Nottinghamshire campaigners have backed radical prison reforms which will see a county jail given control over its own spending.
Under the changes criminals will be fitted with GPS ankle tags to track their every move as part of a shake-up of the justice system.
The county has been announced as one of six trial areas for the technology, which the Government said would form part of the biggest changes to prisons and justice ‘since the Victorian era’.
The changes will also give more control to selected prisons, including Ranby Prison in north Notts.
The jail’s governor, currently Susan Howard, will be given increased financial and legal freedoms to manage its budget and decide whether to opt out of national contracts.
She will also have the final say over education, the prison regime, family visits and partnerships to provide prison work and rehabilitation services.
It could lead to prisoners going on leave from their sentences to work and being given access to technology while inside.
Jacob Dunne, from the Meadows, is now part of a campaign to reduce street violence after serving a prison sentence for manslaughter.
He said some of the changes would ‘go some way’ to reform he has called for to try to reduce re-offending.
“A lot of people are coming out of custody with no qualifications,” he said.
“If you are going to stop people from offending you need to give them a better option and the best way of doing that is helping them gain as many qualifications and new skills as possible.”
Marcellus Baz, who runs Nottingham’s Switch Up scheme and Nottingham School of Boxing to turn young people away from crime and into jobs, also said the changes were in the ‘right direction’.
“When we are doing re-settlement programmes, if young people are coming out with qualifications and positive experiences then its easier for us to get them into employment and training.
“If people are coming out of prison with frustrated experiences you get people coming out who are angry – it’s then difficult to settle them back into communities.”
Nottinghamshire Police will also be able to track prisoners released on licence using the GPS tags under the proposals.
The force has already used the technology in previous trials but officers and probation workers will be able to use it routinely after today’s announcement.
Eventually, the scheme will be rolled out across the country.
Drugs are a problem in all prisons
Notts Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “The government are implementing a notion that is currently in existence in schools with very active headteachers by giving prison governors more power.
“I have been speaking with Michael Gove [the justice secretary] extensively about this and will continue to do so.
“Giving the prison [Ranby] more control will ensure that the staff will get the support they need and we welcome the initiatives.”
Mr Tipping believes that drugs are the main problem in prisons – something inspectors highlighted at Ranby in February.
He said: “It’s clear to me that there are real problems around drugs and I am delighted that there is great staff at HMP Ranby and that these reforms are being implemented.
“Drugs are a problem in all prisons and there is currently a real problem with new substances that are being used.
“Stuff is thrown over the walls all the time and I have seen a large amount of drugs thrown over in just the space of a week.”
It illustrates the need for urgent reform
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons also published a report on HMP Ranby earlier this week which found 61 per cent of prisoners felt unsafe at some point – one of the highest percentages inspectors have seen.
