Memorandum submitted by Martin Narey,
Director General of HM Prison Service
RESETTLEMENT
1. The Government's memorandum of 15 January
2001 replying to the Home Affairs Committee's report on Blantyre
House prison (HC 904, published in November 2000) undertook to
report back to the Committee in November 2001 on the Prison Service's
resettlement activity and what has been achieved. This memorandum
seeks to fulfil that undertaking.
CONTEXT
2. Reducing reoffending by released prisoners
is central to reducing volume crime and is part of the Prison
Service's core business of protecting the public. For resettlement
work to flourish, however, we first need to provide decent and
secure prisons and ensure that prisoners have the basic literacy
and numeracy skills required for employment. Relevant here are:
— the rise in the prison population
to an all-time high of 68,127 on 26 October 2001, an increase
of 5.9 per cent since the same time last year;
— the reduction in the number of escapes
from prisons and escorts from 347 in 1992-93 to 77 in 2000-01;
— the reduction in the number of self-inflicted
deaths in prisons from 91 in 2000 to 81 in 2001;
— the maintaining of average purposeful
activity hours for prisoners at 23.8 per week in 2000-01, compared
to 23.7 in 1992-93, during which period the average prison population
increased by 30 per cent from 49,500 to 64,300, meaning a growth
in purposeful activity hours of over 18.5 million hours per annum
since 1992-93;
— the achievement by prisoners of 12,462
literacy and numeracy qualifications at level 2 in 2000-01, making
many of them employable for the first time.
3. With these building blocks in place the
Prison Service has also made major strides in developing regimes
which tackle reoffending. This memorandum describes in particular
the progress made on drugs and offending behaviour programmes
which, together with our continuing drive to raise the level of
prisoners' basic skills, are major contributions to making more
prisoners employable. We are now able to turn, with the National
Probation Service and others, to converting this employability
into more jobs on release for prisoners, as a key resettlement
outcome.
POLICY FRAMEWORK
4. A Prison Service Order on resettlement
was issued on 29 October 2001 and the Committee has been provided
with a copy. The Order provides the Service with instructions
on the management and delivery of resettlement and with guidance
on good practice. It is geared towards reducing reoffending by
prisoners following release from custody, thereby protecting the
public from harm. The Order underpins the Prison Service Performance
Standard on resettlement issued in November 2000, which requires
that:
All prisoners have the opportunity to maintain
and develop appropriate community ties and prepare for their release.
Provision by the Prison Service in collaboration with the National
Probation Service will be targeted on the basis of an assessment
of risks and needs and directed towards reducing the risk of reoffending
and risk of harm.
5. The Order provides a framework for building
on the good practice and programmes outlined in paragraphs 30-36
of the Government's memorandum of 15 January 2001. All parts of
the prison estate have a contribution to make to helping prisoners
address their offending behaviour and prepare for reintegration
back into the community, and there is a range of provision in
place which reflects this.
6. Research suggests that offenders are
twice as likely not to reoffend if they get and keep a job on
release and less likely to reoffend if they have stable accommodation
to go to. [1]Securing
such resettlement outcomes, however, often involves tackling deep-seated
problems of social exclusion:
— one in two male and more than two
in three female prisoners have no qualifications (between three
and four times the rate in the general population); [2]
— more than two in three prisoners
are unemployed at the time of imprisonment[3]
(14 times the current national unemployment rate); [4]
— only half of prisoners have the reading
skills, less than one fifth the writing skills and less than one
third the numeracy skills necessary to complete for 96 per cent
of jobs; [5]
— one in 14 prisoners is homeless at
the time of imprisonment[6]
(more than 13 times the national homeless household rate); [7]
— around two in three prisoners have
used illegal drugs in the 12 months before imprisonment (at least
two and a half times more likely than people aged 16-29). [8]
7. Tackling these problems requires action
by a range of departments and agencies as well as the Prison Service,
as demonstrated in:
— the establishment in April 2001 of
the Prisoners' Learning and Skills Unit in the Department for
Education and Skills, to lead a new partnership with the Prison
Service which aims to achieve a substantial improvement in the
level of education and skills training attained by prisoners,
geared to effective resettlement;
— the investment by the Employment
Service of £1 million a year from 2001-02 in strengthening
its links with prisons. In particular, this will ensure that every
released prisoner who requires it has a pre-arranged Jobseekers
interview through which to access Employment Service help in securing
a job or training place, joining the New Deal and claiming Jobseekers
Allowance;
— the availability since April 2001
of early entry to the New Deal for eligible ex-prisoners aged
25 or over as well as 18 to 24 year olds;
— the development by the Department
of Work and Pensions and the Employment Service, with the Prison
Service and others, of progress2work. This is a £40 million
employment initiative over the next two and a half years to help
drug misusers into work, targeted in areas with significant drug
problems. The first projects will begin in 31 districts next year
and will expand to other districts by summer 2002. Progress2work
will develop better ways to identify and help people with problems,
including specialist provision for those who need more intensive
support, including released prisoners;
— a further £35 million employment
initiative for the hardest to help, which will include those with
criminal records and will begin next year. It will identify hardest
to help jobseekers early in the New Deal process; provide specialist
advice and help; and where appropriate, use transitional employment
schemes more flexibly to provide support to integrate these people
into the labour market;
— clause 13 of the Homelessness Bill,
which would prevent the blanket exclusion by local authorities
of certain groups, including ex-prisoners, from social housing.
