To reform the prison system, we need to understand the realities of it. To understand the system, we need to research it.
Our Research
We are enthusiastic to work with academics and practitioners in law, criminology, and other fields where the focus is on prison law and people in prison.
Our extensive network of clients, with whom we communicate on a daily basis, places us in a strong position to undertake research and collaborate with others for our clients’ benefit.
In the past, we have been approached by film directors, fellow charities, and academics to contribute to their work. We welcome further collaboration with those who share our values so please do reach out to us if you would like us to support and contribute to your work.
Areas of Research of interest
Legal Aid
It was out of the cuts made to this area our project was created. Some ten years on, the effects of the cuts and the current cost of living crisis is seeing our project caseload increase tenfold. Hence, the need to explore these cost savings is even more so pressing.
The project started it’s research on this area in 2021 and continues to review data and analyse new areas of concern. We hope the research we have undertaken in this area will contribute to raising awareness of our broken legal system.
IPPs
Through consistent correspondence with our IPP clients, the troubling reality of the legacy of IPPs is being fully revealed to us.
IPPs (Imprisonment for Public Protection) are a form of sentence that have now been abolished, albeit not retroactively. They are indeterminate sentences that require prisoners, once they have served their tariff, to prove to Parole Boards they no longer pose a threat to the public in order to be released. Due to the lack of prison rehabilitative resources and shortage of Parole hearings, this task is near impossible. Thus, thousands of prisoners are stuck in prison long after their tariff has expired.
If they are eventually released, IPP prisoners must then spend their lives outside prison under the threat of recall, where they can be sent back to prison for minor infractions.
The uncertainty faced by those serving IPPs has led to a much higher propensity to self-harm than those serving normal determinate sentences. Sadly, 65 prisoners serving IPPs have committed suicide in prison.
We hope the research we undertake in this area could contribute to freeing those still shackled by this unlawful and inhumane sentence.
Healthcare in Prison
People in prison are entitled to the same healthcare they would receive as if they were in the community. Their punishment is to deprive them of their liberty, not their healthcare. With over a third of our enquiries relating to matters arising out of their day-to-day care and treatment needs, our research and contribution to this area is focussed on raising awareness of this increasingly shocking area of abuse of their basic rights.
Lost Property and the Carceral System by Maralmaa Munkhjargal
The management of prisoners’ property is a nation-wide issue that has only been exacerbated by ongoing staff shortages and overcrowding of prisons. Shortages in reception and searching staff at prisons has led to delays in processing and distributing property, adding to existing backlogs from COVID-19.[1] Furthermore, the prison population reached a record high of 88’521 (almost 99% of the UK’s prison capacity) in September 2024.[2] As concerns with safety rose, the government responded by releasing some prisoners early.[3] In November 2024, the figure decreased to 86’038, but remained 2’456 more than the Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA), the number of prisoners that can normally occupy with a decent standard of accommodation.[4]
Lost and damaged property does not only affect prisoners financially, for many it also means losing emotional connections to the outside world. Having one’s own property also helps with maintaining a sense of autonomy.
Moreover, continuous mishandling of property leads prisoners to distrust prison staff and other inmates, negatively affecting their safety and wellbeing.[5] In their annual report, Lowdham Grange IMB disclosed that the prison experienced a large spike in threats to jump from a height “in protest or frustration at the regime, or by prisoners unable to access their property”.[6] According to a 2024 thematic monitoring report by the IMB, unresolved property disputes may often lead to violence due to the “distress, anger and frustration” prisoners experience.[7] Prisoners may feel dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint and can see it as a reflection of respect.
In 23/24, property claims accounted for over a quarter of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s complaints work. Their annual report shows that almost 500 property complaints were completed, significantly more than the second-highest category with 174 complaints regarding staff behaviour .[8] The Ombudsman acknowledged that “property complaints … account for over a quarter of our complaints work” and expressed his desire to “drive down demand”, as many complaints were often regarding matters the prisons could have sorted themselves. This does not show much progress from a report on prisoners’ property complaints from 2012-2013, where property complaints made up over 20% of the total complaints.[9] In the report, the Ombudsman also asked for prisons to act more “sensibl[y]” and adhere to relevant guidelines and resolve complaints internally.[10]
Furthermore, since the implementation of the Prisoners’ Policy Framework in 2022, several IMBs have noted its lack of effectiveness. Although the framework was designed to improve the management of prisoners’ property, IMBs have reported that “there is still no apparent focus or action being taken locally, or nationally, to tackle property related issues.”[11] The 2024 monitoring report draws on an example of a prisoners’ prosthetic leg that went missing during a transfer despite the policy framework’s clear stance that prisoners must retain access to essential disability aids during prison transfers.[12]
Except for a select few instances,[13] prisons have continued using paper-based methods such as property record cards and cell clearance certificates to keep track of prisoner property.[14] These documents can be the most crucial pieces of evidence for investigations, but they are often “incomplete, illegible or lost”.[15] The 2024 monitoring report stresses the need for a national digital tracking system for the maintenance of an “effective audit trail” and “quick way to track property”.[16]
Currently, 35% of the cases handled by the Intervene Project are complaints about lost or damaged property
[1] Independent Monitoring Boards, 'Chaos in the crisis – the damaging loss of prisoners’ personal property' (25 September 2024) 4 <https://cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/13/2024/09/IMB-How-property-loss-impacts-prisoners-thematic-report-FINAL.pdf> accessed 17 December 2024
[2] Ministry of Justice, ‘Population bulletin: weekly 6 September 2024’ (2024) <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2024> accessed 17 December 2024
[3] Ministry of Justice, ‘New change to some offenders' automatic release dates’ (9 September 2024) <https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-change-to-some-offenders-automatic-release-dates> accessed 17 December 2024
[4] Ministry of Justice, ‘Population bulletin: monthly November 2024’ (2024) <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-monthly-prison-figures-2024> accessed 17 December
[5] Ministry of Justice, ‘Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework’ (24 October 2023) 4 <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6537a85c1bf90d0013d844e1/prisoner-property-pf.pdf> accessed 17 December 2024
[6] Independent Monitoring Boards, ‘Annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board at Lowdham Grange for reporting year 1 February 2023 – 31 January 2024’ (12 July 2024) 13 <https://cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/13/2024/07/Lowdham-Grange-IMB-2023-2024-annual-report.pdf> accessed 17 December 2024
[7] Independent Monitoring Boards (n 1) 5
[8] Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, ‘Prisons & Probation Ombudsman Annual Report 2023/24’ (July 2024) 7, 11
[9] Prison and Probation Ombudsman, ‘Learning lessons from PPO Investigations: Prisoners’ property complaints’ (February 2014) 5 <https://cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/14/2024/06/PPO_Prison_property_complaints_report_web.pdf>
[10] ibid 20
[11] Independent Monitoring Boards (n 1) 16
[12] Independent Monitoring Boards (n 1) 11
[13] Independent Monitoring Boards (n 1) 17
[14] Independent Monitoring Boards (n 1) 4
[15] Independent Monitoring Boards (n 1) 15
[16] Independent Monitoring Boards (n 1) 17
