Archive for the ‘Government policy’ Category

The right to a fair trial

One of the fundamental rights upheld in Britain is the right to a fair trial. Jon Venables has not been found guilty of any new crime and should be treated as being innocent until it is proven otherwise. We don’t know yet whether he is even accused of a crime and if so, whether he [...]

March 11, 2010   Posted in: Government policy, Headline grabbing, Uncategorized  2 Comments

Less crime, safer communities, fewer people in prison

We have launched our new campaign, which you can find by visiting our website.  Please take two minutes to take action for the Howard League and help us put penal reform at the top of the political agenda during the general election and beyond.

March 5, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Campaigns, Children and young people, Government policy, Howard League, Overcrowding, Prisons, Public Services, Rehabilitation, Sentencing, Victims  No Comments

End of prisoner early release scheme announced

Ending this early release scheme is a welcome step, as the scheme did nothing to increase public confidence in the justice system. Nevertheless, the scheme was originally introduced for the very good reason that our prison system was full to capacity.  Even with the scheme in place prison overcrowding remained at crisis levels and now [...]

February 22, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Government policy  One Comment

Lap dancing clubs and local powers

New powers for local authorities to refuse permission for a lap dancing club will be introduced in April. I think this is a welcome move for several reasons. I agree with Harriet Harman that local people should be able to decide for themselves if they want a sleazy club in the neighbourhood. It should be [...]

February 12, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Government policy, Prisons  No Comments

Imprisoning charities

Yesterday morning I had a fascinating meeting with the Charity Commission about whether charities should manage prisons.  I went with Kevin Curley and others from NAVCA and met with Suzi Leather and her team.  We sought the meeting because we are concerned that two charities, Turning Point and Catch 22, have joined with Serco to [...]

February 3, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Government policy, Prisons, Public Services, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized  6 Comments

Too many initiatives and not enough resources for young people.

I spent Friday night with the Stay Safe programme in Salford. The local authority, police and youth offending service have staff who tour the streets of Salford every Friday night from 6pm until midnight in a marked police car and an unmarked car to find children and teenagers on the streets. I arranged my participation [...]

February 1, 2010   Posted in: Children and young people, Government policy  No Comments

Another announcement about victims

Jack Straw has announced a new national victims’ service. It won’t be a statutory service, but a sort of unit with a paltry £8 million funding. This comes seven years after legislation was passed to set up a commissioner for victims office. This has not happened, despite being announced several times, until Sara Payne was [...]

January 27, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Government policy, Victims  No Comments

Crime and security bill

Two things today related to the crime and security bill currently going through Parliament.
On Monday this week clause 41 of the crime and security bill sailed through the house of commons virtually unopposed. Just over a week since the bi-partisan justice select committee had stated plainly:
“Prison is a relatively ineffective way of reducing crime for [...]

January 21, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Government policy, Police  One Comment

A new face at the top

Phil Wheatley, director general of the national offender management service (NOMS), has announced he is to retire later this year.  I wish him well in his retirement.
This offers a tremendous opportunity for change in the criminal justice system.  A new person at the top could inject some energy into a programme of reform based on [...]

January 18, 2010  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Government policy, Prisons, Public Services  One Comment

The consequences of a political stampede on anti-social behaviour

The Guardian has a front page story today based on an ICM poll of voting intentions that the Conservative lead is down to 9 points over Labour. So the outcome of the general election is looking a lot less certain than in recent months. We could have a hung parliament, or a slim Labour lead [...]

December 15, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Government policy, Sentencing, Women in custody, anti-social behaviour  No Comments