Cases would have to be considered on an individual basis. The
Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions is also
consulting on a draft Statutory Instrument under the Housing Act
1996 which would extend the homelessness priority needs groups
to include those vulnerable as a result of a period within an
institution, including prison;
— the amendment of housing benefit
regulations relating to the Single Room Rent from 2 July 2001.
The change allows for housing benefit to tenants under 25 to take
account of the cost of shared accommodation (including, for the
first time, the shared use of a living room). This change will
assist prisoners under 25 who are released back into the community;
— the publication by the Rough Sleepers
Unit and the Department for Work and Pensions of new, more accessible
benefits guidance for prisoners and their families.
8. Further impetus is being given to the
development of integrated, inter-departmental policies on resettlement
by the Social Exclusion Unit's current study on reducing reoffending
by ex-prisoners. The Unit has drawn on evidence from discussions
with a range of departmental and non-Government stakeholders,
existing and new research and a large number of visits to prison
establishments. It hopes to publish its analysis later in the
year, and then work through the upcoming Spending Review with
officials across Government to develop an action plan to address
the problems identified.
PRISON REGIMES
9. The report of the joint thematic inspection
on resettlement by HM Inspectorates of Prisons and Probation was
published on 31 October 2001. A National Audit Office report on
reducing prisoner reoffending is expected to be published in early
2002. They describe many of the regime elements underpinning Prison
Service work on resettlement, including basic skills, drugs and
offending behaviour programmes. The NAO report focuses on developing
effective prison programmes, matching prisoners to programmes,
and preparing prisoners for release. Prison Service programmes
in these key areas are being developed within the context of the
Prison Service strategy on What Works in reducing reoffending,
in which the National Probation Service is closely involved and
which is overseen by the What Works in Prison Strategy Board.
EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
10. In 2000-01, 12,462 literacy and numeracy
qualifications at level 2 were achieved by prisoners, making many
of them employable for the first time. An extra £18 million
is now being invested in prison education provision over 2001-04.
This will be geared to delivering 23,400 nationally recognised
qualifications, including literacy and numeracy, in 2001-02, rising
to 36,200 in 2003-04.
11. `Improving Prisoners' Learning and Skills',
published in February 2001, sets out the Government's plans to
improve education and training in prison.
The new manifesto commitment dramatically to
improve the quantity and quality of prison education will underpin
our efforts to build capacity better to prepare individuals for
work and learning once they leave prison.
DRUGS
12. The Prison Service drug strategy, which
was introduced in 1998, aims to reduce the rates of drug misuse
during and after custody and reduce the likelihood of drug-related
reoffending. It underpins the work on resettlement and looks to
bridge the gap between prison and resettlement in the community
through its specific work with CARATs (Counselling, Advice, Referral,
Assessment and Throughcare services) and post-release hostels.
It continues to attract significant investment of funding: £88
million for the period 2001-04 from Spending Review 2000, in addition
to the approximately £25 million per year extra since 1999-2000
under the Comprehensive Spending Review.
13. The percentage of positive mandatory
drug test results has halved since such testing was introduced
from 24.4 per cent in 1996-97 to 12.4 per cent in 2000-01 (with
provisional figures of 11.9 per cent between April and August
2001. Access to voluntary testing for all prisoners ready to prove
they are drug-free remains an integral feature of the drug strategy.
On 30th September, 23,141 prisoners were signed up to a compact.
14. All prisons new provide CARATs, a package
of support and advice services for drug misusers. CARATs can refer
prisoners to more intensive treatment programmes if applicable,
and provides continuity between treatment in prison and that available
on release. The Prison Service is committed to completing 25,000
full assessments per year by March 2004. Current performance is
well ahead of this target (37,000 assessments in 2000-01).
