Community Justice Files 35
| Author | Dr Nick Flynn, Ross Little |
Offender Rehabilitation Act, 2014
On 1 February 2015 the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 (ORA) came into force, meaning an extension of supervision to 45,000 prisoners per year released from short prison sentences of less than twelve months. Any person whose offence was committed on or after 1st February, and who is sentenced to a custodial term of more than one day, will in the future receive at least 12 months of supervision in the community. The Act, passed in March 2014, accompanies the Transforming Rehabilitation programme.
The full details of the legislation can be read here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/11/contents/enacted
The Announcement of the legislation by the Ministry of Justice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/post-prison-support-extended-to-45000-offenders
One in, one out: New interim Chief Inspector of Probation announced
On 2 February 2015, in a written statement made by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling, it was announced that the Chief Inspector of Probation, Paul McDowell, had resigned. Given that Mr McDowell’s wife is employed in a senior management position by Sodexo, a multi-national services and facilities corporation which, in partnership with the crime reduction charity Nacro, has been awarded six of the 21 new probation contracts, Chris Grayling announced:
I have considered carefully all of the potential mechanisms and systems that could be introduced and used to manage any actual or perceived conflict of interest. However Mr McDowell has decided that, in the circumstances, he will resign.
The statement of Mr McDowell’s resignation can be read here: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/February%202015/2nd%20February/2.JUSTICE-probation.pdf
Following Mr McDowell’s resignation, on 16 February 2015 it was announced that the new interim Chief Inspector of Probation is to be the former Chief Executive of London Probation Trust, Paul Wilson. Mr Wilson is to lead the probation inspectorate while a permanent Chief Inspector is being recruited.
The Ministry of Justice announcement of Mr Wilson’s appointment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/interim-chief-inspector-of-probation-announced
Evaluation of the “day one mandation to the Work Programme”
The Department for Work and Pensions has recently published an evaluation of the “day one mandation to the Work Programme” initiative. The initiative requires people leaving prison who are claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) to join the Work Programme immediately on release.
The compulsory nature of the initiative is due to the recognition that people leaving prison face considerable barriers to employment and need greater support to find work. The apparent advantage of the programme for prisoners is that they can make an advance JSA claim from up to five weeks before release and can receive additional support to help them find work.
The evaluation included 57 interviews with prisoners and a...
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