Thames Valley Probation Area: Probation work: Prisons



Probation work > Prisons


		There are seven prisons and/or young offender institutions in the Thames Valley. Thames Valley probation Area staff work in all of them, except one - Huntercombe YOI. The seven are: HMP Bullingdon HMP Grendon HMP Springhill HMP Woodhill Aylesbury YOI Huntercombe YOI Reading Remand Centre Copies of all the Inspection Reports are available at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ justice/prison/


		Contact details for Thames Valley's Prisons and YOIs

			Aylesbury YOI Bierton Road Aylesbury Bucks HP20 1EN Tel: 01296 444000 Fax: 01296 444001

			HMP Bullingdon PO Box 50 Bicester Oxon OX25 1WD Tel: 01869 353100 Fax: 01869 353101

			HMP Grendon Grendon Underwood Aylesbury Bucks HP18 OTL Tel: 01296 770301 Fax: 01296 770756

			Reading Remand Centre Forbury Road Reading RG1 3HY Tel: 0118 958 7031 Fax: 0118 959 4581

			HMP Springhill Grendon Underwood Aylesbury Bucks HP18 0TH Tel: 01296 770301 Fax: 01296 770053

			HMP Woodhill Tattenhoe Street Milton Keynes Bucks MK4 4DA Tel: 01908 722000 Fax: 01908 722001


		Visit the Prison Service's site: www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk

Prisons

This section gives details of probation staff's work in six prisons and/or young offender institutions in Thames Valley. All have teams of seconded probation staff working on site.

Many probation staff work in Thames Valley's prisons. The number of seconded probation staff and the exact nature of the work varies between the establishments. Details are set out in a contract agreed between the Prison Governor and the Probation Area's Chief Officer.

What probation staff do in prison

Prepare information and risk assessments on prisoners being considered for early release e.g. advising on curfews
Work on offending behaviour within the sentence management process
Work on the prison's bail information scheme, for prisoners on remand awaiting trial
Contribute to minimising the risk of prisoner's self harm
Work with the prison service on sentence management, supporting prison staff in the preparation of sentence plans
Run group work with prisoners designed to address offending behaviour and reduce the likelihood of further offending
Work with voluntary and specialist agencies offering advice and support to prisoners to promote the successful resettlement of prisoners
Laise with probation staff in the community who supervise prisoners after release.

Probation staff's work with prisoners after release

Most prisoners do not serve the whole of their sentence in custody. At a predetermined stage they are released to serve the rest of their sentence in the community.

Those sentenced to less than a year are released after serving half their sentence and are not supervised.
Those sentenced to between a year and 47 months are released on licence after half the sentence and are supervised by the probation service until the end of the sentence.
Those sentenced to four years or more can be released on parole after serving half their sentence, but are automatically released on licence after serving two-thirds of the sentence. Both these groups are also supervised by the probation service.

The length of the supervision period depends on the length of the sentence and the point at which the prisoner is released.

This can vary from three months for someone sentenced to a year's custody and the remainder of his/her life for someone sentenced to life.

About supervision
The prisoner reports to the supervising officer immediately after release. The supervising officer draws up a supervision plan with the offender.

The sentence plan addresses issues such as housing, employment and reintegration into the community and aims to prevent re-offending.

A release licence may include conditions such as living at a probation hostel or staying away from the area where the crime was committed. Any breach of the licence can mean a return to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence in custody.

For further information about probation work in prisons please email:
info@thames-valley.probation.gsi.gov.uk

Relevant websites

The Prison Service
www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk

Prisons links page
Links to pages on the Home Office website that lists all the prisons related information on the site.
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/justice/prison/


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