15. 50 drug rehabilitation programmes are
offered across the prison estate to address moderate to severe
drug misuse problems and related offending behaviour an increase
from 20 in 1999-2000. They are delivered under a multi-disciplinary
approach which involves community agencies under contract to the
Prison Service. 3,100 prisoners entered these programmes in 2000-01,
and the Prison Service has targets in place to ensure 5,700 prisoners
a year enter such a programmes by March 2004. Delays in recruiting
staff have meant a slower than expected build up to the target
numbers. An additional £1.7 million was allocated in February
2001 to provide further place.
16. The Prison Service has a target of 27,000
annual entrants to detoxification programmes by 2004. Reported
performance over 2000-2001 is 32,000 entrants. Additionally, a
new Performance Standard on Clinical Services for Substance Misusers
was introduced in December 2000. The Prison Service is working
closely with the National Treatment Agency to help set standards
and ensure adequate provision of treatment facilities comparable
with those in the community. The Head of the Prison Service Drug
Strategy Unit sits on the Board of the Agency.
17. Now that a framework is in place to
tackle prisoners' drug problems the Prison Service is turning
its attention to alcohol problems where there is a gap in provision.
The Service is committed to developing an alcohol strategy to
complement the drug strategy. The Prison Service Management Board
is due to consider proposals in the Spring.
DRUG
TREATMENT PROGRAMMES
18. The Prison Service is working towards
developing a central drug treatment model for rehabilitation and
has agreed with the National Probation Directorate that it may
adapt its ASRO (Addressing Substance-Related Offending) programme
into a Prison Service model. The development of post-programme
community links and links with the National Probation Directorate's
plans for community drug programmes will be considerably enhanced
by similar probation and prison models.
OFFENDING
BEHAVIOUR PROGRAMMES
19. An additional £16 million is being
invested over 2001-04 in the continued roll-out of independently
accredited offending behaviour programmes, with the number of
completions targeted to rise from 5,986 in 2000-01 to 8,900 in
2003-04. Research evidence indicates that these programmes will
reduce reconvictions by about 10 per cent.
20. Two particular developments involving
the National Probation Service are in hand to support resettlement:
— two programmes for short-term prisoners.
One is based on the Enhanced Thinking Skills (ETS) programme and
the other is a new motivational initiative called MORE (Making
Offenders Rethink Everything). Both are complemented by a resettlement
package which focuses on accommodation, employment and financial
management and which links prisoners to a community mentor who
will support their transition back to the community. With funding
from the Invest to Save budget, the two programmes are being piloted
in nine establishments—Liverpool, Cardiff, Pentonville and
Standford Hill (ETS) and Leeds, Lincoln, Nottingham, Bullingdon
and The Weare (MORE); and
— Cognitive Skills Booster Programme.
This is a refresher programme for those who have undertaken ETS
or Reasoning and Rehabilitation. It can be completed whilst the
prisoner is in custody preparing for release or in the community
after release. A pilot of the programme is due to start in November
2001 at Sudbury prison, with another prison possibly piloting
the programme next year. The Manchester probation area will also
be piloting the programme.
RESETTLEMENT ESTATE
21. The resettlement estate-consisting of
the resettlement prisons (Blantyre House, Latchmere House and
Kirklevington Grant), resettlement units in or run by closed prisons
and resettlement regimes in open prisons—provides more extensive
resettlement opportunities to help mainly longer term prisoners
including lifers prepare for release. The Prison Service Order
on resettlement contains new National Requirements for the Resettlement
Estate. These are incorporated in the Performance Standard on
resettlement and will be subject to compliance audit.
22. The National Requirements cover:
— the purposes of resettlement regimes
and the organisation of the resettlement estate to reflect the
staged process of the resettlement of prisoners;
— eligibility and selection criteria
and the allocation process;
— the operation of resettlement regimes,
including arrangements for working out in the community under
release on temporary licence; and
— monitoring and evaluation, including
of effectiveness in reducing reoffending.
23. The security requirements for the three
resettlement prisons have been revised, with the introduction
of the new category of semi-open prisons. As male semi-open prisons
they have both Cat C and Cat D prisoners on stage 1 of a resettlement
regime and Cat D prisoners on stage 2. Female semi-open prisons
hold prisoners categorised as suitable for such conditions and
include prisoners on both stages of a resettlement regime. Male
and female open prisons will normally be able to provide both
stages of a resettlement regime, while designated units in closed
prisons can offer a stage 1 regime so long as prisoners selected
for it are separated from the rest of the prison's population.
