9th July 2010
A new report, published by User Voice - an organisation led and delivered by ex-offenders - argues that prisoners should be given more power to influence how prisons operate and to improve the UK’s record on rehabilitation. The Power Inside: the role of prison councils shows that doing including the voice of prisoners can reduce complaints, segregation and encourage civic participation on release.
Coming just as the UK government has called for new thinking about prisons and rehabilitation, the report argues for the expansion of a new model of prison councils as part of the government’s ‘rehabilitation revolution’.
The Prisons Council model has been piloted in HMPs Albany, Parkhurst and Camp Hill on the Isle of Wight. In these prisons, elected representatives of prisoners meet regularly with prison management to discuss ways of improving the way prisons are run.
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Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.