This is a typically forthright assessment of the state of the prison system - which he describes as “close to breaking point” - by Charlie Taylor of @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social in the Telegraph. And good to see cuts to education budgets highlighted. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Well, this is bleak. Not wrong. But bleak.

Nice to read about something positive in the prison system - the work of @libertychoiruk.bsky.social!

Good to see this recommendation on increasing access to education and training in today’s Justice Select Committee report on drugs in prison. committees.parliament.uk/committee/10...

I'm looking forward to giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee on prison education in Wales this afternoon, with @stgilestrust.bsky.social and Estyn . Lots to cover, including funding, breadth of provision and digital learning. www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/2557747...

With the publication of the ‘Just passing time’ thematic review, Chief Inspector, Charlie Taylor, outlines the problems with current work and training provision in adult prisons and his concerns that cuts will make things worse. Read the blog: hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/what-do...

Good luck to everyone running the Royal Parks Half today! We have six wonderful runners fundraising for PET. Here’s why Liv is choosing to run for us today. You can support her efforts here: https://ow.ly/2gaw50X9egO

This is a terrific article on pub closures, including looking at the Trafalgar near me in Colliers Wood. It’s so impressive what @londonermag.bsky.social, and @jim.londoncentric.media’s @londoncentric.media, are doing for London journalism. www.the-londoner.co.uk/trafalgar-wi...

I've had a look at the prison education statistics for last year and there's some good news in there, albeit very modest and from a low starting point. Hard to see how that will be sustained, though, with upcoming budget cuts about to hit provision that was already chronically underfunded.

Good to see @feweek.bsky.social covering the recent @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social report on child custody. Young people are spending far too much time in their cell and not enough time in classrooms or doing other positive activities.

More than a third of children in custody spend less than two hours a day out of their cell during the week. More than half spend less than two hours a day out of their cell on weekends. Young people who've already been failed by the system are being failed again.

I’ve written an article for @feweek.bsky.social on why prison education matters and why budgets cuts are a mistake.

A huge, huge thank you to Richard Farrant, who's currently celebrating his 80th birthday by cycling from John O'Groats to Lands End and is raising money for @prisonersed.bsky.social. If you can contribute at all, I'm sure that'd help him on his way. www.justgiving.com/page/richard...

Good to see the Law Society calling for more investment in prison education in their response to the Sentencing Bill. www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-v...

This is v.good by @cassiarowland.bsky.social on the Sentencing Bill, including the potential benefits of earned progression if it can be implemented properly if/when current pressures on the prison system subside.

Good article by @shipleywrites.bsky.social looking at cuts to prison education budgets. www.spectator.co.uk/article/cutt...

Here's the story for this: inews.co.uk/news/welder-... It's a proposal from Make UK Defence and the Fair Chance Business Alliance for an apprenticeship scheme that would help people leaving prison into skilled jobs in the defence industry.

The new prison education contracts do not address current chronic underfunding, with rising costs leaving some prisons facing substantial cuts. The government should look again at finding more funding to enable people to use their time in prison constructively. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

This is a good article on a prison-university partnership in the US.

Two-fifths of people in Wormwood Scrubs spend at least 22.5 hours per day in their cell. Just grim.

Good to see innovative things - in this case a workshop teaching people to build bikes out of bamboo - happening in prisons despite all the current challenges. And also good to see the value of family connections being realised. www.ft.com/content/6ebe...

This is a really *excellent* album. Very much recommended.

These are consistently great and this one is no exception.

There's still time to apply for our Policy Manager role! The closing date for applications is this Monday at 5pm. Help us influence prison education policy and improve educational experiences for people in prison. Apply here 👇

Some thoughts on the new prison education contracts. Broadly speaking there's some change but there's a lot that's the same, and the biggest question is whether there's enough funding available to drive much-needed improvements. (Thanks, as always, to @russellwebster.com for publishing it!)

More problems at the Secure School, which will close until its internal doors can be replaced, after Oasis (who run it) judged it couldn't keep the 10 young people it was holding safe.