JOINT WORKING
WITH THE
NATIONAL PROBATION
SERVICE
24. The National Probation Service was established
in April 2001. It shares a joint target with the Prison Service
of reducing the rate of reconviction of those serving custodial
or community sentences by 5 per cent by April 2004 compared to
the predicted rate. A substantial agenda of joint work is in hand
on reducing reoffending and improving resettlement, under the
oversight of the Strategy Board for Correctional Services.
OASYS
25. The two Services have worked together
to develop a joint Offender Assessment System (OASys), designed
to provide a shared approach to the assessment of risks and needs
of offenders. The use of a common system, supported by IT, will
enable the two Services to build on, rather than duplicate, the
work of the other, providing continuity an co-ordination in assessment
and planning. The system will support effective targeting of interventions
to reduce risk and provide the means to evaluate their impact.
It will provide management information to support resource planning
and allocation.
26. The design stage of OASys is complete.
A paper version will be implemented in five probation areas in
2001-02. The development of an IT version of OASys is being managed
as a joint programme. The main roll-out of OASys to probation
areas is expected to follow the completion of the probation IT
version in 2002. Implementation of the Prison Service will follow
the procurement of an IT version. Provisional plans involve the
phased roll-out of OASys to the Prison Service from 2003-04 following
the IT procurement.
RESETTLEMENT
PATHFINDERS
27. The resettlement pathfinders (which
focus on short-term prisoners, with whom there is no statutory
post-release supervision, and test out models of work pre and
post release) under the Government's Crime Reduction Programme
are working with short-term adult prisoners and jointly managed
centrally by the Prison and Probation Services. Six pathfinders
are in progress and are being independently evaluated. Three will
involve partnerships between prisons (Hull, Low Newton and Springhill/Woodhill)
and probation areas and three prisons (Lewes, Parc and Wandsworth)
and voluntary sector organisations.
28. They are testing a variety of approaches,
programmes and management and staffing arrangements. Teams case-manage
prisoners "through the prison gate" in order to deliver
provision seamlessly. A two-stage resettlement programme ("FOR
A CHANGE") is being piloted by two of the pathfinders (and
a third pilot) involving work begun in prison and completed following
release. A Best Practice guide is expected in April 2002 and reports
on interim outcomes, reconviction and cost-effectiveness will
become available during 2002-04.
HOSTELS
PATHFINDERS
29. The hostels pathfinders (which reinforce
offending behaviour programme work delivered in prison or in the
community and help offenders to apply the learning from programmes
to problems of community reintegration connected with reoffending)
will aim to develop a model regime for the approved hostels estate.
Suitable hostels are currently being identified with a view to
training staff to deliver the regime from Spring 2002. Approved
hostels receive a mix of prisoners released on licence, offenders
on community supervision and bailees. In the case of released
prisoners the regime will build on programmes delivered in custody
and apply programme learning to resettlement problems in the community.
POST-RELEASE
HOSTELS
30. The Prison Service, working with the
National Probation Directorate, is currently leading a pilot resettlement
project which will provide accommodation in the community for
short-term prisoners with histories of drug misuse and support
through the first few months following release. There will be
five hostels in the pilot, one for women and four for men, all
are planned to be open next summer. Responsibility for the project
will pass to the National Probation Directorate early next year
when contracts to deliver and run the hostels are awarded.
REVIEW
OF THE
SENTENCING FRAMEWORK
31. The report of the Halliday Review of
the Sentencing Framework published in July 2001 places an even
greater emphasis on joint working and seamlessness in sentence
delivery. The proposals for statutory community supervision for
all released prisoners would help to use the whole period of the
sentence to tackle offending behaviour and associated problems,
including practical resettlement issues. The Government is now
considering the responses to the consultation on the Review's
proposals, but has already made clear its commitment to reform
of the sentencing framework to deliver more effective prevention,
protection and punishment.
CUSTODY TO
WORK
32. The Government announced last Autumn
that it wanted to see double the number of prisoners getting jobs
on release by April 2004, including education and training places.
The Prison Service is therefore introducing a Key Performance
Indicator on resettlement from April 2002 which will incorporate
this target. An extensive prisoner survey is being undertaken
to help establish the 2001-02 baseline. An accommodation target
is also under consideration. The National Probation Service is
closely involved in this work and is considering whether a complementary
employment target—for the period released prisoners who
are eligible spend under probation supervision—would provide
additional benefit.
33. The Prison Service is investing £30
million over 2001-04 in a Custody to Work programme. Within this
there is a £5 million a year programme at five local prisons
(Birmingham, Holme House, Winchester, Bullingdon and High Down)
and five Young Offender Institutions (Feltham, Portland, Brinsford,
Glen Parva and Onley) to improve regimes with a focus on preparing
prisoners for work. £15 million a year is available from
2003-04 to support developments elsewhere.
