custodial review 68

In this issue: The Fonz kissed me! Jackie Hewitt-Main on dyslexia. The unexpected effect on inmates of changing to LED lighting.

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Edition 68

The Clink, past, present..and its future

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2 News

14 The Clink, past, present.. and its future 18 The Fonz kissed me! Jackie Hewitt-Main on dyslexia 20 Fireworks works with Skanska to supply Hydramist High Pressure Watermist to HMP Grampian

22 The unexpected effect on inmates of changing to LED lighting 24 LED lighting.. For secure custody environments 26 New life for old tools

28 More news

28 Product Showcase

The cover pictures are of The Clink in Cardiff. The new LED lighting in a Manchester custody suite, HMP Grampian, the new SPS prison being built by Skanska

The publisher will consider financial reimbursement for relevant articles. If you have an article, or wish to compose one, on a relevant topic then please contact the publisher on [email protected]. Its subject to acceptance so please contact prior to starting and will appear on the Custodial website.

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Custodial Review is now accepting articles from serving officers and staff within the whole custodial industry. All articles will appear on the Custodial website and will appear in the magazine subject to the Publishers discretion. Approx length 1500 to 2000 words. We are also pleased to accept news and information. Please contact the Publisher, Steve Mitchell, [email protected] or on 01234 348878 for more details.

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NEWS l NEWS l NEWS l NEWS l NEWS l NEWS l NEWS

The Emergency Services Show 2013Wednesday 25 September – Thursday 26 September 2013 Halls 17 and 18, The NEC, BirminghamExciting changes have been announced for this year’s Emergency Services Show. After seven years at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, the growing exhibition is moving to The NEC, Birmingham. The organisers have also brought the event forward to 25-26 September, so that the outdoor exhibition can benefit from longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures.

Why attendMulti-agency networking, interoperability and cost efficiencies are all addressed at the two-day event which brings together everyone involved in the emergency services – from the strategic planners and first responders, to the manufacturers and suppliers of equipment and services used by these leading professionals.

Entry to the Show gives visitors access to over 400 companies and organisations supplying relevant emergency kit and solutions as well as the opportunity to interact with live demonstrations and attend free workshops.

Exhibiting companies include leading names in civil resilience, search and rescue, extrication, first response, communications, IT, protective clothing and uniforms, vehicles and fleet, vehicle equipment, training, community safety, station facilities, water rescue and medical supplies.

Emergency Response Zone Returns Aimed at developing relationships and partnerships between voluntary organisation and the blue-light services, The Emergency Response Zone is a networking focus of the show. Around 80 companies, charities and other organisations will be exhibiting in this area alone.

Professional DevelopmentBuilding on the success of its continuing professional development (CPD) demonstration area at last year’s Emergency Services Show, the College of Paramedics is planning a series of new workshops, which will be running in the morning and afternoon on both days of the show.

Heavy Rescue DemonstrationFollowing a high level of interest at last year’s

show the Road Haulage Association is planning another heavy rescue demonstration.

Car Crash Simulator Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service is bringing a state-of-the-art car crash simulator designed to educate young drivers about the dangers of the “Fatal Four”: driving under the influence of drink and drugs, not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone and speeding.

The new venue• Physically linked to Birmingham

International Airport and Birmingham International Station

• Direct Access to UK motorway network

• No parking costs thanks to dedicated parking sponsored by Emergency Services Times

• Excellent indoor and outdoor demonstration space

Registration for free entry is available now on www.emergencyuk.com

New consortium chosen to deliver substance misuse services in WolverhamptonNacro, the crime reduction charity, is to lead a consortium to deliver an integrated substance misuse service for young people and adults across Wolverhampton. Nacro will be delivering the contract with Aquarius, the West Midlands-based drug and alcohol charity, and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHFT). The focus of the three year contract will be in helping people recover from problems associated with alcohol and or drugs, to move on in their lives, and to improve integration with their own communities.

Referring to the new contract, Graham Beech, Nacro’s strategic development director said:

“We are delighted to have been chosen by Wolverhampton City Council to deliver this crucial service. We have been working closely with our partners, Aquarius and the health trust, over a number of months to put together the right solution for Wolverhampton. Now that we have been chosen to manage the contract, we look forward to the opportunity of putting our plans and ideas into action”.

Annette Fleming, Chief Executive of Aquarius said:

“We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this contract and are looking forward to working in partnership with Nacro and the Trust to develop an innovative and client-focussed service for the people of Wolverhampton who have drug and alcohol problems.”

Dr George Georgiou, clinical director for addictions, RAID and HMP Birmingham at BSMHFT, said:

“Working in partnership with Nacro and Aquarius will enable us to demonstrate the wider focus the NHS is taking in nurturing people back to health from their addictions, with earlier and more effective interventions. This exciting and innovative partnership will provide clinical expertise which will benefit service users in Wolverhampton, who will be able to access a range of interventions provided by BSMHFT and its partner agencies.”

HMP Grampian Peterhead, ScotlandSkanska has signed a £57 million contract with the Scottish Prison Service for the construction of HMP Grampian. Under the contract, Skanska will undertake the design and construction of the new prison for both male and female prisoners, with both adults and young offenders being accommodated. The new facility will include the full range of prison buildings including kitchen, laundry, links and education, prisoner regimes, recreations facilities, visits, staff and administration.

Using its in-house skills, Skanska will also develop the structural and civil design as well as undertaking the installation of me-chanical and electrical services.

Enabling works have begun with main con-struction scheduled to begin in early 2012 and completion is set for summer 2013.

Commenting on the award, Alex MacLeod, Operations Director with responsibility for Scotland said “We are delighted to have won this contract and to again be working with the Scottish Prison Service with whom we have worked over many years, most recently at HMP Glenochil and HMP Polmont. I look forward to continuing this successful relationship at HMP Grampian.”

http://www.emergencyuk.com



Prison Governors Association criticises the War on Drugs and calls on government to explore alternativesThe Prison Governors Association became the latest organisation to sign up in support of an international initiative that calls upon the government to “quantify the unintended negative consequences of the current approach to drugs, and assess the potential costs and benefits of alternative approaches”.

50 Years of the War on Drugs – Time to Count the Costs, is a global project that has the support of nearly 70 NGOs around the world and two former presidents.

Eoin McLennan-Murray of the PGA said:“The blanket prohibition on class A drugs allows criminals to control both the supply and quality of these drugs to addicts who turn to crime to fund their addiction. The Prison Governors’ Association believe that a substantial segment of the prison

population have been convicted of low level acquisitive crimes simply to fund that addiction.

The current war on drugs is successful in creating further victims of acquisitive crime; increasing cost to the taxpayer to accommodate a higher prison population and allowing criminals to control and profit from the sale and distribution of Class

A drugs. A fundamental review of the prohibition-based policy is desperately required and this is why the Prison Governors’ Association are keen to support the ‘Count the Costs’ initiative.”

Martin Powell, co-ordinator of the Count the Costs initiative said:

“We are delighted the Prison Governors Association - whose members witness the day to day futility of the UK’s current enforcement-led approach to drugs - is supporting the global Count the Costs initiative. Increasingly, those involved in picking up the pieces of our failed war on drugs want to see alternatives to prohibition explored. The coalition should heed the PGA’s call, and commission a comprehensive policy review as a matter of urgency.”

Supporters of the Count the Costs initiative include:

Human Rights Watch, the Howard League for Penal Reform, the International AIDS Society and the Washington Office on Latin America.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Former President of Brazil

Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, Former President of Mexico and Director of the Yale Centre for the Study of Globalization

Michael Kazatchkine, Former director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Sir Richard Branson, Founder and chairman of Virgin Group

For the full list of supporters see:

http://www.countthecosts.org/supporters

http://www.countthecosts.org/supporters



Reform: The case for private prisonsThis article was first published on the Reform Website on 21/2/2013 . Reform’s latest research paper on competition in prisons is available at www.reform.co.uk.

The Twitter hashtag for the report is #PrivatePrisons. The report argues that the Government is wrong to u-turn on the use of competition in prison management. Analysing Government data on prison performance, it shows that private prisons are better at preventing long-term and short-term prisoners from offending again and perform better than comparable public sector prisons on the majority on official performance measures. Private companies had been able to manage entire prisons since 1992. Ministers changed that policy at the end of 2012. From now on the role of private companies will be limited to relatively small contracts including for rehabilitation services and facilities management. This decision is not supported by new analysis of prison effectiveness. In terms of efforts to reduce reoffending:

• 10 out of 12 privately managed prisons have lower re-offending rates among offenders serving 12 months or more than comparable public sector prisons

• 7 out of 10 privately managed prisons have lower re-offending rates among offenders serving fewer than 12 months, compared to comparable public sector prisons.

Further, the Ministry of Justice rates prison performance under four headings (“domains”). Reform’s analysis reveals that private prisons perform better in three of the four cases:

• “Resource management and operational effectiveness”: 12 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons

• “Decency”: 7 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons

• “Reducing re-offending”: 7 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons

• “Public protection”: 5 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons

Reform also argues against the Government’s recent decision to maintain national pay bargaining in the prison system. Flexible terms and conditions are one of the key reasons why private operators have been able to deliver better performance. They have resulted in better staff-prisoner relationships, more positive prison environments, higher staff satisfaction and a more diverse workforce.

On account of this evidence, the report makes several key recommendations to Government:

• Market test all prisons. Market testing has

been limited to just 17 of the 131 prisons in the estate.

• Introduce fixed term contracts for all prisons.

• Publish comparable cost and performance data for all prisons.

• Give prisons flexibility over pay and conditions.

Reform commentWill Tanner, Senior Researcher and report author, said: “Twenty years of private prisons have created an effective market which is ready to grow. Evidence shows that a greater role for the private sector will advance the ‘rehabilitation revolution’ which Ministers want to deliver.”

Government and Opposition responseJeremy Wright MP, Minister of State for Prisons and Rehabilitation, said:

“This simplistic analysis does not tell the whole story — a wide range of factors contribute to reoffending including previous criminal behaviour, drug and alcohol dependency and the support offenders receive on release from prison.

In fact, the analysis is of the Ministry of Justice’s own prison performance figures, based on the “Prisons Rating System”, which the Government describes as “a clear transparent system that enables the performance of both public and private prisons to be measured”. The report uses Ministry of Justice comparator groups to compare prisons that are comparable under the Government’s definition.

“Let’s be clear, there has been no u-turn on the use of prison competition. The cost of running our prisons is too high and must be reduced.

From 1992, successive Governments of all parties have used competition and private sector management to drive up standards and drive down cost in the prison estate. In 2011, the Government set out its intention to apply competition to all offender service not bound to the public sector by statute. Yet in November 2012, the Government announced a “new approach” which limited the role of the private sector to “rehabilitation and ancillary services”. One private prison was handed back to the public sector and three ongoing competition processes were suspended.

