of the plans until they have been approved, and if they do find out about them, the councils will have no right to object to the hostels unless they breach housing or planning rules. The hostels are to house bailed offenders, those released on home curfew with electronic tags, and alleged offenders awaiting trial.