Influencing change in the criminal justice sector: ending the use of imprisonment for debt

We’re delighted to announce that we have been awarded £126,392 over the next three years in funding from Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales to help us make a positive impact on policy and practice in the criminal justice system.

Our project is aiming to challenge the draconian practice of imprisonment for debt, which needlessly lands hundreds of vulnerable people in prison a year for nothing more than being poor. We believe that prison terms should be used only for the most serious offences and is a completely inappropriate and ineffective sanction for owing money.

The goals of our project are to:

1.     Change the law: We want Regulation 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which currently allows for the use of imprisonment for council tax non-payment, to be repealed.

2.     Change in policy: We want Capita, who are subcontracted by the BBC to carry out TV licence fee enforcement, to amend their policy regarding both the way enforcement officers carry out their duties and how they apply the public interest test to prosecute, to decrease the gender disparity in prosecutions.

3.     Change in practice: We want the 99 councils who still include the threat of imprisonment in their enforcement contracts with bailiffs to commit to amending these contracts to remove the threat of imprisonment.

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has awarded funding to our charity for up to three years and 16 other specialist charities and partnerships as part of its new 2020 Criminal Justice National Programme.

The criminal justice system is currently under extreme pressure, facing staff shortages, dangerous levels of overcrowding, assaults and self-harm at record levels, the part-privatisation of probation having comprehensively failed and high rates of reoffending.

Small specialist charities like ours have had huge success in tackling reoffending, helping people turn lives their around and preventing people from falling into a cycle of crime. Yet, despite this expertise and track record, APPEAL and other specialist charities are still not properly involved in how the courts and criminal justice system are funded and organised. At the start of this new Government and Parliament there is a clear need and chance to make changes to reform and improve the system.

The Foundation’s programme is supporting the specialist voluntary sector to gather evidence, speak up and use their expertise and understanding to help influence policy and practice across the new probation and wider criminal justice system. Charities funded through the programme are seeking to:

·       make the case for better alternatives to prison, by intervening earlier to prevent crime and reduce the number of people going to prison;

·       improve how groups disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system are treated, such as BAME prisoners, young people and women;

·       Improve how the prison and probation service work, in particular by ensuring that specialist and small charities are properly involved and funded.