April 2013: The Make Justice Work Legacy Survey

Help us to evaluate the impact of our work on you, your work and the wider criminal justice sector by completing our short survey.

April 2013: The future of Make Justice Work

Announcing the future of MJW: after careful consideration, the Board of MJW have chosen to bring the campaign to a close this summer. It has been an extraordinary journey and the time has come to draw the campaign to a natural conclusion.

March 2013: Transforming Rehabilitation Consultation and prison closure

The consultation is closed and the die is cast. Probation are being stripped of the central role they have played for so long in reducing re-offending.

January 2013 update: Putting Community Sentences on the Map

MJW launches the first comprehensive catalogue of community sentence projects, programmes and initiatives across England and Wales. Click here to view.

January 2013: Transforming Rehabilitation Consultation and prison closure

2013 has certainly kicked off with a flurry of frenetic activity. The Transforming Rehabilitation consultation has now started and there are many issues around payment by results which remain unanswered and continue to be of serious concern.

Merry Christmas from MJW

Season’s Greetings from the MJW team and a round-up of the year.

November 2012: Grayling’s ‘rehabilitaiton revolution’ speech and PCC’s

November’s newsletter gives MJW’s comment on Grayling’s speech and an update on the work MJW are doing around PCC’s.

October 2012: Launch of the ‘Out in the Open report’ and Party Conference events

Make Justice Work releases ‘Out in the Open: What victims really think about community sentences’ with Victim Support and hold three rountable events at the party conferences.

MJW’s Third Birthday: Looking back over the last three years and forward to the next twelve months

Make Justice Work celebrates its third birthday today.  I want to take the opportunity in this edition of our newsletter to look back over the last three years and share with you some of our plans for the next 12 months – Roma Hooper.

May 2012: Just Results, the Queens Speech, Victim Support and Media Coverage

During the last month the team at Make Justice Work have been concentrating on three key pieces of work: a highly successful event held last Friday – Just Results – which explored the challenges of applying Payment By Results to community sentences; preparing our responses to the new Crime and Courts Bill and to the Community Sentencing and Probation Review; and finally our project with Victim Support – Roma Hooper.

April 2012: Probation and Community Sentence Consultation, Victim Support, Payment by Results and Media Coverage

All of us involved with criminal justice have been waiting for the results of the Probation and Community Sentence review which finally came out last Tuesday.  There were no real surprises as some of the content had been leaked a few weeks ago but this is a consultation process and it is incumbent on us all to ensure that we provide the most constructive and dynamic feedback that we can – Roma Hooper.

February 2012: Economic Research, Amendment to the Legal Aid and Punishmet of Offenders Bill and Media Coverage

This year holds many challenges and opportunities for the criminal justice system. We are still reeling from the fall-out from the riots as the numbers of prisoners reach a record high and there are serious concerns about gangs and young offenders. Yet there appears to be a political will to reduce the use of custody for those who would be better punished in the community, particularly women and those whose crimes are the result of mental health issues – Roma Hooper.

December 2011: MJW Round-up for 2011 and Media Coverage

As the year comes to a close, this is a good moment to reflect on some of the extraordinary events which are influencing the delivery of fair and effective justice within the UK – Roma Hooper.

February 2012: Economic Research, Amendment to the Legal Aid and Punishmet of Offenders Bill and Media Coverage

This year holds many challenges and opportunities for the criminal justice system. We are still reeling from the fall-out from the riots as the numbers of prisoners reach a record high and there are serious concerns about gangs and young offenders. Yet there appears to be a political will to reduce the use of custody for those who would be better punished in the community, particularly women and those whose crimes are the result of mental health issues – Roma Hooper.

October 2011: Final Report Launch, Party Conference, Media Coverage

September was a very busy month with the launch of our Final Report and the subsequent media interest it generated. National Commission of Enquiry The Final Report was launched on 12th September at a roundtable seminar at Portcullis House. We had a very good turnout, including some of our panel members. David Barrie and I then handed in the Report to Downing Street and I went on to do an interview for the BBC six o’clock news, with the support of Mark Easton who did a fantastic piece focusing on one of the community sentences we visited in Leicester – Roma Hooper.

August 2011: Riots, National Enquiry Final Report Underway and Media Coverage

I don’t need to reiterate the extraordinary events of this month. The riots have brought out the worst and best in people, and the criminal justice system has certainly had a very busy time. We now need to let the dust settle and hope that once the initial kneejerk responses have subsided, a more calmer and more rational debate will begin. In the meantime, our prisons are bulging again – Roma Hooper.

July 2011: Ken Clarke, Final National Enquiry Session and Media Coverage

With the draft Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill and White Paper now out, pressure continues to build on Ken Clarke’s intended reforms. The recent u-turns will make it more difficult to give reality to his bold intentions to reduce the numbers in prison, but there remains much in the White Paper which we commend and hope to build on – Roma Hooper.

June 2011: Green Paper Consultation, National Enquiry Invitations and Recent Meetings.

As we await the response to the Green Paper Consultation, pressure has been building on Ken Clarke’s intended reforms which may or may not threaten some of his bold intentions to reduce the numbers in prison – Roma Hooper.