Jenny Chapman MP, Shadow Justice Minister, said: “While helpful in drawing some of the evidence together, the report’s conclusion glosses over the fact that private sector prisons are less crowded, generally purpose built and aren’t responsible for the highest risk offenders. They do some good work, but that’s no more than we should expect.”

Reform is a non-party think tank whose stated mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity.

Have your say on the Custodial Care National Occupational Standards Calling all Custodial Care professionals!To ensure that the Custodial Care workforce continues to perform competently and effectively, Skills for Justice is undertaking a review of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for the sector. With significant changes in working practices having taken place since the last NOS review in 2006, this is a welcome and important exercise which will ensure that the NOS truly reflect the needs and practices of the sector.

The review will evaluate the existing suite of NOS within Custodial Care and will look to develop new NOS in the following areas:

• Lock Maintenance

• Security Vetting

• Corruption Prevention

• Safeguarding

• Security Surveillance (including Control Room)

• Vulnerable Prisoners

• Prison Chaplaincy

Skills for Justice wants to hear from Custodial Care practitioners, learning and development managers, trainers and assessors to help review and develop these NOS.

We will be undertaking an online consultation and will be facilitating a number of working groups across the UK to gather views from the sector. The first working groups will take place on 31st May and on 10th and 11th June 2013.

If you would like to get involved in these working groups and help to shape the NOS for the Custodial Care sector, contact Jo Blackburn no later than 24th May 2013 by emailing [email protected] or call 07880 201611.

For further information about Skills for Justice, please visit www.sfjuk.com

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Since its launch in October the unique DUALWAY Anti-Barricade door system from Cooke Brothers has already generated a huge amount of interest leading to a surge in business for the company from a number of industry leading names operating in the specialist Custodial, Secure Units, Mental Health and Hospital Healthcare sectors.

Designed to suit either new build or retrofit applications where individual doorsets are required within an existing facility, the Dual Way Door System provides unrestricted and immediate access into a room in a situation where a patient has barricaded himself or herself in.

The Dual Way system utilises a frame within a frame principal, allowing for a standard 44mm or 54mm doorset to be mounted within a secondary high security steel outer frame. In everyday use the standard inward opening doorset operates as a normal door, providing full

90-degree access using a purpose designed full height Anti-ligature continuous hinge. The outer frame is produced from preformed steel providing rigid support, whilst the high level of security engagement is by means of purpose design heavy duty mechanical hook bolt locking as standard or with the option of an electronically powered locking system where required.

In an emergency or barricaded door situation the door and inner frame can be quickly released enabling the complete doorset to swing outwards allowing immediate entry into the room. Access is achieved by releasing the dual hook locks mortised into the outer frame and operated by unique security profile keys or where specified via an electromagnetic access control system.

To discover more about the unique DUALWAY Anti-Barricade Door System please contact the sales team at Cooke Brothers Ltd on 01922 740011. Email: [email protected] or to view the latest DUALWAY video by visiting the web site www.cookebrothers.co.uk

Dualway – The unique anti-barricade door solution

Dualway door open position

Dualway door closed position


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Justice Data Lab launchedA pioneering new service giving charities and voluntary organisations more information about what works to reduce reoffending has been launched.

The Justice Data Lab will, for the first-time, give voluntary and community sector (VCS) agencies access to high-quality reoffending data tailored to their needs. This will allow them to better understand the impact of their work and design more effective interventions to stop people returning to a life of crime.

Expert analysts will match data from organisations working with offenders with national records to produce reoffending rates for that group of individuals.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said:

“Reoffending has been too high for too long and we need a revolution in the way we tackle

it. Providers must be able to see what works if they are to break the depressing cycle of crime.

“Giving the voluntary sector the right tools to understand their impact will allow them to compete for contracts on a level playing field with the confidence that they are working from sound evidence and proven success.”

The innovative new service has been set up as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda, which proposes a greater role for the VCS and private sector in tackling reoffending on a payment by results basis.

Through sharing the data a library of valuable information will be created that can be used to inform rehabilitation schemes up and down the country, creating a culture of best practice and transparency, driving better outcomes and creating safer communities.

Children and young people who sexually offend: Missing opportunities to prevent reoffending Reoffending by children and young people who commit sexual offences can be prevented, but opportunities to intervene early were often missed by professionals, according to independent inspectors. Today they published the report of a joint inspection on children and young people who sexually offend.

The report, Examining Multi-agency Responses to Children and Young People who Sexually Offend, reflects the findings of HM Inspectorate of Probation, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales, Estyn and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales. Inspectors focused on the quality of the work undertaken with these young people and its outcomes, how the different agencies worked together and what had been achieved. These children form a very small proportion of those who offend, but their behaviour is estimated to account for more than a tenth of all sexual offending and the impact can be extremely damaging.

Inspectors found that most children and young people complied with their order, engaged well with work undertaken to address their offending and the majority had not reoffended at all. However, interventions could have taken place earlier.

Inspectors also found that:

• cases were slow to get to court, and took an average eight months between disclosure and sentence, resulting in lengthy periods when little or no work was done with the young person;

• despite some examples of good practice, much work was characterised by poor communication between the relevant agencies, with inadequate assessment and joint planning;

• many young people had complex and multiple needs and positive examples of holistic interventions to address these delivered by a range of agencies were rare;

• once these children had been picked up by the justice system, their chances for rehabilitation improved and they clearly benefitted from the child-focused approach by YOT workers; and

• despite some successful outcomes, there was little evidence of routine evaluation at a strategic level of the quality of effectiveness of multiagency work.

Chief Inspector of Probation, Liz Calderbank, said on behalf of all inspectorates:

"The behaviour of this small but significant group of children and young people can be extremely damaging,

often involving other children as victims. Yet the evidence from our inspection is that these children and young people do respond to intervention from the youth offending teams

and can be prevented from reoffending before developing entrenched patterns of behaviour.

"We were therefore very concerned to find that a sizeable number of these children had been referred on previous occasions to children's services but the significance of their sexual behaviour was either not recognised or dismissed. This, to us, represented a lost opportunity, both for the children themselves and their potential victims."

Inspectors made a number of recommendations to criminal justice agencies, children's services and social services.

Inspectors visited six youth offending teams (YOTs) and examined 24 cases in depth. The youth offending teams visited were: Tower Hamlets, Sheffield, Cornwall/Plymouth, Birmingham, Lancashire and Vale of Glamorgan.

Greater focus on support and rehabilitation for female offenders

Female offenders should receive more targeted support to break the cycle of crime and abuse many of them face, Justice Minister Helen Grant.

It costs £45,000 to keep a woman in prison for one

year - while almost 45 per cent of all women released from custody in 2010 reoffended within 12 months, committing more than 10,000 further offences and creating countless more victims.

For women serving fewer than 12 months in prison, the reoffending rate rises to a staggering 55.6 per cent.

Many female offenders have a background of abuse and up to 56 per cent have been in care. The proportion of female prisoners that report abuse in their lifetime is double that of males. In 2011 self harm was 10 times higher than for men, and females in custody are twice as likely to suffer from depression.

Around 60 per cent of women leave behind dependent children when entering prison.

Setting out her priorities for female offenders, Helen Grant recognised progress made following the 2007 Corston Report, but said there was still more to be done to provide proper punishment, coupled with effective rehabilitation, to turn women away from crime.

She announced a powerful new Advisory Board bringing together key experts to help shape future policy in tackling female offending and drive through reforms.


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Helen Grant said:

‘Many female offenders share the same depressingly familiar issues of abuse, drug and alcohol dependency and mental health problems.

‘Women who commit crime should be punished, but we must not forget that a significant number have been victims during their lives, and need targeted support to break the cycle of offending.

‘I will provide the strong leadership required to drive these priorities forward and I’m confident that by working together with all partners we can better tackle female offending.’

The Advisory Board will consider a range of issues, including:

• The use of tough and effective community orders that allow women to be punished and rehabilitated in the community where appropriate;

• How the private, voluntary and public sector can provide more effective women’s services in the community, including female-only treatment programmes;

• Locating female prisoners as near as possible to their families to help maintain important links with children; and

• Support for female offenders released from prison so they have help finding housing, a job or education and appropriate treatment.

This approach will be underpinned by tough reforms that will see every community order include an element of punishment such as a curfew or unpaid work.

These priorities sit alongside our Transforming Rehabilitation proposals, bringing together the best of the voluntary, public and private sector to tackle the causes of reoffending. This will include providing through-the-gate support helping offenders into housing, employment and treatment programmes.

Young offenders should receive better education and training to turn their backs on crimeYoung offenders should receive better education and training to turn their backs on crime Justice Secretary Chris Grayling

announced with the publication of a radical Green Paper.

At present, the average cost of a youth custodial place is £100 000 per annum- with some as much as £200 000 - while 73% of young offenders who leave custody reoffend within a year.

The vast majority of 15-17 year olds in Young Offender Institutions have been excluded from school at some point. Half of those in this age group are assessed as having the literacy levels to that expected of a 7 -11 year old, learning disabilities are generally more prevalent among young people in custody, and education provision within the youth estate is patchy.

Many young offenders come from difficult and chaotic backgrounds, and custody may actually provide the opportunity to provide the education, skills, self discipline and self respect to turn those young people who have started off in the wrong direction back in the right one.

With a range of contracts for youth custody coming to an end in the near future, the Green Paper published today provides the real opportunity to explore a radically different approach. ‘Transforming Youth Custody: Putting Education at the Heart of Detention’ aims to deliver value for the taxpayer, reduce reoffending and set young offenders on the path to a better life.


‘Some youth custodial places cost £200 000, five times the cost of sending a child to a

top private school. But nearly three quarters of young people leaving custody reoffend.

‘We cannot go on just doing more of the same, pouring more money into a system doesn’t work in the hope of a different outcome. That doesn’t make any sense to the taxpayer, or to the young people who we should be trying to get back on the straight and narrow.

‘I want to see new models, perhaps something like secure colleges, providing education in a period of detention, rather than detention with education as an after-thought. I want young people to get the education and skills they need to turn their backs on crime for good.’

Professionals from the education sector, custodial services and organisations with an interest in young people are among those being consulted on a complete transformation of youth custody.

The Green Paper looks at the Free Schools programme and Academies programmes

- which have secured improvements in education standards well above the national average and turned around some of the worst-performing secondary schools in the country. The paper says that to improve outcomes for young people in custody we need to draw on this experience and bring new expertise and providers into the market.

This builds on the Justice Secretary’s ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ paper published last month which set out plans for reforming the management of adult offenders.

More justice dispensed via videoCommunities will be benefitting from swift and effective justice as thousands more court appearances will take place via video.

Communities across the country will be benefitting from swift and effective justice as thousands more court appearances will

take place via video-link technology, Justice and Policing Minister Damian Green stated.

