Howard League Blog

Today HM Chief Inspector of Prisons has published his report on people on an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP) who are still in prison years past their tariff. This Kafka-esque sentence was introduced by Labour in 2003 and caught 8,711 men and women in its net until it was abolished by Ken Clarke in 2012.  Read more

The central plank of the government’s plan to deal with the prison crisis is the recruitment of more officers. They claim they are going to recruit an additional 2,500 front line officers, and this will allow staff to be responsible for six prisoners each, forming relationships and overseeing their journey through the prison system. Balderdash.  Read more

The (relatively) new Secretary of State, Liz Truss, is to give her first speech on prisons policy on Thursday.  Read more

Since the new Secretary of State for Justice was appointed in July, 26 men and women have taken their own lives in prison. They all hanged themselves.  Read more

The RSA has today published a report suggesting the purpose of prison should be changed to one that is truly about rehabilitation.  Read more

We all know that getting a job on release from prison is one of the best ways of staying away from crime. But prisons do not equip you to get work-ready. In fact, they do the opposite.  Read more

It always used to be the case that prisons were full of young men. Nowadays, prisons hold a lot more older men.  Read more

Last week a report commissioned by the Youth Justice Board into distance from home for children in custody was published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. It found that children held further away from home get fewer visits from families and professionals.  Read more