Prisons & Probation – Latest News:
- Sun, 14 Sep 2025 14:00:36 +0000: Prisons in England and Wales to cut spending on education courses by up to 50% - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Move comes despite election manifesto promises from Keir Starmer to improve ‘access to learning’
Prisons across England and Wales are set to slash frontline spending on education courses by up to 50%, despite promises from Keir Starmer to improve “access to learning” in last year’s general election manifesto.
The budget for classroom courses at HMP Leicester will be cut by 46.5%, another men’s prison is cutting spending by 25%, while a women’s prison is cutting its provision in education by 26%, sources have confirmed.
Continue reading... - Fri, 12 Sep 2025 11:33:08 +0000: Hundreds of prison officers may have to leave UK after Labour’s visa rule change - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Prison Officers’ Association says change in eligibility for skilled work visas is ‘disgraceful’ and ‘pandering to Reform’
Hundreds of foreign prison officers will lose their jobs and could be forced to return to their home countries at short notice because of a change in visa rules introduced by Labour, governors and a union have warned.
More than 1,000 staff, mainly from African countries, have been sponsored by prisons across England and Wales allowing them to come to the UK on skilled worker visas.
Continue reading... - Tue, 09 Sep 2025 04:00:05 +0000: ‘You want to talk about a world of lies?’ Teaching philosophy in prison | Jay Miller - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
My class of college students and inmates can get loud and rowdy, with everyone engaged. This is what philosophy should look like
• This essay was originally published as Socrates Would Be Pleased on Aeon.co
At 8.30am sharp, a white van pulls up to the North Carolina college campus where the Outsiders are huddled in their black shirts, sleepy-faced but in good spirits. They pile in quickly, knowing there is a tight schedule to stick to. A 10-minute drive from campus, then the van pulls up under the arch of a large metal gate crowned with razor wire.
By 8.45am, the Outsiders are standing in line, placing their possessions in plastic bins and waiting for the no-nonsense guards to pat them down and rifle through their things. They’re checking: are all cellphones securely locked in the van? Has the driver checked in their keys at the front desk? The Outsiders know the drill. They know that their clothing should be neutral and moderate. They know that IDs and visitor cards should be out and ready, bags open for inspection. Every beep of the metal detector makes everyone go tense, and slows things down. The Outsiders know that everything needs to go smoothly so that at 9am sharp we can make it to Room 209 of the main building where another no-nonsense guard is waiting impatiently to let us in. With him is a group of women in uniforms of various shades of blue. We know them as the Insiders. In here, they are known as the “offenders”.
Continue reading... - Sun, 07 Sep 2025 15:54:31 +0000: Watchdog fails wrongly convicted owing to lack of forensic expertise, experts say - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Criminal Cases Review Commission faces criticism over its handling of several high-profile cases
The miscarriage of justice watchdog is failing prisoners appealing against wrongful convictions because it does not have forensic expertise and will not engage with third parties who do, experts have claimed.
Advisers to Inside Justice, a miscarriage of justice charity, say that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) relies on legal professionals without a proper understanding of the science that underpins many convictions and appeals.
Continue reading... - Wed, 27 Aug 2025 17:06:53 +0000: Prisoners must get the chance to rehabilitate themselves in jail | Letter - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Former prison governor John Podmore says real opportunities for change need to be created for those incarcerated or Labour’s prison reform will just be a sticking plaster
As a former prison governor, I welcome the revival of “time off for good behaviour”, familiar to us in the 1980s (Labour to abolish most short prison sentences in England and Wales, 24 August). But for it to succeed, prisoners must have the chance to show positivity and a will to change.
At present, too many are locked in conditions that amount to solitary confinement, with illicit drugs as their main form of relief. Such a regime means that only those who are already motivated – or organised criminals running their empires from inside – can benefit. For the rest, the system offers little more than stagnation.
Continue reading...