The announcement came as he said at least thirteen more areas will launch the technology across England and Wales during 2013.

Mr Green made the announcement as he visited Sutton Coldfield police station. West Midlands is one of the new areas using video-link technology to allow police officers to give evidence in court from the station.

In 2013 Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Sussex, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Devon and Cornwall, Wiltshire, North Wales, Gwent, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are some of the areas due to start using police witness to court video-link (live links).

Over the past year an estimated 75,000 video appearances took place during criminal cases resulting in savings in transport costs and a reduction in prisoner movements. As a result of live links an estimated 300 valuable police hours were saved. They dealt with a range of offences from burglary, theft, assault to first hearings for more serious offences such as murder.

Justice Minister Damian Green said:

‘We want the justice system to respond more effectively to the needs of victims, witnesses and professionals. Video technology is vital in this and I am extremely pleased that thousands more people up and down the country will be seeing more criminal justice areas and courts making use of the technology.



‘This is one part of our drive to create a swifter and more efficient justice system for all.’

In addition police forces are also expanding the use of video-link to support witnesses including vulnerable and intimidated witnesses who may have concerns about attending the same court as the defendant. Kent Police have recently installed two remote witness links away from the courts (Ashford and Bluewater shopping centre) and in South Wales a witness link is also operating from a local authority building to Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.

Police witness to court video-links (live links) offer an effective alternative to police witnesses physically having to attend court buildings. The police witness is located in the police station (or other police site) while the Judge or Bench, jury, court officers, prosecutor, defence solicitor and defendant are at the court. Under existing practice a considerable amount of time and money is wasted by police officers travelling to and from court and waiting outside the courtroom to give evidence.

Seven Criminal Justice Service (CJS) areas already operate Live Links. These are Essex, London, Kent, Cheshire, South Wales, Hertfordshire and West Midlands.

In addition four CJS areas are using video-links for defendants’ first hearings (virtual courts). The initiative began in May 2009 in London (Camberwell Green) and Kent (Medway). This has now been extended to other locations in these areas as well as Cheshire and Hertfordshire. On 8 October 2012 a commencement order was issued which enables any Criminal Justice area to adopt video for first hearings if they choose to.

The total estimated number of video-link appearances (75,000) in 2012 comprises of 8,181 witness links, 9,000 live links/virtual courts and 57,780 prison to court video-links.

Major new changes to the way prisoners receive privileges will be implemented over the next six months.Significant reforms are being made to toughen up the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme in male adult prisons throughout England and Wales.

Prisoners will actively have to work towards their own rehabilitation and help others if they are to earn privileges - they will not receive them through good behaviour alone.

The major changes follow a review of the existing scheme which was ordered by Ministers last year.

A new IEP level, Entry, is being introduced for all prisoners in the first two weeks of sentence where privileges will be restricted, and uniforms will be compulsory. Prisoners who do not engage will move to Basic, while those who do will progress to Standard.

The regime will change so that convicted prisoners will work a longer day. They will not be allowed to watch television when they should be working or engaged in purposeful activity. Certificate 18 DVDs will be banned, subscription channels will be removed from private prisons and gym access will depend on engagement with rehabilitation.

Prison rules will also change to ensure more power is given to recover money from prisoners to pay for damage to prison property.


‘It is not right that some prisoners appear to be spending hours

languishing in their cells and watching daytime television while the rest of the country goes out to work.

‘For too long, there has been an expectation that privileges are an automatic right, given simply as a reward for staying out of trouble. This cannot continue. Prisoners need to earn privileges, not simply through the avoidance of bad behaviour but also by working, taking part in education or accepting the opportunities to rehabilitate themselves.

‘We have reviewed the scheme fully, and I believe it is now something the public can have confidence in. Only by tackling bad behaviour and taking part in education or work programmes as well as addressing any alcohol or drug issues can we cut reoffending.’

Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright said:

‘This is a big change for the prison system. Prisoners will now have to

actively contribute to their own rehabilitation, help others and continue to behave well if they are to earn privileges above the basic level.’

He added:

‘In short, prisoners who refuse to work or engage in their own rehab will not earn

privileges until they do. The IEP system should support all this Government is seeking to achieve in improving rehabilitation and reducing reoffending.’

The IEP scheme will apply to adult male prisoners in both public and private prisons.

Next steps for prison competitionThe latest stage of the competition for eight prisons and a new approach to competing the public prison estate were announced.

HMP Northumberland (an amalgamation of the former HMPs Castington and Acklington) and the South Yorkshire group of Moorland, Hatfield and Lindholme prisons will proceed to the next stage with three remaining bidders, Sodexo, Serco and MTC/Amey. This competition process produced a compelling package of reforms for delivering cost reduction, improvements to regimes and a working prisons model in these prisons.

This was not the case for HMPs Coldingley, Durham and Onley, so the competition for these prisons is not proceeding and they will remain in the public sector. The current contract for HMP Wolds expires in July 2013 at which point the prison will move to public sector management.

The competition process has also identified further and faster ways of securing future cost reductions. All public sector prisons will be obliged to make additional efficiency savings and the prison service will make collective savings by competing ancillary services, such as maintenance and resettlement services.

The Ministry of Justice has estimated that these changes will generate £450m savings over the next six years.

Secretary of State for Justice Chris Grayling said:

‘The cost of running our prisons is too high and must be reduced. We can do this by being more innovative and efficient, and without compromising public safety.

‘That is why I have decided to take a new approach to how we compete prison services and reduce unit costs across the prison estate that will lead to better value for the tax-payer, linked to more effective services to reduce reoffending.

‘This is a challenge the public sector must rise to. The approach I am announcing today does not rule out further prison-by-prison competitions in the future.’



A trusted friend for ex-offenders moving into a new home Ex-offenders are being offered help to make the difficult transition from prison to a permanent home – and the chance to get new qualifications along the way.

NOCN, one of the UK’s largest awarding organisations, has worked with the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) to create a new qualification in managing a tenancy, which can be taught in prisons and by landlords.

Trusted Tenants has been developed with the help of Greater Manchester Probation Trust, which has become the first organisation to deliver the new qualification for ex-offenders.

Moving into a new home should be an exciting time but for some, especially people leaving prison, it can be extremely daunting.

When suddenly faced with the costs involved in running a home, forms to fill in and the everyday tasks involved in looking after a home, some people don’t know where to start or what to do. Trusted Tenants aims to help people learn more about how to cope with and keep a home.

The qualification is not just aimed at ex-offenders. It can help any new tenant, including young people with children, people with addictions and those leaving supported living, long-term hospital care or the armed forces.

Robbie Williams, from Greater Manchester Probation Trust, said: “Getting offenders released from prison or moving on from a hostel to a tenancy can be difficult. When we heard about the new NOCN pre-tenancy qualification we realised it could help us to work with

residents trying to rehabilitate themselves.

“It’s a way for them to demonstrate that they are genuinely trying to move forward and are worth offering a tenancy as they’ve learned the skills needed to keep their home, treat their neighbours with respect and look after the property they are renting.”

Housing providers sometimes have concerns about placing someone in one of their properties who has an offending history.

It’s hoped the new pre-tenancy qualification will give people the chance to avoid problems like falling into debt or causing anti-social behaviour by giving them the skills to avoid difficult situations, and possibly even reoffending.

Trusted Tenants is being officially launched at CIH’s office in London on Friday 26 April. Guests from the housing industry and organisations including UK Resettlement and the Probation Trust will hear from Manchester probation staff who are delivering the qualification to ex-offenders.

For more information email [email protected] or visit www.nocn.org.uk

British-made quality and reliability from Carpenter LtdSafety and performance is a major issue for public and private prisons. Something as straight forward as providing a prison mattress requires constant new levels of innovation to keep up with the demands of high-risk surroundings such as prisons, custody cells, immigration cells and secure psychiatric units.

Always at the leading edge of product development, Carpenter has been working closely with customers and suppliers to further develop and improve the Supersafe cell mattress range, which now includes a new vandal resistant cover while offering flammability performance as specified by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The Supersafe mattress incorporates all the expected characteristics relating to comfort, durability and quality but with intelligent technology applied to the cover’s construction to help reduce vandalism levels and the cost of replacement.

As the largest provider of mattresses to HMP service, Carpenter Supersafe mattresses and pillows are supplied to all UK’s publically operated prisons and a significant share of the privately operated prison and police custody cell market.

Said Fireseal national sales manager, Richard Harris: “The National Audit Office found that smash-ups in a cell are the principal cause of maintenance work within a prison.

“We’ve worked with the service to develop a cost-effective mattress, which reduces the chances of sabotage, in turn providing a cost effective solution.”

While any mattress can be subject to varying levels of vandalism the Supersafe range, made with the

highly modified polyurethane foam Fireseal, is extremely robust. It also meets the full requirement of BS7177, Very High Hazard and FTS15, making it ideal for high-risk surroundings.

The mattress and pillow range also includes a non-removable flame retardant Polytran cover with welded seams, which reduces the chance of sabotage. The fabric can be wiped clean therefore extending the mattress life. Available within the Supersafe range are mattresses, pillows and the all-in-one mattress with built in pillow design.

Produced and recycled in the UK, Carpenter’s zero waste mattress and pillow system had saved the MOJ in excess of £1 million annually on disposal costs since 2009.

For further information on the

Fireseal ™ Supersafe mattress range contact:

[email protected]


With strong backing from the Secretary of State and new proposals set out in the green paper, it’s clear that education is going to play a critical role in youth custody services for the future. Long-term and far-reaching changes are needed to address a system that continues to battle with high levels of re-offending and is perceived to provide poor value for money.

There’s now both a huge challenge and opportunity for the UK’s education providers to demonstrate that young people in custody can be engaged in learning, and how the experiences lead to tangible impact in terms of outcomes. Undoubtedly, from our experience of working with YOIs, small specialist units, Secure Training Centres and alternative community provision over the past two decades, making education central to youth custodial regime will make the system far more effective.

The tailoring of what’s taught will be essential. Education for young people in custody needs to focus on fundamental skills such as English, maths, IT and employability, and also directly address their offending behaviour and the underpinning skills which will allow them to succeed upon release. We need to be able to prepare young people to continue with their study, to communicate effectively and to manage their money, for example. In particular, the best approach will be to end the emphasis on short, low level, vocational qualifications - which are just of little value in today’s challenging labour market. For young people with longer sentences, it will also be critical to offer the opportunity to access the same quality of education available to their peers and to continue with their learning over time.

We can learn from case studies of best practice in prison education internationally where there are many creative approaches leading to clear outcomes in terms of reduced re-offending among young people. While it is important to consider the different cultural contexts, there are certainly still useful lessons and key principles.

