Recent developments

Prison projections

The latest prison projections for 2017 based on current sentencing trends indicate that the highest figure will be 94,800 and the lowest, 83,100.  This is a rise from the earlier projections published in 2010, where the highest figure for 2010 was 93,600.

By 2011 there were 137 prisons in England and Wales, including 11 private prisons, providing over 100,000 places. Usable operational capacity is calculated as actual number of places minus 2000 places to allow for flexibility in providing suitable accommodation and on 30th December 2011 it was 89,472.

See:
Ministry of Justice (2010) Prison Population Projections 2010-2016, Ministry of Justice Statistics  Bulletin, London, Ministry of Justice.
Ministry of Justice (2011) Prison Population Projections 2011 – 2017 England and Wales. London, Ministry of Justice.

The profile of the prison population

The rates for drug problems and mental health problems continue to be higher within the prison population than the general population.

See:
Department of Health (2011) No health without mental health, London, Department of Health.
Dudeck, M. et al (2011) ‘Traumatization and mental distress in long-term prisoners in Europe’, Punishment and Society, 13:4, 403-23.
  
Prison estate

A new private prison, Featherstone 2, will also be opened next to Featherstone in Wolverhampton  in 2012.

Prison overcrowding

The target for the number of prisoners held in accommodation units designed for fewer prisoners in 2011-11 was no more than 26%  and the achieved result was  24 per cent, the same as in the previous year. But given the current size of the population this means large numbers of prisoners are being held in cells designed for fewer prisoners.

See:
Ministry of Justice (2011) National Offender Management Service Annual Report 2009/10 Management Information Addendum.  London, Ministry of Justice.

Prison conditions:

The latest report of the Prison Inspectorate found that the majority of adult men’s prisons offered prisoners between seven and nine hours out of their cells, but for some it could be as little  as three hours.
See: HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2011) Annual Report 2010-11. London, HMIP.

Prisoners and voting rights

The date for the UK government’s compliance with the ruling in Hirst has been extended to six months from the date of the judgment in Scoppola v Italy (App No. 126/05) [20 June 2011]. However, because of the politically contentious nature of this change, the Government is considering reviewing the possibility of the creation of a UK Bill of Rights and a Commission was established in March 2011 and is expected to publish its report at the end of 2012.

9.1.2.The aims of imprisonment

The focus on treating offenders with decency and respect is stressed in the NOMS Strategic and Business Plan which also refers to the need to manage prison capacity to make sure that the required standards on decency and safety are met and that control is maintained.

9.2.2 Prison Expansion pp 281-283

Projections:

The latest Prison Population Projections show a slight fall in expected increases in the prison population compared to last year: the highest projected figure for June 2015 is 93,900, medium is 88,700, and the lowest is 83,300.

See: www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonpopulation

This compares with the prison projections for 2008-2015 published in September 2008 when the highest projected prison population in 2015 was 95,800.

These projections do represent a fall on earlier projections but still indicate a continued high level of imprisonment. (Source: Prison Population Projections 2008-2015, Ministry of Justice Statistics Bulletin, 18 September 2008.)

Latest Prison Population Figures:

The prison population reached record high levels by the summer of 2009. On 6 November 2009 the total was 84,522 (male: 80,248, female 4,274) plus 2563 under Home Detention Curfew supervision. (See: www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonpopulation).

The figure for the prison population in England and Wales on 8th January 2010 was slightly lower at 82,653. This consists of 78,607 males and 4,046 female prisoners. In addition 2,526 offenders were under Home Detention Curfew Supervision. The prison population in early January 2009 was 81,643.

Prison Performance

The Prison Service Annual Report for 2007-08 was published in July 2008. It reported that the following targets were met: Escapes, Serious Assaults, the rate of positive results from Mandatory Drug Tests, Offending Behaviour Programmes completed, Number of Drug Treatment Programmes Completed, Education (the Number of Basic and Key Work Skills awards achieved), Resettlement and Accommodation Targets (the percentage of prisoners with an employment outcome and settled accommodation on release). It reported that the following targets WERE NOT MET: Self-Inflicted Deaths (Target 112.8 SIDs per 100,000 of the average prison population, Result: 115.5), the proportion of Minority Ethnic Staff (target 6.3%, achieved 6.2%) and the targets on Overcrowding, and Staff Sickness. The average rate of Overcrowding was 24.6%: this refers to the percentage of the prison population held in units of accommodation intended for fewer prisoners.(Source: HM Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 2007-2008
London, the Stationery Office HC 860, 21 July 2008.)

9.3.1 Overview pp 288-9

The latest report of the Chief Inspector of Prisons has highlighted the problems facing prisons dealing with increasing populations and actual or threatened budget cuts.
It also expressed concern over the use of segregation and the continued detention of  IPP prisoners beyond their tariff.  A new Chief Inspector, Nick Hardwick, was appointed in 2010 when Anne Owers retired. (See HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2010)  Annual Report  2008-09, London HMIP.)

D Scott and H Codd in Controversial Issues in Prisons (2010) McGraw Hill/Open University Press consider a number of issues relating to imprisonment including the incarceration of prisoners with mental heath problems, suicide and the impact of incarceration on prisoners’ families.

