Strengthening family ties

The Policy Framework says that each prison must have a ‘Family and Significant Other Strategy’. The strategy should be freely available to prisoners and their families, and should be easy to read. The strategy should contain what the Farmer review described as a ‘local family offer’ which includes the following:

• A visitor centre and visiting services;
• Staffing to ensure family work is a priority;
• Extended visits for eligible prisoners based on local policy—for example, homework clubs or family days;
• Family learning;
• A ‘gateway’ communication system—we explain what this means below.

As part of this approach, the Policy Framework says there should be a senior manager lead in each prison to make sure that family work is a priority, and that staff should understand the importance of family work in keeping people safe and reducing reoffending.

Visits play a major role in maintaining and strengthening family ties. The Policy Framework reminds Governors of the importance of a clear and effective visits booking system to avoid difficulties and delays. They are also required to consider potential barriers to visits—for example if visits are shortened because visitors have to wait a long time to be brought to the visits hall.

Provision at visits should include facilities for children to play and facilities for private meetings between visitors and partner agencies. There should be accurate and understandable information for visitors about available support services, local visiting arrangements and the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme (APVU). All visitors should be able to speak to a member of staff if they would like to share concerns about the person they are visiting. There should also be a Family Support Worker available to offer support. Further details of visits provision remain in PSI 16/2011 Providing Visits and Services to Visitors which has been amended in light of the new Policy Framework.

In addition to statutory visits, Governors and family services must work together to provide opportunities for you to ‘interact positively’ with your family—the Policy Framework suggests family days and homework clubs as ways of doing this but also encourages innovative approaches. Although your attendance at these types of events should be subject to risk assessment and the best interests of any children considered, the Policy Framework is clear that you should not lose a family day simply due to downgrading in your IEP level.

As mentioned above, the Farmer review also recommended each prison have a ‘gateway’ communication system for families—which means there should be a way for family members and significant others to report concerns about someone in prison. The Policy Framework reflects this by stating that ‘Governors must provide contact details that prisoners’ families /significant others can use to share information with the prison about risk of harm to and from prisoners’. There must also be ‘effective arrangements in place to receive and act promptly on information, and to provide feedback to the individual where appropriate’. This is particularly important—our advice service has regular difficulties reporting urgent concerns to prisons, and we have been increasingly asked to leave voicemail messages rather than being able to speak to someone directly. Though this may be reasonable for general concerns, it is not suitable for reporting urgent issues such as an immediate risk of self-harm. PRT has been working with other organisations including Pact, the Howard League and Prisoners’ Advice Service (PAS) to highlight this with HMPPS and we are aware that steps are being taken to try to improve this practice.

In the meantime, if family members have difficulty reporting urgent concerns we suggest they make the Governor aware of this. They could also contact the National Prisoners’ Families Helpline which is run by Pact and offers information, emotional support and signposting to prisoners, people with convictions, defendants and their families. Their helpline number is 0808 808 2003 and is open weekdays from 9am to 8pm.