As the green paper highlights, the central role of education is a recurring characteristic of the most effective regimes. According to the Council of Europe, The Fossum Collective in Norway is an “exceptionally positive and tranquil facility” which does not have separate ‘custodial’ staff per se, but instead allocates security responsibilities to ‘child welfare educators’ who have been specially trained for the role. The provision is so good that many of those held securely at the centre choose to remain voluntarily in order to complete their education and treatment upon completing

their sentence. Most people would agree that this is an almost unthinkable scenario within the current UK sector.

Having one of the highest prison populations in the world, the USA does not provide an obvious example of a progressive approach to youth custody. However, there are some instances at a state level which do represent examples of effective practice, such as the Division of Youth Services in Missouri. Missouri’s programme of small facilities - no more than 50 people are held in each - are regionally located and allow those held to maintain contact with their family and local community. This approach has proved highly successful for comparatively low costs: although notoriously difficult to standardise, reoffending rates amongst this population are clearly much better than elsewhere in the country. The concept of maintaining links between an offender and their community, in order to aid reintegration upon release, is one which stands out in a number of the examples in this survey.

Targeted, individualised provision has been shown to be the most effective approach with many young people, and particularly those that demonstrate the most challenging behaviour. By these international standards one-to-one programmes have met with success at one of the institutions at which CfBT Education Trust currently provide the education - HMYOI Feltham - and internationally interventions such as ‘MultifunC’ in Norway, Denmark and Sweden are phenomenally successful in cutting down offenders’ violent and anti-social behaviour. Again, these approaches provide personalised interventions, based upon extensive assessment and planning at the individual level, within small detention units.

The green paper identifies the need for what happens in custody to be “much more effectively linked to what is happening in the community”. As part of our review of best practice, we have focused on examples which might provide a blueprint for successful ways of achieving this aim. In the Netherlands, a project for immigrant youths in detention centred on involving an offender’s community to support their treatment and education, and their reintegration into society upon release. Education for young people in custody cannot be allowed to stop as soon as the young person involved leaves the prison gates; it is absolutely vital that instead there is a period of after-care which provides the vital link between education both inside and outside the prison walls. The current lack of information received from schools and other agencies on entry, along with the almost total failure to provide accommodation, support

and training to young people leaving custody, is scandalous.

Structurally, we can imagine a future which is focused around regional hubs offering a broad range of services, linked with a series of smaller residential centres, maximising the best of the current estate in order to foster links between the Secure Estate and the communities from which offenders are drawn. Offenders should be held locally, so that their family are able to maintain regular contact, and partnerships should be formed between secure institutions and the local schools and colleges, so that every young person who leaves custody can continue their learning uninterrupted. For example, partnerships between custodial hubs and successful academy chains would enable the most inspiring teachers to work in the secure estate as part of their wider responsibilities. It would also foster relationships with young people which would support reintegration into school following their release.

Our vision for the future of the Secure Estate places education at the heart of the entire system, moving away from the idea of custody driving the entire experience, to an integrated, holistic approach which addresses, as the priority, the issues which will reduce reoffending . It is inconceivable that the current programme of just 15 hours professionally delivered education within YOIs can be allowed to continue and instead custodial facilities should act as Secure Colleges, providing significant levels of education, supplemented by activities outside of this time which include the development of social skills, life skills and which ensure that offenders are safe, happy and healthy.

For more information visit www.cfbt.com

Education, a view from Carol Glover, Director, CfBT Education Trust

Carol Glover, Director, CfBT Education Trust


http://www.cfbt.com


PCflexTM modular extension provided for refurbishment of Boston Police Station

As part of a joint refurbishment of Boston Police Station between G4S and Lincolnshire Police, Wernick Buildings manufactured and delivered a modular extension, housing four of their specialised PCflexTM police custody cell units.

The PCflexTM units, which are a patented, secure steel frame system, were manufactured, delivered and installed at Boston Police Station in under just six weeks. These modular custody suites consist of a selected number of double cell units which have a section of corridor between each pair giving a 60 percent saving on purchase when compared to traditional construction methods.

Andy King, MD of Wernick Buildings stated: “Our offsite construction process means the units are manufactured in a controlled factory environment. PCflex™ modular installations take far less time to complete compared to traditionally build

programmes. Also, while the manufacture of the cells is taking place the site location can be prepared simultaneously.”

The new cells were required after an inspection in 2011 of Lincolnshire Police’s custody provision identified improvements, which were required to comply with the national Safer Detention Standards. All facilities and

associated staff were relocated to Spalding Police Station during the Boston refurbishment and extension.

Chief Constable Neil Rhodes and Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick opened the newly refurbished custody suite at Boston Police Station in Lincolnshire. Neil Rhodes commented, “The whole project was completed on budget and one week ahead of schedule. We were very impressed with the Wernick buildings team, especially Ian Mellor who was totally professional throughout.“

PCflexTM is available in a number of configurations and is fully compliant with all building regulations. If required the system can also be provided to be counter terrorism measure (CTM) compliant.

MD of Wernick Buildings, Andy King with Chief Constable Neil Rhodes inside one of the PCflexTM cells provided at Boston Police Station.

Zip Heaters’ Hydroboil Plus range is fast becoming the wall-mounted instant boiling water system of choice for public sector premises across the UK. Delivering instant boiling water on demand, and with varying capacities available, the Zip Hydroboil Plus is an attractive alternative to using an urn or kettle and far more efficient by design.

The Hydroboil Plus range is 50% more energy efficient than similar products, not only does it boast better insulation properties and more energy efficient operational

functionality, but also with a choice of seven capacities that can deliver from 18 cups to 240 cups at any one time – it offers users of larger and smaller capacity instant boiling water systems the energy saving advantages.

The key design features of the models include an integrated safety lock, cool touch tap, adjustable temperature setting and LED display showing the time, day, energy saving mode status and filter change reminder where fitted.

The unique energy management

Hydroboil Plussystems and superior insulation all ensure that power consumption and running costs are kept to an absolute minimum making Hydroboil Plus the most energy efficient on-wall boiling water system yet.

Plus Points Using a patented ‘Steam-Heat-Boost System’ steam from the stored boiling water is recycled within all of Zip’s Hydroboil products, this is an energy efficient way to pre-heat incoming cold water. Internally, a patented metering tube then accurately controls the flow of pre-heated water into the boiling chamber, to maintain stored water within 1°C of the set temperature.

Other energy saving features include a low light sleep mode, which uses an integrated light detector to monitor local lighting levels. When activated the unit is automatically placed into sleep mode whenever local lighting is turned off. This allows the temperature of stored boiling water to gradually reduce to 65oC, at which it is maintained. Upon further draw off, or when local lighting is switched back

on, the boiling cycle resumes.

When activated the “inactivity” sleep mode puts the Hydroboil Plus into power down status when boiling water has not been drawn off for two hours. This reduces the water temperature down to 65oC, with the boiling cycle resuming at the next draw off. Additional operating efficiencies can also be gained from use of the 24/7 timer function, which enables the entire system to be switched off ‘out of hours’ whilst ensuring it is fully operational for the first draw off of the day.

Throughout the boiling process, in order to minimise energy usage, the Hydroboil Plus’s unique “Power Pulse” technology constantly monitors and adjusts the power necessary to achieve the set temperature.

With a range of capacities and key design features, the Hydroboil Plus is becoming recognised as the optimum choice for many public sector environments.

For more information call 08456 005 005 or visit www.zipheaters.co.uk



Kick It Out is football’s equality and inclusion campaign. Working across the game to challenge discrimination in all its forms, the organisation uses education to do this. It has a number of resources which use the power of football to relay key social messages into the classroom.

A key area of work is mentoring young people into working within football. There are a host of disciplines away from the playing side of things which offer gainful employment.

Kick It Out’s Raise Your Game conference - the third annual mentoring and leadership event of its kind – took place in London in April which encouraged young people to do just that.

The conference forms part of a wider project run nationwide by the campaign which gives people across the country the opportunity to discuss potential pathways into football with leading representatives working at professional clubs, governing bodies and associations.

Fully booked three weeks in advance, this year’s event at TUC Congress House was separated into morning and afternoon sessions and focused on management and coaching, grassroots and community, football administration, media and communications, refereeing, sports science, physiotherapy and psychology, and the work of licensed agents and player services.

Around 200 participants were in attendance over the course of the day, and Tottenham Hotspur legend Garth encouraged each and every one of the mentees to seek as much support and guidance as they could.

“We find ourselves gathered here today looking forward to helping those people who want to help themselves,” said Garth, who acted as host, during his opening address. “Apart from being a Kick It Out trustee, I have been where you are and it can be a very desperate and frightening experience - knowing where you want to go but needing a bit more advice and direction. The point of today is trying to find out where you can get that direction and help to progress.”

Troy Townsend, the campaign’s Mentoring and

Leadership Project manager, echoed these words and drew on his own experiences to highlight how essential hard work and commitment are in giving somebody a foothold in whatever aspect of the game they’re looking to break into.

“Two years ago I was sitting on that very floor you are now wanting to make a career change in my life - I had been a teacher, a coach, a father, and had worked in my community for a long time,” said the former non league manager.

“I decided to volunteer with Kick It Out, because I wanted to show people I was keen and willing to make a difference. Luckily enough the old project manager, Earl Barrett, managed to get a position at Stoke City and the door opened for me. Hopefully today will be the game-changer for you to advance in the industry just like it was for me. Two years ago it was about leading the way, now it’s about raising your game.”

Mentees were able to gain valuable advice from mentors such as former Notts County manager Keith Curle, Arsenal and England Women’s star Rachel Yankey, Millwall chief executive Andy Ambler, Premier League head of supporter relations Cathy Long, BBC Sport’s Caroline Barker and Juliette Ferrington, Queens Park Rangers assistant physio Sangi Patel, Elite Welfare Management founder Vincent Pericard and Football League match official Keith Hill.

Professional Footballers’ Association chairman Clarke Carlisle was also in attendance and gave an inspiring speech about his struggles in the game and how his work ethic has got him to where he is today.

“My first obstacle that I encountered in football actually came at the age of 14 when I was told by Blackburn Rovers that I wasn’t good enough. At that time my inspiration didn’t come from my parents but came from a scout at Blackpool,” commented the current Northampton Town defender and former Burnley captain.

“He convinced me and empowered me to achieve what was within me. That impression lives with me now, 23 years later, and something that allows me to relate with you all in the position you are in. And that’s how important is for you, as mentees in the room, to leave a lasting impression on someone. That may not take effect now, it may be five, 10, 15, 20 years down the line that you have sown that seed that a person can draw from.”

Former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba, who was a special guest at the conference, explained how he was dealing with life after football having been forced to retire from the professional game last year following a sudden cardiac arrest. He said: “It had to

happen at one point (retirement). It’s like driving a car, coming to the end of the road and having to change direction - I’m just so fortunate and thankful to still be here.”

