Prisons & Probation – Latest News:

  • Sat, 16 Nov 2024 12:00:40 +0000: More than a third of assaults on UK prison officers are not fully investigated - Prisons and probation | The Guardian

    Staff says reports of abuse by inmates are not taken seriously by management, leaving them feeling vulnerable

    More than a third of investigations into assaults against prison staff are dropped before the end of the process, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data.

    Speaking to the Observer, officers working in several different prisons said they felt management did not take abuse against them by inmates seriously and that they were frequently told to “grow up” and “deal with it”.

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  • Sat, 16 Nov 2024 06:00:30 +0000: Tech firm Palantir spoke with MoJ about calculating prisoners’ ‘reoffending risks’ - Prisons and probation | The Guardian

    Exclusive: Rights group expresses concerns as it emerges US spy tech company has been lobbying UK ministers

    The US spy tech company Palantir has been in talks with the Ministry of Justice about using its technology to calculate prisoners’ “reoffending risks”, it has emerged.

    The proposals emerged in correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act which showed how the company has also been lobbying new UK government ministers, including the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

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  • Fri, 15 Nov 2024 17:52:04 +0000: Peers say not reforming IPP sentences could cause another Post Office scandal - Prisons and probation | The Guardian

    Ministers told they risk more miscarriages of justice by not backing bill to replace indefinite jail terms with fixed ones

    Peers have said the government is failing to deal with a miscarriage of justice akin to the Post Office scandal, after ministers refused to back legislation that would give new sentences to thousands of prisoners jailed indefinitely.

    James Timpson, the prisons minister, said the 2,964 people currently serving indeterminate sentences would in future have a better chance of being released, with more regular reviews of their readiness every six months.

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  • Thu, 14 Nov 2024 17:12:27 +0000: Andrew Malkinson says he has been ‘left to rot’ after wrongful conviction quashed - Prisons and probation | The Guardian

    Exclusive: Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail, told he must wait months to learn if he is even eligible for compensation

    Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, says the Ministry of Justice has left him “to rot” after telling him he is likely to have to wait months before learning if he is even eligible for compensation.

    Malkinson had his conviction overturned last year after he was wrongly convicted of a 2003 rape in Greater Manchester.

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  • Tue, 12 Nov 2024 16:00:24 +0000: Hundreds of English schools still at risk from crumbling concrete - Prisons and probation | The Guardian

    Exclusive: Previously unpublished official data shows Raac found at 235 DfE sites

    Hundreds of schools in England are still at risk of collapse from crumbling concrete, according to previously unpublished figures.

    Official data, which the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found had been wrongly withheld by the Conservative government, confirmed the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) at 235 Department for Education (DfE) sites.

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