‘UNACCEPTABLE DELAYS’ IN THE TREATMENT OF SEVERELY MENTALLY UNWELL PRISONERSAnnual reports from the Independent Monitoring Boards at HMP’s Downview – a public-sector women’s prison – and Oakwood – a privately run male prison – have expressed serious concerns over … |
PRISONERS WITH FOOD ALLERGIES FACE HIDDEN HEALTH RISKS IN CUSTODYA new report has revealed the daily challenges facing prisoners with food allergies, intolerances, and/or medical dietary conditions. Though prisons are supposed to offer healthy and varied meals that meet religious, … |
PAS’ Annual Panel Discussion 2025PAS is delighted to announce details of its upcoming panel event, to take place on 2 October 2025 at the London offices of Reed Smith. The event will continue our recent focus … |
LEAKED REPORT REVEALS A SHORTFALL OF 10,000 PROBATION STAFFRecent, leaked documents have revealed a shortfall of 10,000 probation staff to manage offenders serving community sentences. In particular, probation workers say the early release scheme has dramatically increased their workload. (Between … |
FAILURES TO MEET PRISONERS’ BASIC NEEDS FUELLING SELF-HARM EPIDEMICFailures to meet the basic needs of prisoners is fuelling an epidemic of self-harm, according to new research by the Samaritans. The study identified five overall causes of self-harm amongst prisoners: Failures … |
80% OF PRISON AND PROBATION STAFF DISAPPROVE OF EARLY RELEASE SCHEMESEight in ten prison and probation staff disapprove of the government’s decision to release prisoners early, according to a recently-published survey. Many respondents felt the scheme was managed chaotically, with … |
THREE OF EVERY FOUR PRISONERS RELEASED ARE RECALLED BACK TO PRISONNew Ministry of Justice data shows that for every four people released from prison, three are recalled for breaching their licence conditions. Between January and March 2025, there were 13,296 prisoner … |
NEW PRISON AND PROBATION STATISTICS A ‘LITANY OF DESPAIR’New Safety in Custody, Prison Performance Ratings, HMPPS Annual Digest and Offender Management data have been described as a ‘litany of despair’. Safety in Custody reports: In the 12 months to June 2025, there were 401 deaths in prison, an increase of … |
INDEPENDENT PRISON CAPACITY REVIEW POINTS TO SYSTEMIC PROBLEMSThe newly published Independent Prison Capacity Review sets out the growth of the prison population crisis, the various responses from different governments and the costs subsequently entailed. The prison capacity crisis is described … |
CALLS FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ‘FAILING’ IPP ACTION PLANRecently-published statistics show that the IPP Action Plan – launched in November 2024 – has not led to any significant improvements for those IPP prisoners still in custody. The data shows … |
MOJ PUBLISHES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ACTION PLAN FOR PRISONS, PROBATION AND COURTSThe Ministry of Justice has now published its Artificial Intelligence Action Plan which aims to set out how AI technology will reduce reoffending. The AI Action Plan states: “AI will be used across prisons, … |
PRISONS STILL STRUGGLING TO IDENTIFY AND MEET THE NEEDS OF NEURODIVERGENT PRISONERSThe ‘Neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System’ report, published in 2021, revealed that neurodivergent prisoners were ‘often unidentified, unsupported, and disadvantaged by a system that lacked adequate understanding of their … |