Fabrice was joined by Norwich City midfielder Bradley Johnson, Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie and Bolton striker Marvin Sordell - with the latter emphasising the positive impact these kinds of events can bring to people who aspire to get into the industry.

“I think I’m in a very fortunate position being a professional footballer. We are constantly in the spotlight whether it’s good or bad news but I think we are very influential in society considering the situation we are in,” said the England Under-21s man.

“If we can use it in a positive light it can be very powerful and events like this are great with a lot of players showing their support. And it’s not just the players here today, there are tons of players who do a lot of work for charity and do a lot of mentoring in their communities.”

Sports psychologist Dan Abrahams was also amongst the star-studded line-up, giving a motivational talk to the audience relating back to when he helped West Ham United forward Carlton Cole through a tough time in his career, instilling in him the two key aspects to be successful: self belief and performance intensity.

Both sessions ended with a Q&A discussion, allowing participants to quiz the respective panels about the journeys they have gone through in football, and the sacrifices they had to make to be where they are today. Muamba and Johnson took centre stage in the morning session, with Bolasie and Sordell under the spotlight in the afternoon.

Speaking passionately to the audience about his own journey through the game, Kick It Out chair Lord Herman Ouseley said: “I have got to places where I couldn’t dream of getting to and do you know why that’s the case - because I learned from others about their experiences.”

To find out more about Kick It Out’s Mentoring and Leadership Project, please contact Troy Townsend on 0207 253 0162 or via [email protected].

Kick It Out’s ‘Raise Your Game’ looking for football’s next generation



Northern Ireland is hosting this year’s World Police and Fire Games from 1st – 10th August and Prison Officers, serving and retired, are promised the warmest welcome ever not to mention world class sporting venues, outstanding accommodation, amazing food, beautiful scenery, tremendous ‘craic’ and the very best of our home brewed Guinness!

Registrations are coming in thick and fast from all over the world so the competition in each of the 56 sports featured is going to be immense. But time is rushing on and we’re now encouraging any potential athletes, and particularly those members of a team, to register now without delay and certainly before 24th May 2013. On that date if your team has not received the minimum number of registered team members you may miss out on competing in this amazing ‘Olympic’ style international event.

Another incentive for immediate registration is to benefit from the lower competitor registration fees which

increase by $15 on 1st June 2013. The online registration system is easy – just go to www.2013wpfg.com and click on the ‘Register for the Games!’ button. You can not only complete your registration, but also book accommodation through our dedicated reservation service which includes preferential rates for competitors.

There are already over 7,000 competitors registered including:

Bryan Martin is a prison officer in Massachusetts, USA and is not only looking forward to competing in the Golf event but also to see his family again as he’s originally from Northern Ireland! Bryan has already competed in 3 Games and reckons that one of the highlights is the Opening Ceremony. He says, “I think what makes World Police and Fire Games special is the camaraderie that everyone shows, I certainly have never witnessed anything like it before.”

A prison officer from Oregon, USA Heidi Balmacada will be coming to Northern Ireland for the first time and competing in her first Games. Whilst more proficient in shooting, she’s going to try her hand at archery and has been putting in as much training as possible. Off the sports field Heidi is “looking forward to sitting in a pub and enjoying a proper pint with the locals!”

Retired Prison Officer Eric Winterbottom from Northern Ireland is a veteran Games participant. With 14 medals to his name, he has competed in 6 Games since 2001. His chosen sports this August will be rowing, javelin, long jump and weightlifting and with such a record of success behind him, he’ll no doubt be looking for more podiums on his home patch!

Northern Ireland aims to deliver the “friendliest” Games ever and we want you to be part of it. Check out the website at www.2013wpfg.com and register now. We can’t wait to welcome you and your friends and family to Belfast!

For more information email [email protected] or call (0)28 9092 2181. You can also follow the Games at www.facebook.com/2013wpfg or twitter (www.twitter.com/2013wpfg).

Calling All Prison Officers The 2013 World Police and Fire Games Wants You!

http://www.2013wpfg.com

http://www.2013wpfg.com


http://www.facebook.com/2013wpfg

http://www.facebook.com/2013wpfg

http://www.twitter.com/2013wpfg


The Clink, past, present..and its future

Chris Moore, chief executive of The Clink Charity.Chris has spent his entire working life in the catering business. He began his training in Leicester at Southfields College, after which he was awarded a two year scholarship with Holiday Inn, to work and study on their Management Training Scheme in New York. There he learnt catering, front of house skills, waiting and wine service, which provided a very thorough grounding.

On his return to the UK Chris joined the Hilton International Group and rose through the ranks to eventually manage their restaurants in Amsterdam and London, whilst at the same time completing degrees in hotel management and food hygiene. After eight years with Hilton he joined Harrods and managed the largest restaurant in the prestigious store, in addition to all the outside catering operations. Chris eventually became director of catering for the Knightsbridge store, giving him responsibility for all 21 restaurants. He left Harrods in 1997 and joined the Bentalls department store group in a similar role. It was during this time he became interested in the UK Prison system whilst acting as a trustee of the 25 Trust, a charity founded by an ex offender called Brian Greenaway.

18 months ago, having had 10 years’ experience with the trust, and at a point in his career where a choice of direction became possible, Chris unexpectedly suffered a medical issue that put him off work for six months. This was his ‘road to Damascus’ moment when he decided that he wished to put something back into society. Via a convoluted route that included a Bishop,

a friend having lunch at The Clink with a Dukes daughter and a chance meeting with an associate, it was agreed that Chris would provide his services to The Clink on a pro bono basis, two days a week for 12 months. It was agreed that if Chris decided he wanted to stay longer, and be paid for his services, he would come up with a business plan that would make his stay permanent. Six months later in September 2011 the trustees asked Chris to present a business plan for The Clink which was accepted and resulted in Chris becoming the chief executive of The Clink Charity, with a remit to bring the business plan to life.

I met Chris in the new Clink Restaurant in the grounds of HMP Cardiff. Coffee and cake

were served and when I eventually stopped enjoying them we began to talk. I wanted to know what the future held and why.

Custodial Review (CR) I first interviewed Al Crisci at HMP High Down just after he opened The Clink restaurant; he had the intention of changing people’s attitudes to prison catering and prisoner’s attitudes to their abilities. Now, some years later, we are sitting in a high quality restaurant in the grounds of HMP Cardiff talking about the work of a charity that has a chief executive with a gold plated career history. 12 months ago you came up with a business plan, can you tell me how and why it has developed to this point?

Chris Moore (CM) Al created the concept,

Al Crisci

The main seating area at The clink, Cardiff


proved the system could work and broke the mould. He turned the High Down restaurant into a real success and proved that it worked in reducing reoffending rates from the national average of 47% to 10%. The reputation soared, prisoners were being trained and getting jobs and public perceptions about an inmate’s worth were being changed at the rate of 12000 meals a year. The model worked but it was limited to producing 35 inmates per year as trained catering staff. As there is a skills shortage in the catering industry, which is set to get worse, we recognised that The Clink model could be made to work elsewhere. To develop the plan, we analysed the High Down operation, its strengths and weaknesses, both as a business and also as a recidivism prevention programme. We did it exactly as we would do in a commercial restaurant operation on the high street. We then perfected a model that encompassed both

aims. It’s called the ‘five step programme’ which is a support programme where we work with the prisoner for the last 3 to 18 months of their sentence and continue to support them in the initial 6 to 12 months of their time on the outside. It’s vital they are in our programme whilst they transit from being an inmate to a free person. It has to be that way for it to work.

CR At High Down the restaurant is inside the walls of the prison, here it is outside, was that seen as vital in the expansion plans and would that limit the ability to deploy the model everywhere? Does the restaurant actually make money?

CM Inside or outside the walls of the prison is not a vital issue, we had the opportunity to work outside the walls here in Cardiff but High Down has shown it’s not a prerequisite. We want to be able to make this work in all

prisons, not just male, category B units, so we built that into the plan. The restaurant does not make a profit on a balance sheet basis and I cannot see a time when it will, but if you add in the commercial value of the inmates not reoffending then yes, it’s very profitable!

CR How do you select who gets on the programme and what do they learn?

CM The prison security clears all the applicants and then we interview and recruit in conjunction with the prison staff. The successful applicants can then work their way through up to 14 NVQ qualifications and most importantly, we train them to work as part of a team, whilst giving them the confidence and motivation to do the job properly. We assess them regularly to ensure they are keeping up and can cope with the workload and pressure. Any other courses that may be required to address particular issues are made available and we help them

with the process of getting into employment on release. A new initiative is that 12 weeks before they leave us we bring in a mentor to guide them through the transition of leaving prison and going into full employment and regaining a normal life.

CR How do you handle release and ex-offenders starting a job? What are the success rates of getting them a job and preventing reoffending?

CM As we stand today we have 120 employers who will offer these people jobs after a successful interview. When they are ready to move into employment we first assess their needs regarding somewhere to live, bank accounts, clothing and transport. Then, eight weeks before release, we contact several employers who come in and carry out interviews. On the day of release their mentor meets them at the gate and

takes them to probation and then to their accommodation. If required we give them a pay as you go phone and ensure they have sufficient money get to work on time.

The mentor is available 24/7 365 days a year to help them with all issues they may come up against. We also meet with the graduates on a weekly basis for six months after their release and for a further six months if necessary. The whole idea is to be there to support them whist their new surroundings and job become familiar and part of their normal life. It’s not just the catering training that has produced the results; it’s the whole process that cuts recidivism rates for the participants.

Last year The Clink at HMP High Down trained 80 people, 20 were released and all of them went straight into jobs. 19 of them are

continues overleaf u

The bar area


still in employment. 5% recidivism rates are a lot better than the usual 47%.

CR So where does The Clink go next and how can it expand in today’s cash strapped world?

CM When The Clink opened in High Down it was a jointly funded operation between HMPS and the charity. The charity funds the operating losses that the restaurant incurs; which are around £150,000 per year as food, equipment and energy costs are so high. We could reduce this by filling the restaurants with customers three times a day; however the reason for the restaurants existence is to train prisoners, not to make a commercial profit. We deliberately run the restaurants with their primary purpose of training and tackling recidivism, so operating losses are unavoidable.

We decided to extend the programme into more prisons and the target is to have 10 restaurants operating by 2017, but using the present funding model we would then have an annual operating loss of £1.5 million which the charity could not hope to fund. We therefore spoke to the Prison Service and agreed that the charity would fund the building of the restaurants, which at present costs £500,000 per site and The Clink would operate the restaurants in partnership with the Prison Service. In addition, we have given

assurances that each establishment would aim to train 50 people per year and put them through our ‘through the gate’ system.