Coverage of changes to procurement rules that have led to the @unlockedgrads.bsky.social scheme closing (and also impacted Frontline and @teachfirst.bsky.social). Lots of @unlockedgrads.bsky.social officers do a lot to support education and it's been a real shame to see it scrapped in this way.

Less than eight weeks after the government said they’d legislate to deport foreign people in prison earlier, they’re now planning to legislate again to deport them even earlier. Presumably a sign that they’re (understandably) getting worried about prison capacity again. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Thank you so much to all our supporters! Your generosity will help us to enable and empower people in prison to access education and all its benefits.

Incredible statistic that the capital cost of building *one* new prison place is now £600k (up from £500k last year). And that's before you even consider the ongoing running costs. Prisons are both a money pit and chronically underfunded, meaning regimes are severely limited.

On holiday and avoiding the news, so only just saw this incredible, horrifying essay by Rümeysa Öztürk on her experience of ICE detention. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...

Good to have the opportunity to give evidence to the London Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Skills Committee for their inquiry on employment for people leaving prison. Thank you to @hinabokharild.bsky.social for the invitation. You can watch the session at webcasts.london.gov.uk/Assembly/Eve...

Lots of good sense in today's report on prisons from the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, including this recommendation on education provision. committees.parliament.uk/work/8565/pr...

"You have a sense of accomplishment that nobody can take away from you. You have a sense of dignity that nobody can take away from you.” This @newyorker.com article on teaching lifers in a US prison is well worth a read. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

This is the same issue that led to Unlocked Graduates not getting a new contract. It’ll be interesting to see whether the government is able to hold this line with the more high profile Teach First.

Love this from Andy, who studied in prison with support from PET. "That’s what PET is giving people in prison today: the hope, the drive and just a day where they can feel that little bit normal and that: 'I’m OK'." You can read his full story at prisonerseducation.org.uk/story/andys-....

Typically useful summary by @russellwebster.com. I'd be interested in modelling of the impact the proposal to increase the maximum reduction for a guilty plea to 40% would have on the prison population. (If this and Gauke recs are implemented, people could serve 20% of their "full" sentence.)

With Leveson’s review recommending more cases being kept in the magistrates’ court and the creation of a new Crown Court Bench Division (with two magistrates sitting with a crown court judge), I think they’re going to need more magistrates.

Predictably downbeat overview of purposeful activity in @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social annual report. But it also picks out some bright spots, eg links with employers at Hatfield + Kirklevington Grange and reading at Rye Hill + Standford Hill. hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/chief-i...

My brilliant fundraising colleagues work flat out to enable @prisonersed.bsky.social to fund as many people in prison as possible to do a distance learning course. For this appeal we have a generous match funder, so if you can support us and what we do, your donation will be *DOUBLED*.

The number of magistrates has crept up from 14,576 on 1 April 2024 (and 13,340 in 2023) to 14,636 this year, but 55% are aged 60+ (including 12% aged 70+) and just 1% (159 magistrates) are aged under 30. Nearly a third of new appointments (31%) were aged 60+. www.gov.uk/government/s...

I'm really looking forward to Euro 2025 and this is great by @jonathanliew.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

This is an excellent in-depth look by @emilydugan.bsky.social at the mess that magistrates’ courts are in. www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...

As usual, @robroballen.bsky.social has combed through IMB reports so you don’t have to and has spotted something really important and troubling.

First gig of the year last night, seeing the mighty Pulp at the O2. The new songs sounded great, nobody dances quite like Jarvis, and Disco 2000 may be the best live song there is.

This is an interesting - but ultimately worrying and depressing - report by @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social on relationships between staff and young people in young offender institutions.

Increasing access to the internet could be a gamechanger for prison education, complementing classroom-based learning. But progress has been patchy. So it's good to see this @prtuk.bsky.social report calling for HMPPS to expand digital access in prisons. prisonreformtrust.org.uk/new-report-h...

There are days when we are all this man.

Support for earned release - and recognition of the challenges caused by current limitations in prison regimes - from the Prison Officers’ Association. www.spectator.co.uk/article/head...

This is excellent by @natashaporter.bsky.social in @feweek.bsky.social on the potential, and potential risks, of the recommendations on earned release linked to participation in education in David Gauke's sentencing review. feweek.co.uk/early-prison...