Section one Context There was ongoing work by the Ministry of Justice to address inequality, in particular to implement recommendations made by David Lammy MP in his 2017 report to reduce discriminatory treatment of black and minority ethnic prisoners and the introduction of a new programme to improve outcomes for female prisoners under the Female Offender Strategy, launched in June 2018.32 HMPPS’s new Chief Executive Officer, Dr Jo Farrar, began her tenure on 1 April 2019. Since the previous April, HMPPS had continued implementing the Offender Management in Custody Model (OMiC) in adult prisons in England and Wales to coordinate and sequence an individual's journey through custody and following release. The OMiC framework includes allocating every male prisoner a key worker for support during their time in detention. As part of reforms, announced in November 2016, to clarify the responsibilities of prison governors and empower them to make local decisions, HMPPS had been reviewing its operational policies with the purpose of simplifying them.33 During the latter part of 2018 and early 2019, it published a series of Policy Frameworks to clarify and replace some existing guidance (issued through Prison Service Instructions (PSIs) and Prison Service Orders (PSOs)).34 The Government also announced long-awaited plans for the future of probation services, bringing offender management back under the National Probation Service while retaining some private and voluntary sector provision to support rehabilitation and resettlement. Children in detention In Northern Ireland and in England and Wales, plans were made to change the nature of secure accommodation for children in different respects. During 2018, the Departments of Health and Justice in Northern Ireland established a project board to create one integrated facility to provide care and custody for children and young people; this facility will integrate services currently delivered in Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre and the Lakewood Secure Care Children’s Home in one campus. In June 2018 more details emerged about the Government’s vision for establishing secure schools in England and Wales.35 The Government’s proposal – which followed Charlie Taylor’s review of the youth justice system – intends that secure schools will replace young offender institutions and secure training centres. Secure schools in England will be registered and inspected as secure children’s homes (SCHs) with 32 David Lammy MP was commissioned to conduct an independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals in the criminal justice system. In his report, known as the Lammy Review, he made recommendations to improve monitoring of ethnicity, outcomes of BAME individuals in prison, including those related to the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) system, use of force and the complaints system, and the diversity of prison staff. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lammy-review-final-report [accessed 24/02/20]; The Female Offender Strategy placed emphasis on community-based provision for women, though there was limited additional funding for developing this. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/female-offender-strategy [accessed 24/02/20] 33 Ministry of Justice, November 2016, Prison Safety and Reform, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/565014/cm-9350-prison-safety-and-reform-_web_.pdf [accessed 24/02/20] 34 Ministry of Justice, September 2018, Prison and Probation Policy Frameworks, https://www.gov.uk/government/ collections/prison-probation-policy-frameworks [accessed 24/02/20] 35 The UK Government has still not announced its plans to open secure schools. Plans to open the first secure school, on the site of Medway Secure Training Centre, have been delayed. See: https://www.cypnow.co.uk/News/article/moj-confirmsdelay-to-secure-school-opening [accessed 05/12/19] 21