We have also taken on responsibility for a number of the Farms and Gardens departments and we have up to 15 prisoners training for their qualifications in horticulture. We now produce up to 75% of our salad

and vegetables, we harvest honey, and we compost all our food waste. We have six poly tunnels and have bought a 22m greenhouse which we heat with our used fryer oil. The 15 trainee’s work five days a week (40 hours) and they are trained and obtain qualifications as they do so. The produce is used in the restaurant, so we can control quality throughout the whole process, something that is increasingly sought by customers.

The result of all this is that the Prison Service has signed a 10 year partnership deal for 10 Clink restaurants to open at the rate of two per year. The next two sites are opening up in Greater London, one being at a woman’s prison, and they should be opening towards the end of this year. We are already looking for new sites for the 2014 programme.

CR Branding is an issue with all commercial operations, and that is what you have created here. Your restaurants are as far away from the austerity of a prison as can be imagined and almost a parody of real prison conditions; the sort of impression of prisons that are given in misconceived headlines about inmates living in luxury. Everywhere I look in The Clink restaurants there is high quality workmanship, quality table wear, fittings etc. Why did you go down that image route and how will you maintain the standards?

CM We are creating a quality restaurant

chain, not a hard labour theme park, so it’s important that we replicate a 4 or 5 star hotel or Michelin restaurant standards in all areas of the operation so that customers return, not just for the gimmick value, but for the quality of the whole experience. That’s how we will change public opinion as well as keep our customers. We also want the trainees to get used to working full time and outside the prison regime so there was no point, morally or commercially, in bringing any part of prison life into the business.

To maintain the quality and the look we have implemented, the usual commercial process of creating a brand bible that dictates the style, colour and look of all the fixtures and fittings was followed. This also covers our

logo, promotional material and website. We have a heavyweight board of Trustees and have taken a conscious decision to build a quality brand and that everything we do is done properly.

'Just because we are a charity it does not mean that it has to look like everything has been done on a shoestring. We are attracting customers on a commercial basis with the prime aim of getting prisoners a job on release. We have to give customers a good reason to come here, people are attracted to quality, service and value, so that’s what we must provide.’CR Have there been any awards won?

CM Yes, we wanted to tell the catering industry that we are serious participants and that we have the ability to provide the well trained staff that they so desperately need. We won a CATEY award in 2011 for best education and training concept in the UK, we have a 3 star award from the Sustainable Restaurant Association which was won because we operate on a fully sustainable basis, including turn all our used fryer oil into biodiesel. We also have a wind turbine and compost all our waste food.

CR What can you not do in the restaurants because they are located in a prison? Matters like alcohol and handling money? How about training for management roles in the catering industry, does any of that take place?

CM Prison rules state that prisoners are not allowed to use the sort of technology that is needed to manage a restaurant, such

The Clink, past, present..and its future continued


as computers, use the telephone or handle cash. They also cannot serve alcohol and to complete NVQ level 3 this must be done. So in order to enable a recent course to be completed, we invited in Gerard Bassett to visit. He is currently the only person in the world to hold the combined titles of Master of Wine and Master Sommelier; he also holds a wine MBA and title of the World’s Best Sommelier. I gave him the challenge of teaching wine service without using alcohol. He arrived with a bottle of alcohol free wine and Champagne and proceeded to successfully complete the course. Money handling is an issue so to keep within the spirit and letter of the rules we only accept cheques or invoice diners at High Down., Another challenge is that we cannot use yeast in the food, as it could be used to make alcohol. To overcome this, we have a lady who teaches the trainees how to make sour dough bread. It’s the most amazing bread I have ever tasted and she even shows how to make it into hot cross buns. These challenges force us to be innovative and that’s a huge benefit in business.

CR Is it a real business, does it run like a high street restaurant chain would and does it produce really high calibre staff who can take the pressure?

CM It’s as close as is possible. There are significant differences in the intentions of The Clink Restaurants and restaurants you find on the high street. Here our main intention is to train inmates and find them good jobs. In a restaurant chain training is a huge cost so can be limited, however we do have real pressures placed upon the prisoners by operational matters. We usually have a quiet morning when we carry out a lot of training, and then we usually have 95 covers to serve at lunchtime, all a la carte, something you just would not do in a commercial outfit, as you would space arrivals out a lot more over the lunch period. We do this so that if someone is going to wobble and break they do it to us, not an employer. It means that we can tell an employer what someone is really like, what qualifications they have and what they have achieved and can really do, including what they are like under pressure.

CR You fund the build of each establishment, do you also fund and procure the equipment too, or is it done via the Prison Service?

CM We now purchase independently, however High Down was funded and supplied at full price, albeit with some discounts due to its association with the Prison Service. When we were looking to equip Cardiff, Al & I used our connections to go direct to the necessary suppliers and negotiate. The results were quite startling, in many cases they provided equipment at a huge discount, whilst some of the equipment we required

was given to us completely free of charge and it was top of the range items too. Some even stated they would provide the necessary chemicals during the life of the product. All the equipment is professional and brand new. For instance we use Churchill china and a lot of Electrolux equipment. Some of the fixtures and fittings were made within the Prison estate, the tables and chairs for instance.

CR Would this model; or one like it, work in any other related industry?

CM We have already identified another training opportunity. Having initially recognised there is a skills shortage in the restaurant and catering industry we have subsequently noted that there is a similar skills shortage in butchery.

‘We are now looking to set up a butchery workshop in the Cardiff area to train prisoners in the skill of preparing meat for sale. HMP Prescoed has a 420 acre prison farm where we plan to teach inmates to be butchers, using animals bred on the farm and bought in from outside too.’

We are hoping to join forces with supermarkets that have butchery counters to enable us to provide the same process into work in their industry as we have in the catering industry. There is really no reason why this approach should not work in other industries and establishments throughout the UK.

CR Thank you for talking to the Review.

Custodial Review is now accepting articles from serving officers and staff within the whole custodial industry.

All articles will appear on the Custodial website and will appear in the magazine subject to the Publishers discretion. Approx length 1500 to 2000 words. We are also pleased to accept news and information.

Please contact the Publisher, Steve Mitchell, [email protected] or on

01234 348878 for more details.

Above the worktop is a board with all the manufacturers who contributed to the project in Cardiff.


The Fonz kissed me!Jackie Hewitt-Main on dyslexia

But then most men don’t have the inimitable Jackie Hewitt-Main for a mum!

Her son, although dyslexic himself & now a successful barrister thanks to Jackies’ patience & teaching, had invited her to accompany him to an event hosted by the Disability Action Group to hear none other than Henry Winkler OBE - aka The Fonz - tell his own personal account of dyslexia that led to both his famous role in Happy Days & his current success as the author of a book series based around the character Hank Zipzer - The Worlds Greatest Under-Achiever.

His experiences moved the room through sadness & laughter, leaving the audience with a sense of awe befitting a well-loved & memorable character such as he had played.

To the end of the evening Jackie was fortunate to get a few moments to speak to the man himself &, most importantly, bestow on him a copy of her most recent report ‘Dyslexia Behind Bars - four years on’. She explained the levels of learning difficulties, dyslexia in particular, within the UK prison population, the success she’d had in her ground-breaking project, the achievements of both prisoners & staff that she had worked with, the changing attitudes of all those she had helped to understand the presence of hidden disabilities & how they could help themselves overcome many of the negative aspects.

He was of course, suitably impressed and gave her a kiss on the cheek, saying, “Thank you, we need this work & people like you!”

Jackie is one tough lady, she’s been through a lot in her life & wasn’t about to swoon in the arms of The Fonz but I will have to find out if she’s washed her cheek yet!

On occasion Jackies’ own disabilities prevent her from seeing the true, jaw-dropping impact her words & ideas have on people that see her results for the first time.

“It’s common sense.” She tells me over coffee one morning, as we settle into a day of research & paperwork. “If they can’t learn one way, teach them in another until they find something that clicks.”

It’s true, I think as I silently thank whoever posted on my Facebook, “Common sense sometimes seems so rare that it should be classed as a superpower.”

Jackies magnetism that evening with The Fonz was apparent when he appeared on The One Show a couple of days later, again to raise awareness for dyslexia. During his interview he gave out figures for learning difficulties that we recognised as those in Jackies report.

Henry Winkler, The Fonz, had read her report!

My phone rang a little later, after the show, “Did you see him on T.V.? Did you hear the figures he used?” Jackies ear-to-ear smile was very audible!

We added this to our list of motivational positives to use when we need to deter the angst that trails anyone, like us, setting up a business or charity. We have discovered how resilient red-tape can be when pushing forward toward goals but also how necessary it has become in today’s world of finance & politics, I believe there is very little divide between the two, as they say, ‘Politics is big business these days’.

With this, the angst tugs at our heels as we wade, determined, through the excess of choices, decisions & fine print that regales us. We won’t be defeated, Jackies unending, viral enthusiasm sees to that but I am pleased that I have Google at the tap of a screen to find some meaning to the myriad of technical terms used in our meeting with the accountant, who was patient enough to keep it simple for us as he realises how daunting it can be doing all this for the first time.

Setting up a charity ‘can’ be straight forward - “There are options”, he tells us. My

mind throws up a picture of a telephone keypad & the option to not press 1, 2 or 3 for anything at all, at least he isn’t going to offer PPI advice.

After three hours of discussion we conclude, leaving with his best recommendation & the need for £5000 to be a registered charity. This is the part where I shamelessly get to say “Donations & Pledges gratefully received”.

As a child I was always amazed at how a little scrap of paper called ‘money’ could be worth so many things & it wasn’t until I was older, looking hard at a note & reading the words ‘promises to pay’, that I realised it was really an I.O.U. & became awed at the power of paper.

Obtaining funding for any project these days seems to have become something of an art form, even within the world of mathematics where it, along with almost everything in the world, can be reduced to a mathematical equation. I barely begin to understand this concept & shall most likely remain contented in adding up on my fingers.

Jackie has faced Dyslexia & Aspergers head on throughout her life as well as the difficulties experienced by her two sons & understands the problems faced by everyone that deals with learning difficulties, wanting more than anything, to raise every single person above the pain, distress & turmoil that she has experienced.

This month will see the completion of Jackies own ‘power of paper’ as the final proof reading of her book, ‘Transforming Prisoners’ Lives’, draws to a close & publishing begins.

“He just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t learn as a child”

It provides fascinating insight into the world of criminals, prison & education as well as Jackies own life as she recounts from her own perspective, the trials & successes following some of the prisoners from her two year project, ‘Dyslexia Behind Bars’. She explains their disabilities, for what is often the first time, to them & uses her ‘common sense’ approach to teach things that most of us learn as a child & experiences for herself some of the fear & sadness they face within those walls.

It is likely to become part of the essential reading list for anyone dealing with special needs & will certainly open eyes & minds. The official book launch is planned for July.

