New Prison Service policy on sentence planning
A new prison service instruction is set to improve sentencing planning for prisoners, especially for those serving an Indeterminate sentence for Public Protection (IPP) and for people who have a learning disability.
The much criticised IPP sentence was abolished by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act passed earlier this year. But many existing IPP prisoners are still unable to work towards their legitimate release due to a lack of available places on offending behaviour programmes, which are overly relied upon to demonstrate reduced risk of causing serious harm through reoffending.
A place on these scarce and variable programmes is often barred to people with a learning disability or a low IQ score, trapping these most vulnerable people in a maze with no exit.
The new PSI 41/2012 changes the priority given to offending behaviour programmes in sentence planning and stresses the importance of setting realistic and appropriate targets that take account of the individual needs of the prisoner.
There have been a number of court cases taken against NOMS by prisoners which have clearly identified the problems faced by people making progress in their sentence and challenged existing arrangements. Alongside this, representations made by the Prison Reform Trust and allied organisations have ensured that, through personal accounts by prisoners and their families, applied research, advocacy with Ministers and officials and press coverage, the situation for people serving IPP sentences has remained on the political and public agenda.
This new policy provides clearer guidance for prison staff and prisoners about sentence planning. It encourages a much more individual approach that engages with the prisoner and focuses on the importance of effective resettlement as well as risk.
Read the letter to PRT from Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright MP outlining changes to policy and practice here.
PRT is currently preparing an information sheet for prisoners and their families and drafting a lead article for Inside Time the prisoners’ newspaper.
For further reading see Prison Reform Trust’s reports “Unjust Deserts: imprisonment for public protection” and “Indefinitely Maybe: how the indeterminate sentence for public protection is unjust and unsustainable“.
Read Juliet Lyon’s article for Open Democracy “Time to unravel the cruel, irrational legacy of UK’s open-ended prison sentences” here.
PRT’s written evidence to the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry on the human rights of adults with learning disabilities can be read here.
