Prison Review Team (2011) (IR) Review of the Northern Ireland Prison Service Conditions, management and oversight of all prisons

Summary
An effective prison system, capable of reducing crime, is crucial to creating a safer society in Northern Ireland, and this report begins by describing what such a system would look like and why. It also sets out the crucial role of other departments and civil society, with some innovative examples of multi-agency work that need to be supported and extended. The interim report in February identified significant and long-lasting problems in the  Northern Ireland Prison Service and called for a programme of change and transformation of culture, approach and working practices. Yet little has changed in practice in the succeeding eight months, despite the launch of the Strategic Efficiency and Effectiveness programme, a new sense of purpose at the top of the service, and support from the Justice Minister. The endemic and systemic problems identified in the interim report remain unresolved, and public money is being wasted. Incremental improvements are not enough, and there needs to be a determined cross-party approach to driving through the whole package of change. This is a unique opportunity to create a public sector prison system that is a model of excellence. It should not be wasted. Though the transformation will take time to complete, the next six months will be crucial.

 Exemples de recommandations: 

Recommendation 29
Accurate data should be collected about prisoners’ needs and risks in all three prisons, as a basis for planning and commissioning
services.

Recommendation 30
Each prisoner should have a personalised custody or sentence plan, developed together with him or her, which reflects his or her own needs, strengths and risks. It should identify and engage all the other agencies and disciplines within and outside prison that are needed to support change.

Recommendation 33
The desistance strategy developed in NIPS must involve partnership with and support for families and community organisations to build social capital and prevent social exclusion, drawing upon and extending existing initiatives and experience.

Prison Review Team Final Report October 2011