For the return to working within prisons we have engaged the help of an education representative to ensure we can meet required standards which, although will pose no problem in terms of content, will take a little more time to be approved. Funding is understandably not the easiest of resources to acquire but we are working hard to achieve success. We hope to begin in just a few short months because there is a real need for effective understanding & teaching of learning difficulties within both the education & prison system.

Jackies Hewitt-Mains work has provided that in abundance to those she has so far helped & her next step is to continue transforming lives in earnest.

Written by Karen Osman with kind permission of Jackie Hewitt-Main 2013

‘Transforming prisoners Lives’ by Jackie Hewitt-Main - is available through Amazon.com from May.

Jackie Hewitt-Main, her son Richard and Henry Winkler OBE.

“Most men don’t take their mums to The Foreign Commonwealth Office,” my friend was told by her son as he held the door open for her to enter this regal building.

Jackie Hewitt-Main on Dyslexia


Fireworks works with Skanska to supply Hydramist High Pressure Watermist to HMP Grampian

The Scottish Prison Service are investing around £90 million in the prison which is being built on the site of the existing HMP Peterhead located 32 miles north of Aberdeen.

The project is to build a 550 place community facing prison and it is the first custom built prison of its type to be built in Scotland. The new prison will accommodate all of the different categories of prisoners including adult female & male and young offenders; both convicted and on remand.

The custom built prison will provide education, training and a range of other facilities to engage with prisoners across a spectrum of needs.

The prison population will almost entirely be drawn from the north east of Scotland and the prison will meet all of the custodial needs of the area. That necessity requires a fairly sophisticated way of separating the different categories of prisoners and providing them with separate regime facilities within one perimeter.

Work is well underway and it is on schedule for completion next year. When the construction work is completed the prison population from HMP Peterhead and HMP Aberdeen will be decanted into the new establishment and both the existing prisons will be demolished.

Under the contract, Skanska will undertake the design and construction of the new prison which will include the full range of prison buildings including kitchen, laundry, links and education, prisoner regimes, recreations facilities, visits, staff and administration.

Using its in-house skills, Skanska will also develop the structural and civil design as well as undertaking the installation of mechanical and electrical services.

Fireworks Fire Protection Limited secured the contract for the design, supply and installation of fixed watermist fire fighting systems after successfully wining a full competitive tender process. Fireworks have previously worked with Skanska on a prison installation in the London area and have also completed over 150 installations within prisons in England and Wales.

Fireworks are supplying their own Hydramist® high pressure watermist fire suppression system protecting both in cell and association areas within the Male, Female and Young Offenders House Blocks. Fireworks and Hydramist® have developed a special anti-ligature nozzle to the satisfaction of both Skanska and the Scottish Prison Service.

Fireworks Fire Protection Ltd is working with Skanska on the installation of Hydramist® high pressure watermist systems at HMP Grampian near

Peterhead in Scotland. As leaders in fire suppression systems we are proud to be continuing our established relationship as suppliers to Skanska who have earned a worldwide

reputation for quality and excellence. Skanska are one of the World’s leading project development and construction groups employing over 52,000 staff worldwide.


The system is very effective as it has been proven during extensive testing with the Ministry of Justice to successfully suppress the fire at the first attempt and dramatically reduce cell temperatures. Toxic gases and smoke in the protected area fall to levels well below those that could be harmful to life and the Hydramist® systems have become the fire suppression equipment of choice throughout the United Kingdom Prisons Estates.

The system conforms to OH1 approval for the association areas after successfully passing the stringent CEN14972 OH1 2011 fire tests in 2012 and the MOJ standard for

Cell Protection at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 2009.

Gary Steven’s the Project Manager for Fireworks has been working with Debbie Girvan of Skanska to oversee the smooth running of the installation.

“We started the installation in February 2013 and will have installers on site permanently until the system is commissioned at the end of June 2013. Due to the location and the complexity of the buildings it is important that we work together to make sure that we keep the installation on time and within budget” says Gary.

Fireworks were pleased to win the ‘contractor of the month’ award for March demonstrating our determination to provide a first class service to Skanska.

Fireworks value our relationships with our clients and we are committed to offering first class products and services, this has enabled us to work on a large number of prestigious projects throughout the UK.

For more information on mobile, modular and fixed Hydramist® fire suppression systems please contact Lewis Oxley our Key Account Manager for the Custodial sector on 0800 9757462 or visit www.fireworks-ltd.com

http://www.fireworks-ltd.com


Chris Welford is a business psychologist and he has worked extensively within SERCO prisons. His original role was in assessing and coaching senior managers and during one of these interviews the conversation touched on the effects of light on the behaviour of people in prison. This eventually led to Serco commissioning research looking into the effect of lighting on the behaviour of inmates. It was done at HMP & YOI Ashfield, an establishment that had already been scheduled to have its lighting upgraded to LED units. The research didn’t prove conclusively that there was a direct relationship between the behaviour of inmates and different lighting conditions but the initial research proved so worthwhile that it has paved the way for more extensive study. CR What work was done to the lights at HMP and YOI Ashfield and what was noticed?

CW For economic and social reasons the exterior and interior lights were changed to LED units. The social reasons were because the nearby inhabitants were being subjected to excess levels of light pollution by the security lights that surrounded the prison. They were originally of the halogen type that gave out a large ball like area of yellow light, much of which is reflected upwards. The new LED exterior lighting has the benefits of directing

most of its effect straight down as well as being cheaper to run and maintain. The interior lights were being changed for purely financial reasons. It was after they had been fitted that it was noticed that there had been changes in the level of vandalism and anti-social behaviour. We decided it was worth investigating.

CR What was the aim of the research and what did you set out to establish?

CW There had definitely been a change in the level of behaviour at the prison. We wanted to establish if there was a direct link between the installation of new lighting in the cells at the prison and a drop in aggression and vandalism that occurred at the same time. We wanted to discover if there were any other factors that may have been responsible and if the effect was temporary. It was a win-win situation as there are good financial and environmental reasons for the change and as the units are made at HMP Dovegate, another SERCO prison, it generated work for the inmates there too.

CR Were there any other behavioural changes within the cells?

CW Yes, the inmates’ attempts to modify the output of the lights reduced significantly. There were less DIY diffusers and paper shades being fitted and little or no or crayoning over the fittings.

CR How did you go about establishing if there was a real connection between the light output from the LED units and the change in behaviour and it was not just a coincidence?

CW We conducted a literature review for research that had been published on light levels and behaviour. We also searched for any evidence that the observed change in behaviour was anything more than a coincidence; perhaps as a result of prisoners

realising that something positive was being done for them, feeling less negative about their environment and therefore treating the new lights with some increased respect. Our search found that there has been a reasonable amount of information published over the last 20 years that suggests a connection between light and behaviour. This convinced us to look into the matter more thoroughly.

CR Was the colour temperature of light that was being emitted by the LED looked into? As a photographer I know that the colour temperature can affect a picture to make it look warm or cold.

CW Some work was done along those lines, but ours was not a controlled experiment in the respect that we had a range of cells with the LEDs emitting different types of light or lux levels. All we had was one set of cells with the new LED lights fitted and one with the old halogen type of light so we were unable to research any difference in the lux or the colour temperature. The research we had found in our literature review suggested that there was an effect on behaviour if the light used were in the bluer end of the spectrum when it created a more dynamic atmosphere or the red end it creates a more relaxing effect. One interesting piece of information we found was that people who have insomnia should not use computers or iPads late at night as the light they produce is from the blue end of the spectrum and this makes the brain more active.

CR What about the type of inmate that you were working with, did you establish if that made a difference?

CW When we interviewed the inmates many of them could not recall what the lights were like before they were changed; indeed because of the turnover of the population many of

The unexpected effect on inmates of changing to LED lighting


them were not at the prison beforehand. So we were unable to determine if there was an effect regarding age or any other factors. The conclusion we came to was that the change in light had an effect that was beneficial, however as Ashfield is a YOI with a fairly transient population, it was not considered conclusive and that we really needed a more stable population to enable us to find out if it was the light making the difference.

CR What did you do about discounting other reasons for changes in behaviour?

CW I went into this study thinking that there was probably another reason for the change in behaviour, what we call a Hawthorne effect - where being simply being studied or observed is the trigger that changes behaviour. However these were not found to be so. We are left with very convincing reasons that it was the type of light that created the change in the levels of aggression and vandalism.

CR What are the plans to take this forward?

CW We now need to look at the effects in a larger and more stable population so we have determined that the next thing to do is to track the changes in vandalism and anti-social behaviour in an adult prison with

a low turnover of inmates. Another plan is to look at the effect at the therapeutic prison in Dovegate and see if the lighting change has any effect on the inmates there; paying particular attention to mood. This will be possible to do as the lighting is already scheduled to be changed for economic and environmental reasons, so it would be an ideal opportunity and environment to more accurately observe any effect on behaviour. If we change the lights one wing at a time it will give us the chance to observe and record any changes to behaviour and how long it lasts. LED lighting is due to go into the rest of the Serco estate as well, so we could end up with some substantial and empirical evidence.

CR It lacks real scientific credibility though doesn’t it?

CW Correct. It’s not approaching the results expected from a double blind placebo controlled test. But if we have results from the attack figures and vandalism records, plus interviews carried out before and after, and then at regular intervals over the next months it will give some very strong indicators. As the main reason that the LEDs are being fitted is economic and environmental, the result of this research does not have to been seen in terms

of success or failure. If it’s shown to be more than a coincidence it creates an interesting hypothesis that could be improved upon. In the social science world this type of process is called phenomenological. It not truly empirical but it will provide a way of measuring the effect of something of this nature and so is quite important. If the change in the light source results in lower expense due to changes in mood then this is something we are very interested in as it has both an economic and a social benefit. We see opportunities for a longitudinal study.

CR What about the future for this, as there seems to be an effect that is beneficial is it worth getting a university to do a research project to discover the nuts and bolts behind it?

CW Serco has a very pragmatic culture and is not one wedded to copious amounts of blue sky research just for the sake of it. I believe there is value in investigating this further and that some additional work would be beneficial both to the company and the wider world.

Thank you for talking to the Review.


Greater Manchester Police have a large 58 cell custody suite based in Longsight Police Station that was built in the 1970’s. During a recent refurbishment it’s had its cell lighting updated. The reasons were explained by Robert Hayes, the Sustainability Manager. It seems that in 2012 the failure reports regarding cell lighting had reached unacceptable levels as 22 repair jobs had to be referred to outside contractors. The number of small maintenance jobs completed by the janitorial team, such as tube replacements were also very high. Another problem was that the existing lighting diffusers were becoming opaque and brittle and they were also from an era where energy efficiency did not carry the priority it does today. It had become very obvious that the lights were coming to the end of their life span, both in terms of economy and functionality.

