Prison Reform Trust

Last updated

The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punishments than on traditional prison reform issues. Founding members included Sir Monty Finniston and Veronica Linklater.

Contents

PRT offers advice and information to thousands of people every year: prisoners, their families, prison and probation staff, the legal profession, students, academics and interested members of the public. PRT organise an annual lecture (delivered by Charles Clarke MP, Home Secretary, in 2005), and a range of conferences and seminars which attract high-profile speakers and large audiences.

The Prison Reform Trust carries out research on all aspects of prison. Recent studies include: prisoners' views on prison education, the mental health needs of women prisoners, older prisoners, prisoner councils, foreign national prisoners, prisoner votes, and a report into how sentencers make the decision to imprison offenders.

Stephen Shaw was Director of PRT from 1981 to 1999, when he became the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales. [1] He was succeeded as Director by Juliet Lyon.

Sir Monty Finniston was succeeded as Chair by the former Cabinet Minister, Edmund Dell, broadcaster and journalist, Jon Snow. Lord Douglas Hurd, the former Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, succeeded Jon Snow as PRT's fourth chair in November 1997. Robert Fellowes, a crossbench peer, who has served as Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, and holds a senior position at Barclays plc succeeded Douglas Hurd in September 2001.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Howard (prison reformer)</span> English prison reformer and philanthropist

John Howard FRS was a philanthropist and early English prison reformer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">His Majesty's Prison Service</span> Government service managing most of the prisons within England and Wales

His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service, which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales.

Sir Harold Montague "Monty" Finniston FRS FRSE was a Scottish industrialist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison reform</span> Reform of the prison system

Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes.

His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is the head of HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the senior inspector of prisons, young offender institutions and immigration service detention and removal centres in England and Wales. The current chief inspector is Charlie Taylor.

The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, following a merger with the Penal Reform League. The charity focuses on penal reform in England and Wales.

In the United Kingdom, prisoners are divided into four categories of security. Each adult is assigned a category, depending on the crime committed, the sentence, the risk of escape, and violent tendencies. The categories are single letters, in alphabetical order, with 'A' as the most secure, and 'D' the least.

Stephen Shaw, CBE is former Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales. He was first appointed Prisons Ombudsman in October 1999; from 1 September 2001 his remit was extended to take in complaints against the National Probation Service (NPS) from those under supervision in the community. His remit was further extended to take in complaints from those in immigration detention in October 2006. He departed in April 2010. Shaw’s time in office as ombudsman covered a period in which the role’s responsibilities and independence increased. In 2003, Alan Travis noted in UK newspaper The Guardian, "His predecessor, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Woodhead, had his powers so clipped by the former Conservative home secretary, Michael Howard, that the small and little-known club that is the British and Irish Ombudsmen Association refused him membership on the grounds that he was not independent enough".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margery Fry</span> English prison reformer and Principal of Somerville College, Oxford

Sara Margery Fry was a British prison reformer as well as one of the first women to become a magistrate. She was the secretary of the Howard League for Penal Reform and the principal of Somerville College, Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prisoners Abroad</span>

Prisoners Abroad is a UK-registered human rights and welfare charity which supports British citizens who are imprisoned overseas. It also works with ex-prisoners returning to the UK and family members and friends of those detained.

HM Prison Lancaster Farms is a category C male prison, located on the outskirts of Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is part of the HMP North Lancashire and Cumbria Estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Exeter</span> Prison in Devon, England

HM Prison Exeter is a category B local and resettlement men's prison, located in Exeter in the county of Devon, England. It holds men sentenced by the courts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset. There are also prisoners from further afield who have been transferred from other prisons. Exeter Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Canterbury</span> Former prison in Canterbury, England

HMP Canterbury is a former prison in Canterbury, Kent, England. The prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. The former prison site was bought by Canterbury Christ Church University in April 2014.

The Howard League for Penal Reform Canterbury is an organisation based in Christchurch, New Zealand, that lobbies for prison reform and works in Canterbury prisons. It is based on the British Howard League for Penal Reform.

Una Padel OBE was a British criminal-justice reformer, known for her work in penal reform. She was the director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) from 1999 until her death in 2006, after which the centre established the Una Padel Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prisons in the Republic of Ireland</span> Criminal detention facilities in Ireland

Prisons in Ireland are one of the main forms of punishment, rehabilitation, or both for the commission of an indictable offense and other offenses.

Criminal justice reform addresses structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Criminal justice reform can take place at any point where the criminal justice system intervenes in citizens’ lives, including lawmaking, policing, and sentencing.

Inquest Charitable Trust is a charity concerned with state related deaths in England and Wales. It was founded in 1981. Inquest provides support on state-related deaths, including deaths in custody and their investigation, to bereaved people, lawyers, advice and support agencies, the media and parliamentarians. Their policy, parliamentary, campaigning and media work is grounded in the day-to-day experience of working with bereaved people.

Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor is an English criminologist, philanthropist and prison reformer. She is a founder and a trustee of the charity The Clink, and founder of the charity One Small Thing. She is the sister of Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.

References

  1. Travis, Alan (9 July 2003). "A look inside". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 6 August 2015.