Business mentor, public speaker and angel investor Mark Lyttleton is a long-time supporter of the Prison Reform Trust, an organisation that – since its launch in 1981 – has supported individuals locked in the British prison system, ensuring that their voices are heard and helping to create a humane, just and effective prison system.
Influencing prison policy is no small undertaking. However, over the course of more than four decades, the Prison Reform Trust has informed and influenced debate on the treatment of prisoners and prison conditions. As a small independent British charity that does not seek or accept government funding, the Prison Reform Trust has no formal powers to dictate government policy. Rather, its influence is less direct; it is founded in its reputation with policymakers and its willingness to engage constructively with them and raise concerns where policy appears to be going in the wrong direction.
While preserving its independence, the Prison Reform Trust often works alongside the prison service and maintains close links with several government departments, including the Ministry of Justice, Cabinet Office, Treasury, Home Office, Department for Education and Department of Health.
A major challenge for any small organisation like the Prison Reform Trust working in criminal justice is determining priorities while retaining capacity to respond to events and seize opportunities. The Prison Reform Trust’s key aims and objectives are set by its strategic plan, which is reviewed every five years in consultation with its stakeholders, including people in prison. Current priorities of the Prison Reform Trust include ensuring a just and effective parole system; improving access to the internet and in-cell technology for prisoners; improving the way of life of the longest serving prisoners; and ending indeterminate sentencing for public protection.
The Prison Reform Trust’s strategic plan also delineates the charity’s values and working methods. One of its core values is listening to prisoners and their families, providing them with a voice and promoting their role in achieving positive change in the justice system. This value is embedded in all of the Trust’s advocacy activities.
Prisoner engagement work is an increasingly important part of how the Prison Reform Trust goes about influencing policy. This is demonstrated by the organisation’s contribution to the development of the UK Government’s prison leavers programme. The Trust’s prisoner engagement work compliments its traditional advocacy activities, including responding to the government and other bodies; publishing briefing papers for Parliamentary debates; and providing written and oral evidence to Parliamentary select committees. The Prison Reform Trust also holds meetings with MPs, ministers, Members of the House of Lords and other officials. In addition, the charity collaborates with other organisations as well as working with the media.
In terms of influencing justice policy, the Prison Reform Trust concedes that, at times, it can do little more than highlight the impact of policies it had no forewarning or knowledge of, such as recent changes in criteria for transfer to open conditions. However, by continuing to address the detail of policies and highlight their implications, the charity hopes that, in time, headway may be achieved in terms of instigating a quiet reversal of approach.
As an independent advocacy charity, the Prison Reform Trust is able to hold officials and ministers accountable for the impact of their policies. Positive change in the penal system that the organisation has contributed to includes slow but steady progress by the government towards implementing a female offenders strategy; moves to automate the license review process for prisoners serving a public protection sentence; and the implementation of liaison and diversion services in courts and police stations.
The Prison Reform Trust was founded in 1981, during a period when there were significant concerns regarding reports that the prison population of England and Wales would rise to 48,000 by 1984. Today, that figure exceeds 82,000, making the charity’s work more important than ever. The Trust is one of just a handful of organisations that are willing and equipped to lobby the state regarding its treatment of vulnerable individuals in prison. Having earned a strong reputation built on four decades of knowledge, careful analysis and presentation of facts, the Prison Reform Trust benefits from a behind-the-scenes influence that few other organisations can match.
The Prison Reform Trust’s goals are to:
- Promote human rights and equality in the UK justice system
- Improve conditions and treatment of prisoners and their families
- Reduce unnecessary imprisonment and promote community solutions to crime
Maintaining close links with the government and working alongside the prison service, the Prison Reform Trust does not accept government funding, enabling the organisation to retain its independence.
The Prison Reform Trust website provides a wealth of information and advice addressing a variety of different issues faced by prisoners and their families, helping people in prison to understand prison rules and procedures and how they should be treated.
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