The original light fittings were of the centre celling type and are no longer manufactured; therefore direct replacement was not an option. What was needed were fittings that slightly larger than the existing units as they would cover any damage caused by the work. All modern custody suite lights are now mounted where the ceiling meets the wall and to fit this type in the Manchester cells would have required significant capital expenditure rerouting the power cabling through reinforced concrete ceilings. Such work would also have involved closing large sections of the custody suite for protracted periods, an option that would not be favoured by the operational staff.

The only realistic option was to design and build custom units. It was at this stage in the process that Robert decided to bid for the funding to replace the existing lights with LED units. As the lower costs of running the new lights would more than offset the cost of the custom build. The lower energy usage would save approx. £3500 per year and the lower maintenance requirements would increase the savings substantially.

Quotes were received from a number of potential suppliers, what was asked for was a replacement light fitting made to a custom size with a LED light source that met Home Office regulations regarding light levels in custody cells. The light issue was a problem in itself as there were no existing LED lighting sources and housings that would comply with these regulations. After Roberts research the overall contract was awarded to Cell Security who had already been undertaking research and development with LED lighting and involved only slight changes within one of their current designs to suit the requirements regarding the size and shape of the housings.

The design and development of the LED lights was not an easy task. Even though LED technology has advanced greatly over the past few years, an un-diffused LED produces very directional light, this presents two problems, firstly how to obtain a uniformed light pattern and secondly how to reduce the glare. Traditionally an opal diffuser has been used; however the drop in efficiency

only enabled a 20% energy saving because it removes about 40% of the light. In a new build this might be acceptable but on a retrofit or refurbishment it would probably make the product uneconomic due to extended payback periods as a result of the lower efficiency savings. The light units used in Manchester mount the high power LED’s in a totally new way and this reduces the glare of the LED and also allows control of the direction and coverage of the light.

High-power LEDs are just one part of the overall package to produce energy efficient LED lighting. Crucial factors such as how uniformly distributed the light is, the light’s efficacy, colour temperature and colour rendering and the reliability of the LED itself all play a major role. It is also essential to note that all the benefits of LED technology are completely dependent upon longevity in the fitting, and longevity in a LED light engine is completely dependent upon three factors: The LED itself, thermal management of the junction

temperature and the driver. All these issues had to be addressed in order to provide the warranty required to comply with the contract.

On the project and its costings Robert Hayes said,

‘The LED equipped new light fittings have a 5 year warranty on them, so we know that the Police will not have maintenance costs during this period. The return on the investment is 5 years, the cost of the job was about £35k and the savings in electricity and janitorial time are in the region of £7k per year. The manufactures figures show that the bulb units could be left on continuously for 14 years without needing any attention so the return

LED lighting.. For secure custody environments

This pic shows why the new light fitting was needed; to replace it with a cornice unit would have required extensive construction work.

The corridors were also fitted with new LED lighting.

A close up of one of the security LED lights developed by Cell Security.


The new light fittings are slightly larger than the originals, so covering any damage done during replacement.

should be many times higher. So it’s a win-win situation.

The project was contracted as one job, so the units and their fitting were put out to tender together, this having the benefit of keeping one line of communication and responsibility so negating any dispute between subcontractors. Cell Security won the contract and the job was completed during a five day planned maintenance down time. It included work on the exercise yards and CCTV upgrades. It was a massive undertaking with 14 people working 12 hours a day.’

There have been some unexpected benefits too. The LED’s emit a much cleaner light without flicker so CCTV images are much clearer. The heat output is very low so

reducing air conditioning costs. The reduction in the power usage also reflects on the required power from backup generators. Because they are ‘no maintenance required’ product they free personnel resources for use elsewhere.

The end result of all this is that Manchester Police have changed the lights in their custody unit with a return on investment of 5 years, as the units have a design life in excess of this the savings will be substantial. More importantly a LED light has been developed that meets the requirements of the custody industry and its security housing can be quickly adapted to satisfy retrofit requirements.

A close up of the inner workings of the LED.


New life for old tools The Conservation Foundation’s Tools Shed programme is proving a success with prisonsIn April HMP Northumberland became the latest prison to join The Conservation Foundation’s Tools Shed programme. Set up six years ago, Tools Shed is a garden tool repairing initiative which is run in association with a number of prisons around the UK. Broken and unwanted hand tools, collected from garden centres and horticultural organisations, are restored in prison workshops and given free to schools and community gardens.

On one level it is a simple recycling scheme and a successful community programme which provides free garden tools to cash strapped schools and community gardeners at a time when the eco ethos is climbing the agenda. It provides extensive positive publicity and fits with many organisations’ corporate and environmental social responsibilities.

Dig deeper and the further benefits of this deceptively simple initiative emerge.

Tools Shed fits into prison regimes in a variety of ways. It provides purposeful occupation and is suitable for a range of different needs and abilities. At its simplest it enables a prisoner to learn basic repairing, painting and woodwork skills and to produce something complete, rather than be part of a production line. There is the satisfaction of knowing that the tools bring something of a real value to the community.

In some prisons, for example HMP Wandsworth, where Tools Shed was piloted, the tool repair programme has led to some prisoners becoming interested in gardening, creating opportunities following release. Wandsworth and Tools Shed were both part of the Eden Project’s successful show garden at Chelsea Flower Show a couple of years ago, with the prisoners growing on plants and restored tools being used to create the garden. The prison’s own gardens have won an impressive number of awards.

One of the other benefits is the flexibility of the project. Each prison fits it into its regime as it sees fit and The Conservation Foundation doesn’t impose any targets. In this way it can sit alongside the other activities which do have targets. In some prisons it is a useful occupation for vulnerable and retired prisoners; in others it can provide wet weather occupation for the Farms and Gardens departments. At Morton Hall IRC in Lincolnshire, the project has really taken off with detainees working through a great many tools. To satisfy demand for broken tools, Lincoln County Council has opened a collection point at one of its recycling centres which is providing very successful, even before the gardening season has got properly underway.

The Foundation provides materials, sources tools, organises the giveaways and publicity, raising funds from Trusts and Foundations in order to do this. Funds have to be raised each time a ‘new’ prison comes on board.

The spruced up tools find their

way to schools and community groups in a variety of ways. Some prisons hold tool giveaway days, organised with The Conservation Foundation, which are always popular and effective community outreach events. At HMP Wandsworth these are held at the Officer Training Centre and include a visit to the training cells and fascinating prison museum. They are understandably very popular occasions.

At HMP High Down, the project fits well with the prison’s excellent recycling programme and the work is carried out in the woodwork workshop, where apart from repairing broken furniture, there is capacity for other work. Tools Shed has introduced the prison to some interesting new opportunities to

reach out to the community, for example making a ‘story chair’ for a local school which came to one of the tool giveaways. Making bird boxes, bird tables and beehives is also absorbing and productive and fits well with the tool restoring. Many of the boxes are included in the gardening pack of tools groups taken away from giveaway days and go to local wildlife trusts.

HMP Dartmoor’s remote location makes giveaway events impractical and The Conservation Foundation’s local coordinator Richard Leatherby distributes tools at the garden centres around his large ‘patch’ which covers Devon and Cornwall and includes RHS Rosemoor and the Eden Project as well as many individual garden centres

Alex Keedens, an officer at HMP High Down.


and groups. These create photo opportunities and provide local press stories. He is an enthusiastic advocate of the benefits of Tools Shed and its ability to cross divides and is able to create many new and often unexpected new links.

There are considerable PR positives to Tools Shed for the places where the tools are collected, which can use their involvement for marketing and to generate press coverage and tick their CSR and environmental boxes. The Conservation Foundation is currently in discussion with a major UK company to pilot the project in one part of the country with a view to then rolling it out nationally. This will generate many thousands of tools and the continuity of supply will make it possible more prisons to get involved. The longer aim is to have a countrywide web of local Tools Sheds with the prison at the hub.

Participating prisons also benefit from the positive publicity. HMP High Down featured recently in The Sunday Telegraph and

the launch of the project at HMP Edinburgh, where women prisoners are involved for the first time, resulted in many stories in local press, women’s magazines and even on BBC Radio Scotland.

Useful links are forged. The world famous Alnwick Garden has set up the first collection point in the northeast which will provide tools for HMP Northumberland. The April launch was covered by all the local press and BBC Newcastle too. Once repaired, the tools will be given away to local schools from The Alnwick Garden itself, which fits with its community programme and builds on the existing relationship prison has with The Duchess of Northumberland, the garden’s creator.

The Conservation Foundation is currently working with HMPs

Wandsworth, High Down, Northumberland, Dartmoor and Edinburgh and Morton Hall IRC. It is in discussion with a number of others and would be glad to hear from any prison interested in being part of the initiative.

As Conservation Foundation Director David Shreeve explains, “Tools Shed is a simple idea which has received a great response from the public and media. As well as being a new approach to recycling, it gives practical skills to prisoners and provides some very special tools for school and community gardens.”

For more information visit www.conservationfoundation.co.uk To contact The Conservation Foundation please email [email protected] or call 020 7591 3111.

The launch of Tools Shed in Northumberland which took place at The Alnwick Garden. From left to right John Spedding and Elaine Llewellyn, HMP Northumberland. Trevor Jones, Head Gardener, The Alnwick Garden. John Llewellyn, The Alnwick Garden.

http://www.conservationfoundation.co.uk







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A working chanceJocelyn Hillman, explains how the charity Working Chance is helping female offenders move across the social divide.

Working Chance is a charity which places women ex-offenders into jobs with quality employers. It is headed up by Jocelyn Hillman, who is proving that, with support and encouragement, women whose lives have taken a wrong turn can re-join the workforce and become productive and respected members of society.

Getting a woman into work is the best way to stop her re-offending. Quite simply, a woman with a job has structure in her life, money in her pocket and pride in her progress.

This is why I welcome the announcement of the Government’s strategic priorities for female offenders along with the establishment of the Advisory Board for Female Offenders. It shows the Government understands the value of such rehabilitation in terms of the benefits socially and economically.

The women who come to us for help are usually the sole breadwinner for their families: they want to earn a living and be strong role-models to their children.

Working Chance’s model of providing women ex-offenders with professional recruitment services before and after release ensures that they are better equipped to make the transition from custody to finding employment. In this way, they become independent,

empowered and contributing members of society, better able to support themselves and their families.

In our experience, whether an ex-offender engages with a service depends on how much she values it. She will choose to engage with a service if it is of a high quality and responds to her needs. The fact that we provide such a service means that we are dealing with women who are at a point in their journey where they are ready to engage and be helped.

Our offering is unique: we provide a quality, bespoke recruitment service for female ex-offenders in London and the southeast. Our way of working mirrors those of a high-end commercial recruitment agency. We get to know our candidates and our potential employers well and our service focuses on providing well-matched candidates to employers for quality roles. We have combined this commercial recruitment approach with a deep understanding of the criminal justice system in order to design services that meet the needs of both employers and our candidates.

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