Tory prison plans are a pie in the sky
Apparently if the Tories get into power, they say they will pay prison governors thousands of pounds in bonuses just for doing their jobs.
"Under the Conservatives' plans, each Governor would be responsible for either a single prison or a 'cluster' of local prisons and would be in charge of "end-to-end" offender management, both in and out of prison".
As it stands prison governors are already legally responsible for a single prison. And Area Managers are legally responsible for clusters of prisons. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is already legally responsible for end-to-end management of offenders both in custody and after release.
Part of a prison governor's job is to attempt to cut re-offending rates, and if he or she succeeds then they should be applauded. I fail to see the need to pay bonuses, these should only be for services above and beyond the call of duty. On the other hand, if a prison governor fails to do his or her job then staying in position is untenable.
Resources needed to run a prison should not be based upon whether a released prisoner re-offends within 2 years. If a released prisoner re-offends this is an indication that rehabilitation has failed in his or her case. The case needs to be examined to see if the failure could have been prevented, and what steps need to be taken to ensure that there is not a repeat failure.
NOMS already has "freedom to contract with charities, private companies and public sector organisations to provide pre- and post-release rehabilitation services". Once again the Tories plan to put in place something that already exists.
The government needs to look at the financial cutbacks affecting prisons. This means that prisoners have spent more time locked in their cells, and less time and opportunity to take part in reducing re-offending programmes.
Do we want Titan Prisons which will only serve to be huge human warehouses, or smaller more manageable prisons where rehabilitation is given a chance to work?
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
1 comment:
'Do we want Titan Prisons which will only serve to be huge human warehouses,. . .'
Human warehouses. Simple.
Why?
After the banking crash. . . . .
'The growing gap between themselves and a small number of highly visible super-rich individuals might fuel disillusion with meritocracy, while the growing urban under-classes are likely to pose an increasing threat to social order and stability, as the burden of acquired debt and the failure of pension provision begins to bite.'
Called ‘Strategic Trends’ it is an 'independent view of the future produced by the Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC), a Directorate General within the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD). It is a source document for the development of UK Defence Policy'.
http://tinyurl.com/28ea5u
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