Crime Solicitors

The Queen’s Speech has announced the biggest shake up of the prisons system since Victorian times – with prison governors given unprecedented freedom to ensure prisoners receive better education.

The government has also said that it will close old and inefficient prisons and new institutions will be built, where prisoners can be put more effectively to work.

Action will also be taken to ensure better mental health provision for individuals in the criminal justice system – and more than 5,000 offenders will be housed in new reform prisons by end of the year, as part of largest reform programme since the Victorian era.

The first six reform prisons have been named – including one of Europe’s largest prisons, HMP Wandsworth.

As well as HMP Wandsworth, other prisons to be reformed are HMP Holme House, HMP Kirklevington Grange, HMP Coldingley, HMP High Down and HMP Ranby.

The prisons will give unprecedented freedoms to prison governors, including financial and legal freedoms – such as how the prison budget is spent and whether to opt-out of national contracts; as well as operational freedoms over education, the prison regime, family visits and partnerships to provide prison work and rehabilitation services.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) says a new regime of transparency will hold prison governors to account, with comparable statistics to be published for each prison on re-offending, employment rates on release, and violence and self-harm.

Sweeping reforms of the prison system will further the government’s commitment to public protection through cutting crime, by reducing re-offending, says the MoJ.

The government will use legislation to extend these freedoms much further – enabling prisons to be established as independent legal entities, with the power to enter into contracts, generate and retain income, and establish their own boards with external expertise.

The government says this will amount to the biggest structural reform of the prisons system for more than a century.

Commenting on the Queen’s Speech, Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“It sets out a clear programme of social reform, so we break down the barriers to opportunity and extend life chances to all – and nowhere is that reform needed more than in our prisons.

“For too long, we have left our prisons to fester – not only does that reinforce the cycle of crime, increasing the bills of social failure that taxpayers must pick up – it writes off thousands of people.

“This is a government and this is a country that sees the best in all – and wants to give everyone the chance to rise up and make the most of themselves.

“So today, we start the long-overdue, long-needed change that our prisons need – no longer will they be warehouses for criminals, they will now be places where lives are changed.”

Justice Secretary Michael Gove added:

“Prisons must do more to rehabilitate offenders – we will put governors in charge, giving them the autonomy they need to run prisons in the way they think best.

“By trusting governors to get on with the job, we can make sure prisons are places of education, work and purposeful activity.

“These reforms will reduce re-offending, cut crime and improve public safety.

The government has also published Dame Sally Coates’s review of education in prisons, commissioned by the Justice Secretary.

Alongside new Teach First-style programmes in prison, this will recommend robust learning plans to track individuals’ progression, allowing governors to fund more stretching education programmes.

The government is also announcing the eight police force areas chosen for the piloting of satellite tracking – tags that track offenders’ movements using GPS technology.

Pilots will begin in September in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Duncan Lewis Crime Lawyers

Duncan Lewis crime lawyers can advise at any stage of a criminal charge – and our criminal defence lawyer regularly visit police stations, courts and prisons to advise on criminal law.

Duncan Lewis can also advise on prisoners’ rights in custody, including access to healthcare and mental health services in prison, access to rehabilitation services, disciplinary hearings before the governor, Parole Board applications and licence conditions.

Duncan Lewis crime lawyers can also advise on civil liberties issues and miscarriages of justice (wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, unsafe convictions) – and claims against the police or prison service for use of unnecessary force.

For expert legal advice on all criminal charges and prisoners’ rights in custody, call Duncan Lewis crime lawyers on 0333 772 0409.

For 24/7 help at a police station, call the Duncan Lewis Solicitors 24-Hour Emergency Helpline on 0333 772 0607.