9 REMAND PRISONERS
241. We have focused on two issues relating to remand
prisoners: (i) the disproportionate use of remand, as evidenced
by the very high figures of remand prisoners as a proportion of
the prison estate and (ii) the 'rehabilitative' strategy designed
for remand prisoners (most of whom have not been convicted of
any offence) and their general treatment whilst in custody.
242. The remand prison population comprises people
awaiting trial (the majority) and those who have been convicted
but are awaiting sentence. In June 2003, the population of untried
prisoners was 7,900, and of convicted but unsentenced prisoners
just under 5,200.[194]
Over 17% of the prison population are currently remanded in custody,
as the table below demonstrates.
Percentage of prison population that are on remand
or serving sentences of less than 12 months at 30 June 2004[195]
|
| | 1998
| 1999 | 2000
| 2001 | 2002
| 2003 |
|
| % population on remand | 19.6
| 19.4 | 17.5
| 16.7 | 18.4
| 17.7 |
| % population serving sentences of less than 12 months
| 11.7 | 11.5
| 13.6 | 12.9
| 11.0 | 11.1
|
| Total prison population | 65,727
| 64,829 | 65,194
| 66,403 | 71,218
| 73,657 |
|
243. The Bail Act 1976 asserts a presumption in favour
of bail for all people awaiting trial except those on charges
of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, rape or attempted rape.
Yet eight out of ten people received into prison on remand are
charged with a non-violent offence. 20% of those held on remand
are acquitted. 50% of male prisoners held on remand in 2002 received
a non-custodial sentence whilst 59% of female remanded prisoners
received a non-custodial sentence.
244. In 2002, the average age of a remand prisoner
was 29. Over 20% were under 21. In 2002, 36 remand prisoners committed
suicide, representing one every ten days. [196]
245. Ninety-three per cent of remand prisoners are
men. Although women are in a small minority, the number of women
on remand has more than trebled in the last decade. Remand prisoners
represent almost a quarter of the current female prison population
and constitute the majority of women who enter prison each year:
of the 12,000 women sent to prison in 2002, two thirds were on
remand. A recent Prison Reform Trust report on remand prisoners,
published in September 2004, concludes that custodial remand of
women is used too frequently by the courts due to a general failure
in the provision of information to the courts regarding the needs
and experiences of women offenders, in particular, adequate social,
psychiatric and probation reports, prior to the court's decision
whether or not to grant bail.[197]
246. One specific issue was raised by several witnesses,
including HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, the Independent Monitoring
Boards, the Howard League for Prison Reform and the Prison Reform
Trust. They expressed concern that a court may decide to remand
an individual in custody to allow assessments to be made, including
mental health evaluations, in preference to relying on already
over-burdened community social services. Indeed, a representative
of the Independent Monitoring Boards told us that
"It is easier to get a psychiatric report
by sending someone on remand to High Down for 28 days for an offence
that may not be punishable by imprisonment anyway."[198]
247. We consider that the expanding use of remand
is cause for concern. The growing numbers of remand prisoners
are impacting significantly on the already overcrowded prison
estate. The fact that over 50% of all remand prisoners are not
subsequently given a custodial sentence points to an urgent need
for reform to reduce the numbers of remand prisoners. It is unfortunate
that the Government's National Action Plan contains no reference
to remand prisoners. We recommend that the Government should commission
a comprehensive review of the role of remand in the criminal justice
system as a matter of priority, particularly in light of the weakening
of the presumption in favour of bail introduced by the Criminal
Justice Act 2003.
248. We turn now to look at the treatment of remand
prisoners. Remand prisoners are held in local prisons, which are
in the main the most overcrowded and have the most basic prison
regimes. The present Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, has commented
that remand prisoners "are often at the bottom of the pack
when they should be, as unconvicted prisoners, at the top of the
pack". He advocates that remand prisoners should have separate
conditions and generally a lower security categorisation.[199]
249. Remand prisoners as a prison group suffer some
of the highest levels of social deprivation and exclusion, and
present on admission to prison with some of the greatest needs.[200]
Research by Nacro demonstrates that remand prisoners are five
times more likely to have lived in a hostel prior to imprisonment
than sentenced prisoners, are less likely to have had a job before
prison and have higher levels of drug dependency than sentences
prisoners: two-thirds of male remand prisoners and a half of female
remand prisoners have used at least one drug in the year before
coming to prison.[201]
250. The President of the Prison Governors' Association,
Mr Mike Newall, told us that:
"This group of people is more expensive
during their period on remand then they are going to be at any
other time and they are also going to be much more demanding -
they are going to come in with drug problems of one kind and another
- and work has to start with these people immediately…The
National Offender Management Service talks about offenders rather
than people who are remanded and therefore innocent at this stage,
but these people are going to be extremely expensive and, unless
the work starts there, they will be half-way through their sentence
before they are convicted. So you are not going to have the opportunity
to deal with them."[202]
251. Remand prisoners do not currently undergo any
needs assessment on admission to prison, nor do they receive any
sentence or regime plan. The Prison Service does not operate a
separate programme of education or work for remand prisoners.
In addition, the Prison Service does not collate statistics on
attendance of remand prisoners at work or education. The justification
for this absence of provision is that remand prisoners are, for
the most part, unconvicted of any offence, and there is an inherent
contradiction in talking about the 'rehabilitation' of potentially
innocent people. For this reason remand prisoners cannot be required
to work or attend education classes.[203]
252. Whilst respecting remand prisoners' status
as (in most cases) unconvicted prisoners, we believe that measures
should be put in place to ensure the time remand prisoners spend
in custody is used constructively.
253. We recommend that remand prisoners should
undergo a needs assessment on reception to prison, including mandatory
drug testing, and that the Prison Service should develop a separate
prison regime tailored to meet their specific needs. This regime
should include a short induction programme, education and work
opportunities and drug and alcohol treatment programmes, with
arrangements in place for continuation of treatment and programmes
in the community. Participation in these programmes would of course
be on a voluntary basis. Short, intensive basic literacy and numeracy
programmes should also be made available to those remand prisoners
who need them. We recommend that Jobcentre Plus surgeries in prisons
should assist remand prisoners with benefits and employment issues
arising as a result of their imprisonment, and that prison housing
advice and support services should try where possible to preserve
the accommodation to which the prisoner will be returning.
194 Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2003 (December
2004), table 8.1 Back
195
HMPS response to Home Affairs Committee follow-up question (April
2004) Back
196
Prison Statistics England and Wales 2002 Back
197
Prison Reform Trust, Lacking Conviction: the rise of the women's
remand population (September 2004) Back
198
Q 115 Back
199
Lord Woolf's address to the Prison Reform Trust, 2001 Back
200
See Social Exclusion Unit report, Reducing re-offending by
ex-prisoners (July 2002) Back
201
Prison Reform Trust website at www.innocentuntilprovenguilty.com,
quoting the Office of National Statistics Back
202
Q 467 Back
203
Though they are permitted to work if they choose to do
so (Prison Rules 1999, rule 31 (5)). Back
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