34. Key elements of the Prison Service's
approach include:
— continuing to improve prisoners'
employability through work on basic skills and relevant vocational
training. The new Prisoners' Learning and Skills Unit is at the
heart of this;
— continuing the process of ensuring
that prison industries and workshops prepare prisoners more effectively
for feasible, available jobs. This needs to be based on an improved
knowledge of the labour market, with activity targeted where possible
on skills shortages and job vacancies in the areas to which prisoners
will be released;
— engaging more effectively with the
business and voluntary sectors and with other departments and
agencies, particularly the Employment Service, Benefits Agency
and housing agencies. Areas connections, including through the
Government Offices for the Regions and local crime and disorder
reduction partnerships, are particularly important;
— focusing resettlement policy and
delivery on providing a better transition from custody to life
in the community, particularly in respect of employment and housing.
This involves supporting and monitoring existing pilot projects
and programmes to identify effective approaches, and then applying
these lessons to development, elsewhere.
35. Some good examples of what can be achieved
are already available:
— from July 1999 to June 2000 the Headstart
programme at Thorn Cross released 20 per cent of its prisoners
with a job and 21 per cent with an education or training place.
The programme, which involves individually-tailored work on basic
skills and jobsearch and mentor support from the home community,
has been extended to Hindley and Risley;
— the High Intensity Training programme
for young adult offenders, which has been running at Thorn Cross
since 1996, has been shown to have a positive impact in reducing
reoffending. The programme, designed around interventions and
activities that research has shown to be effective in reducing
recidivism, has a particular emphasis on the reintegration of
young adult offenders into the community on release, and is being
rolled out to Deerbolt and Guys Marsh;
— more than 5,000 prisoners completed
the Welfare to Work programme at 12 establishment over 1998-2001.
The programme aims to increase job skills and employability. An
evaluation in 2000 showed that prisoners completing the programme
achieved an average of 5.7 certificates out of the seven available
and had an entry rate into the New Deal Gateway which, in the
pilot year, was double that of the comparison group of prisoners;
— between November 1998 and May 2001
the housing advice centre at Buckley Hall rehoused 52 per cent
of its clients straight from prison and another 28 per cent within
six months of release;
— the Benefits Agency, Cleveland Citizens
Charter Quality Network, the Citizens Advice Bureau and other
agencies have worked with Holme House and Kirklevington Grange
to provide prisoners with a "passport" of benefits,
housing and employment advice. Evidence from the scheme is promising
and suggests that intervention of this kind could help in breaking
the cycle of reoffending;
— the Rough Sleepers Unit, in partnership
with the Prison Service and the voluntary sector, has supported
work with prisoners most at risk of rough sleeping. Pilot schemes
in five prisons (Wandsworth, Pentonville, Bulwood Hall, Highpoint
and Holloway) and two YOIs (Feltham and Brinsford) are linked
to areas with high concentrations of rough sleeping. By summer
2001, the schemes had worked with more than 700 offenders and
produced almost 600 positive outcomes, including saving tenancies,
reducing arrears, referring to hostel accommodation and negotiating
with landlords, Housing Benefit sections and Homeless Persons
Units.
36. Such evidence of effective practice
is being used to draw up a central framework within which local
resettlement strategies for each Prison Service area will be developed.
These will support the implementation of the Key Performance Indicator
on resettlement from April 2002.
CONCLUSION
37. The Prison Service strategy for work
on the resettlement of prisoners to facilitate their transition
from custody to life in the community is comprehensive. It aims
to develop and strengthen cross-departmental work and partnerships
with other agencies and the voluntary sector to achieve effective
resettlement outcomes. Building on the Prison Service Order on
resettlement, the new Custody to Work initiative and the Social
Exclusion Unit study, this effort will continue.
November 2001
1 eg Braithwaite (1980), Burnett (1992), Simon and
Corbett (1995) and May (1999) Back
2
Level of Highest Qualification Held By Young People and Adults
(England), DES, 2000 Back
3
Criminality Survye: drugs follow-up, Home Office, 2001 (unpublished) Back
4
Labour Market Statistics (ILO rate), May 2001 Back
5
Comparison between the basic skills levels found in Prison Statistics:
England and Wales 2000-01, ONS, and the audit of skills required
for jobs in Institute for Employment Studies, Basic Skills and
Jobs, Basic Skills Agency, 1993 Back
6
NACRO, Prisoner Resettlement Survey, 2000 (unpublished) Back
7
DTLR website Back
8
Research Findings No 93, 1999, Home Office Back
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