So where will they go?

Hotels, I’ve heard

Casdon okay sorry I am having a bit of a temper tantrum about Starmer and the voting today.
I would be inclined to try and arrange some kind of personal support from family and friends for each released person. I would encourage this supportive relationship from the beginning of the sentence if possible. Obviously some crimes won’t fit that category. It’s a group effort I think to help through a crisis. Does this make sense?

I think you will find the previous government was considering some early releases but was also considering where all these released prisoners should go, and until they could provide somewhere they would not release them.
The present government's solution is to turn them out on the streets with no support whatsoever. I have no solution to offer, other than more stringent punishment lower down the scale, before prison is the only option. This is a long term problem and needs serious thought, not a knee jerk reaction.
Possibly the money saved from the winter fuel allowance could have been used towards this rather than going into the pockets of train drivers and junior doctors. There is no justification for these pay rises whatsoever.
All the problems facing this government, were facing the last government, and Labour is discovering very quickly that instant solutions are not easily available. And it is not any government that creates underclasses, it is people themselves.

ronib

Casdon okay sorry I am having a bit of a temper tantrum about Starmer and the voting today.
I would be inclined to try and arrange some kind of personal support from family and friends for each released person. I would encourage this supportive relationship from the beginning of the sentence if possible. Obviously some crimes won’t fit that category. It’s a group effort I think to help through a crisis. Does this make sense?

I agree with that ronib, but it isn’t going to mitigate the current crisis unfortunately, there isn’t an immediate golden bullet as far as I can see. The prisoners being released now are the same people that the Tories were planning to release, because this has been in the pipeline for months. Their timetable was also September, but what hadn’t happened was the release of funding for additional probation officers apparently, and that is a critical pressure area now. I believe one of the new prisons is due to open next year, and until then things aren’t going to get much easier except through the appointment of more staff to manage the existing systems. What a mess.

Casdon I managed to get to a church service last Sunday and the sermon for once impressed me. The vicar was very inspiring and pointed out the obvious human need for love and what a strange thing it was. It did strike me a bit later that faith groups and other organisations might play a stronger role in society by providing friendship and even a heating hub for a cup of tea and some warmth. I guess it is a bit daunting for strangers to befriend unknown ex convicts - maybe it happens already and I don’t know enough about it?
Sadly there are too many messes and not enough resources.

Yes, I fully agree with that!

Unfortunately many of those released early will be back inside quite soon, a lot of them are habitual offenders. We already have a soft justice system and it is only going to get worst. Probation Office are already at breaking point how can they be expected to adequately oversee released prisoners. Oh dear Keir, your responsibility, the buck stops with you!

Just as well.
Nobody here can find a workable solution.
It's the biggest undertaking of the lot, I think.

Some of our clients at the food bank where I volunteer are newly released prisoners.
The church offers coffee and biscuits and a listening ear three mornings each week to everyone. Our clients support and befriend each other.

There are warm spaces, still, but I've no idea if ex prisoners attend, or if it might put people off from going.

Alternatively it might be better to encourage ex prisoners to return to their former work or take on new training courses or new jobs? Employers might be in a position to offer some kind of guidance or mentorship for the best outcomes? We do have a shortage of skilled workers across many sectors. The probation service won’t be able to handle the increased demand for its services.

When I qualified as a Probation Officer in 1981 there were just over 40,000 people in prison, now there are in excess of 80,000. The majority are so called low level offenders who bounce back in and form the bulk of the prison population. Not difficult to realise as a country, we are not getting it right and haven’t done so for many years.
We incarcerate far too many people who pose little threat to the majority.
Between 1978-79 I worked on an innovative scheme aimed at supporting recidivists/petty offenders with a package of support aimed at preventing reoffending.
Denmark/scandi countries/The Netherlands send fetter people to prison, they have less re-offending and generally more stable society than we do
It’s not rocket science. I’m certain Starmer and Timpson get it, it isn’t all about punishment we need rehabilitation.

We need early years intervention, proved to show teenage pregnancies are less[= and also that children/families given good early years input have better outcomes
We need effective substance misuse/social work/mental health services because the work
How anyone can defend Cameron’s Introduction of austerity I do nit know

ronib

Alternatively it might be better to encourage ex prisoners to return to their former work or take on new training courses or new jobs? Employers might be in a position to offer some kind of guidance or mentorship for the best outcomes? We do have a shortage of skilled workers across many sectors. The probation service won’t be able to handle the increased demand for its services.

The Probation Service was destroyed by privatisation, it needs 2 years to train new officers. On qualifying, they now earn £8000 less than their colleagues, la social workers. \

No quick cheap fixes here.

Sorting out why there’s so many more people in prison in this country than most other countries would be a good place to start. Rather shamefully England and Wales has the highest number of prisoners per capita at 143 per 100,000.
Prison should be humane - just because the incarcerated person may have not behaved in an acceptable or appropriate way doesn’t mean we should lower ourselves to their level. Norways prison system appears to be the best in the world and maybe we should aspire to their model, which seems to have low rates of reoffending or rioting.
Long before someone gets to prison we should be providing good education and opportunities for all. Better physical and mental health provision would also help - approximately a third of the prison population have mental health problems suggesting that if there had been mental health support earlier they may not have offended.

Exactly TerriS. Invest in good public services and reduce the need to lock people up

Most vibrant church communities do provide social activities and keep their halls busy. The problem can be when the community it’s serving doesn’t want to pay towards the upkeep and cost of being open. I am trying to not get cross about people who can afford to contribute towards the things they do who want everything free! Churches, libraries, the NHS all cost money to run! Please don’t challenge me with this - I really don’t want a full on rant after the day I’ve had!!

I had a voluntary job and we used to take ex prisoners and those on community service. I can only speak as I find but not one of them was much good.
One found out that another volunteer was a wealthy youngish widow and targeted her and pestered her. The Manager had to get rid of hin. Another gave every excuse under the sun as to why he didn’t turn up or turned up late. Others stole stuff and a few kept asking the rest of us for money loans.

I have to reluctantly say my mum said the same about the people who went to her workplace.

4allweknow

It's amazing that to accommodate new prisoners some nearly new ones are being released. Support services are already struggling yet almost overnight there is supposed to be enough staff. Why not use the old barge used for asylum seekers? One issue was that they felt locked up, should be fine for prisoners.

I was thinking of that.

Today’s blog Turbulent Times mentions the Japanese Hogoshi system for helping ex prisoners. Apparently it’s successful and relies on volunteers to supplement the work of probation officers.
I am thinking that would be worth trialling?

The Probation Service has a long tradition of selecting and supporting volunteers. There was an active group in my area throughout the 1970s

Iam64 and now?

one prisoner who has been released after only serving 7 months of a two and a half year sentence for stabbing a 14 year old boy to death in 2022,..unbelievable...

pably15

one prisoner who has been released after only serving 7 months of a two and a half year sentence for stabbing a 14 year old boy to death in 2022,..unbelievable...

I haven’t heard that, but if it’s true you must
Remember that he was only jailed for 2 1/2 years
. Evidently stabbing to death is not violent enough to qualify for being kept in prison.

Starmer/the government said offenders jailed for violent offences with sentences of at least four years, sex offenders and domestic abusers were not eligible for early release.

ronib as you’ve been following the news it can’t have escaped your notice the service was privatised with devastating results
They’re short staffed, recruitment and retention problematic
Training and supervising volunteers is resource demanding, resources they don’t have