The government’s Sentencing Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, proposes reducing prison sentences for “good behaviour.” On the surface, this sounds like a progressive reform, rewarding rehabilitation and incentivising positive conduct. In reality, without rigorous safeguards, training, and oversight, it risks embedding corruption, inequality, and arbitrariness deep into the prison system. Under the proposals, offender managers…
The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) exist to provide a vital check on the treatment of people in custody. Every prison in England and Wales must have an IMB, composed of volunteers appointed to monitor whether prisoners are being treated fairly, humanely and in accordance with rules. Yet today the IMBs in women’s prisons are…