Here’s what has happened to education in UK prisons in the past 5 years
Posted: March 23, 2016 Filed under: News | Tags: CentreForum, Chris Grayling, education, Michael Gove, rehabilitation, reoffending Leave a commentHas the “rehabilitation revolution” stalled?
Source: Martyna Starosta on Vimeo
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The “rehabilitation revolution” promised by former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling in November 2012 has yet to materialise. This is especially true when it comes to a key pillar of rehab: education. Read the rest of this entry »
Prisons in the press – 5 February
Posted: February 5, 2016 Filed under: News | Tags: Assaults on staff, Chris Grayling, Nick Hardwick, PITP, self-harm, smoking, suicide 1 CommentPlans for prisoners to be allowed to smoke in their cells and a Duchess behind bars
The Duchess of Cornwall visited Brixton prison. Image: Shaun Amey
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Prisons in the press brings you the best articles from the past week to keep you up-to-date on prison news.
Christmas for prisoners – Part 1
Posted: December 16, 2015 Filed under: News | Tags: Chris Grayling, Christmas, Michael Gove, overcrowding, self-harm, suicide 1 CommentIt’ll be lonely this Christmas
Christmas is far from a happy time for most prisoners. Image: Orange County Archives
“You’re completely powerless. Apart from sending a couple of Christmas cards and speaking to family on the phone, there is nothing you can do, there is nothing you can offer or help with. You’re just alone.”
This is Christmas behind bars, according to former prisoner and Prison UK: An Insider’s View blogger, Alex Cavendish.
Read the rest of this entry »
Comment: Prison cigarette ban is just the MoJ blowing smoke
Posted: October 7, 2015 Filed under: Comment | Tags: Aylesbury prison, book ban, Chris Grayling, Eric Allison, Michael Gove, Ministry of Justice, prisons, prisons inspectorate, smoking ban Leave a commentNew measure to stop smoking in prison is just MoJ covering its own back, writes Eric Allison
Will the smoking ban in prisons really put a stop to cigarettes? Photo:
Ali Catterall
There are times when I seriously question the sanity of politicians who decide penal policy.
Take the book banning fiasco last year. The then justice secretary Chris Grayling decided that relatives and friends of prisoners could no longer send books to them. Read the rest of this entry »
Will new Justice Secretary Michael Gove engage with prison critics?
Posted: May 19, 2015 Filed under: News | Tags: Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, The Howard League for Penal Reform Leave a commentThe Howard League for Penal Reform on the new Lord Chancellor
New Justice Secretary Michael Gove. Source: Daily Telegraph
Andrew Neilson, the Director of Campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, says that Michael Gove will have to learn from the mistakes of his predecessor and be more open to engagement. Read the rest of this entry »
What the Conservative government will mean for crime, sentencing and prisons
Posted: May 13, 2015 Filed under: News | Tags: Chris Grayling, Conservatives, David Cameron, General Election, Michael Gove, news, PITP, Prison News, prisons, Sadiq Khan, Simon Hughes, Theresa May 1 CommentWhat we know so far about the Tories’ justice plans
Take a deep breath, Mr Gove, you have your work cut out for you. Source: Policy Exchange .
Prisons in the Press – 1 May
Posted: May 1, 2015 Filed under: News | Tags: Chris Grayling, HMP Altcourse, PITP Leave a commentFire, drugs and politics dominate the headlines this week
Prisons in the press brings you the best articles from the past week to keep you up-to-date on prison news.
Prisons in the press – 24th April
Posted: April 24, 2015 Filed under: News | Tags: Chris Grayling, mental health, PITP, racism, terrorism, violence Leave a commentMuslim extremism, racist attacks and “super-prisons” in this week’s news.
We are monster, a film about a racist murder in prison is due to be released next week. Source: @WeAreMonster
Prisons in the press brings you the best articles from the past week to keep you up-to-date on prison news.
Crispin Blunt on the privatisation of the probation service: a change too soon?
Posted: April 23, 2015 Filed under: News | Tags: Chris Grayling, Crispin Blunt, drugs & alcohol, probation, re-offending 2 CommentsExclusive interview with the former prisons minister.
Source: Flickr, the conservative party
Former prison minister Crispin Blunt has said that probation reforms could potentially reduce reoffending and help addicts, but that the moves are too hasty and more pilot schemes are needed.
Prison Watch UK 
Comment: Cautiously optimistic about Gove’s prison reform promises
Posted: October 21, 2015 | Author: Eric Allison | Filed under: Comment | Tags: Chris Grayling, Conservative Party Conference 2, deaths in custody, HMP Liverpool, Jack Straw, Michael Gove, suicide, Winston Churchill | Leave a commentEric Allison scrutinises Gove’s proclamations about reforming the prison system
“We shouldn’t ignore the failures in our criminal justice system. And the biggest failure of all is the failure in our prisons,” Gove told the Conservative party conference. Photo: Conservatives.
In my first column for Prison Watch UK, back in August, I touched on the appointment of Michael Gove as justice secretary. I said he was at least talking honestly about the massive problems in the prison system
and had overturned the ridiculous ban – imposed by his predecessor, Chris Grayling – on sending books to prisoners.
Since then, Gove has taken it up a notch. At the Conservative party conference he continued to talk truthfully about the problems in the prison system. But he also went much further, further in fact than I have heard a politician go in many a long year.
Read the rest of this entry »