9.3.3 Constructive regimes pp 290-293

The problem of access to offending behaviour courses has been highlighted by challenges have been brought by Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP)  Prisoners who need  to complete these courses in order to provide information to the Parole Board which can be used in reaching decisions on their release. These cases, including for example Secretary of State for Justice v James [2009] UKHL 6 May 2009, have shown the problems of meeting this requirement when there are insufficient courses available. However, IPP prisoners with short tariffs are now being given priority access to offending behaviour courses.

A report on the problems faced by prisoners serving IPP sentences was published in 2010 by Jacobson and Hough. The authors argue that the IPP sentence has added to prison numbers and IPP prisoners have faced problems in also proving that they are no longer a risk to the public.  Applications to the Parole Board have been delayed because of the Parole Board’s workload as well as problems in obtaining access to offending behaviour courses. Jacobson and Hough recommend that this sentence should be reviewed to see if it is can be used less frequently or should be abolished or at least to speed up procedures which allowed prisoners to be released (See J. Jacobson and M. Hough (2010) Unjust Deserts: Imprisonment for Public Protection, London PRT.) 

9.4.5. Prison deaths and suicides

The number of self-inflicted deaths in prison custody in 2009 was 60, which consisted of 57 males and 3 females. Five deaths were in the 18-20 group and the remainder in the over 21 age group. This compared with 61 in 2008 and 95 in 2004.  (Ministry of Justice (2010) Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2009: Ministry of Justice Statistics Bulletin, London, Ministry of Justice.)

See: http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/newsrelease010110a.htm

9.6.1 Rights, fairness and justice pp 308-309

The Commission on English Prisons Today

This independent Commission was established to investigate the purpose and extent of the use of prison in the 21st century. According to its website (www.prisoncommission.org.uk/), the Commission 'will look at the driving forces influencing change and practice including legislation, politics and the media. It will consider the principles, purpose and limits of a penal system and how it should sit alongside other social policy strategies'. It intends to publish its Final Report in 2009.

The Commission has published its first Report, following a two year review. The Report, Do Better Do Less: The report of the Commission on English Prisons Today, advocates a reduction in the size of the prison population, closing some prisons, replacing short prison sentences with community based responses, dismantling of NOMS, and decentralising the prison service. See:
www.prisoncommission.org.uk/index.php?id=publications

9.6.2. Rights Conventions pp 309-311

The Prisoner’s Right to Vote

The Government has published its Second Consultation Paper on Prisoners’ Right to Vote. It is considering 4 options: prisoners retaining the vote if they are serving less than one year, two years, or four years; the fourth option is for prisoners to retain the vote if they are sentenced to less than two years but they would be allowed to apply to a court to retain the vote if they are sentenced to a term between two and four years. The Paper also invited comments on the practicalities, whether prisoners should have a postal or proxy vote and the best way of registering prisoners’ votes.

Voting Rights of Convicted Prisoners Detained within the United Kingdom, Second Stage Consultation (2009).

See www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/prisoner-voting-rights.pdf

For further discussion of international human rights law and imprisonment see   D. van Zyl Smit and S, Snacken, S. (2009) Principles of European Prison Law and Policy: Penology and Human Rights, Oxford, Oxford University Press. This text covers the key sources of European human rights law relevant to imprisonment.

9.6.3. The Human Rights Act 1998 pp311-314

In the Secretary of State for Justice v James [2009] UKHL 22, 6 May 2009, the House of Lords considers the question of accessibility to offending behaviour courses for IPP prisoners and the implications for Article 5(4) of the European Convention.

9.6.4 Prisoners’ rights: voting rights for prisoners p 314

A second Consultation Paper on prisoners’ right to vote was published in 2009. This made clear that the government is contemplating granting the vote only to selected prisoners, depending on sentence length. It invited comments on the appropriate threshold, the procedures for registration and on the role of judicial discretion in determining a prisoner’s right to vote, and on whether individuals convicted of electoral fraud should be permitted to vote. Comments were also sought on the practical issues relating to voting.  Four options was put forward for consideration:  allowing prisoners to vote automatically if they have been sentenced to less than one year’s imprisonment, less than two years, or less than four years, subject to certain exceptions based on the type of offence for which they have been convicted. The fourth option is to allow prisoners sentenced for less than two years to automatically retain the right to vote but prisoners who have received more than two years but less than four years, would have to apply for entitlement to vote, subject to a judge’s permission in the specific case.

9.7 Expansionist and reductionist penal policies pp 314-317

A Consultation Paper on Titan Prisons was published by NOMS in June 2008 to consider, inter alia, the implications of the use of such prisons for the delivery of safe and decent regimes, how the prison population should be segmented in these new prisons, and the appropriate methods of commissioning for services supplied within those prisons.
The Government has accepted the proposal for Titan prisons in the Carter Review of Prisons (2007). It is expected that the prisons will offer up to 2,500 places which will incorporate smaller units of 500 offenders which may deal with specific groups of offenders. They will be located in the London area, West Midlands and the North-West. The aim is to open the first prison by 2012. A key rationale for the prisons is cost-effectiveness as it is expected that these larger prisons will provide economies of scale and will be cheaper to build and to run than smaller institutions. It is anticipated that a range of services will be offered in these larger units.

See: Ministry of Justice/NOMS Titan Prisons, Consultation Paper CP10/08.

Critics have focused on the problems of maintaining offender integration and wellbeing in a potentially more impersonal regime. However, the location of the prison in or near the main centres of population is welcomed.