The Bradley Report and the Government's Response: The implications for mental health services for offenders
| Author | Emmeline Taylor |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| DOI | 10.1177/02645505100570030906 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The report cautions that the findings from the quantitative analysis do not
necessarily mean that CJIs are having no impact on re-offending. The one-year
reconviction rate is a relatively simple measure. The more complex measure of
number of offences per offender has produced more positive findings, although they
are not statistically significant. As such, the authors recommend that analysis of
larger sample sizes measured over a longer period of time could provide more
definitive evidence on the effectiveness of CJIs.
Joliffe, D. and D.P. Farrington (July 2009) Initial Evaluation of Reconviction Rates
in Community Justice Initiatives. Research Summary 9/09. London: Ministry of Jus-
tice. The report is available for download from:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/docs/community-justice-evaluation.pdf
Emmeline Taylor
Greater Manchester Probation Trust
The Bradley Report and the Government’s
Response: The implications for mental health
services for offenders
The briefing paper produced by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH)
examines The Bradley Report and the Government’s response. The Bradley Report
was an independent review of the experiences of individuals with mental health
problems in the criminal justice system (CJS). The report, commissioned by the Min-
istry of Justice and published in April 2009, presented 82 recommendations based
on 26 visits to courts, probation sites and prisons, 16 regional stakeholder events,
approximately 80 meetings with experts such as judges and academics, and nearly
200 written consultation responses.
The SCMH briefing begins by outlining the prevalence of mental health problems
in prisons in the UK. It has been estimated that up to 90 per cent of adult prisoners
have some form of mental health problem. Most have relatively common conditions
such as anxiety or depression, but approximately two-thirds have a personality dis-
order and about one in ten are estimated to have a more severe condition such as
psychosis. Indicative of the prevalence of mental health issues in prisons, there were
over 23,000 incidents of self harm and 61 suicides recorded in prisons in 2008.
There is a much higher prevalence of mental health problems among female prison-
ers and young people.
The SCMH report outlines how the Government accepted all but four of the 82
recommendations either in full or in principle.The Government’s responses werecate-
gorized into seventhemes. Firstly, under ‘Governancearrangements’, the recommen-
dationto establish a Healthand Criminal JusticeNational ProgrammeBoard by the end
of May 2009 was acceptedimmediately. Similarly, Bradley’srecommendation to set
up a National Advisory Group to support Ministers and the Programme Board with
independent evidence-based advice wasaccepted and promised to be implemented
by the end of July 2009.Bradley did not feel he could do justice tothe area of youth
justicewithin the confines ofthe review. As such, the keyrecommendation fallingunder
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