Nacro’s response to the Justice Select Committee’s Inquiry on rehabilitation and resettlement is based on our experience of supporting thousands of people across the criminal justice system (CJS) every year and our commitment to ensuring their voices and experiences are heard.
Our response highlights the following:
- Prison conditions and health: Overcrowding, poor healthcare access, and lack of purposeful activity exacerbate both mental and physical health issues. Immediate action is required to ensure equivalency of healthcare.
- Education and training: This is not fit for purpose across the prison estate. Addressing overcrowding, staffing, and regime access while improving education and training for employment is critical. Government must enhance digital tools, employer engagement, and success metrics.
- Time out of cell and purposeful activity: Many remain in cells too long, missing rehabilitation opportunities. A radical review of regimes, purposeful activity and time out of cell is needed to improve education, work, and healthcare access. Staff shortages hinder prison education; contracts should offer competitive pay to attract staff of the right calibre.
- Probation and resettlement challenges:
- Staffing crisis: The Probation Service’s staffing crisis impacts their ability to deliver effective resettlement, Government must invest in long-term resources and explore urgent capacity solutions, including greater voluntary sector involvement.
- Siloed commissioning model: Current Probation commissioning is siloed, hindering collaboration and service delivery, HMPPS must address this in CRS retendering.
- Insufficient data sharing: Improved data sharing between services could enhance support and reduce reoffending.
- Recall framework: The sharp rise in recalls, often without further offending, suggests system failure. Behavioural deterioration on licence often stems from unmet needs; a clear framework should ensure support is in place before recall, unless there is a significant risk of harm.
- Community sentences: Government must end ineffective short prison sentences and expand the use of community orders which are more effective at reducing offending. Investing in community services and a strong Probation Service will ease prison and court crises while maintaining public confidence. We need high-quality support options and community orders available nationally and delivered promptly, this should include mental health and substance misuse treatment, personal wellbeing services, improved unpaid work, and a network of community hubs to facilitate the integrated delivery of services.