IMB response to the prisons strategy white paper

The strategy sets out a vision for better and safer prisons that can reduce reoffending. There is a welcome focus on rehabilitation, as well as safety, and the paper sets out a wide range of positive initiatives towards the stated aim (paragraph 151) of ‘[creating] a prison system that properly rehabilitates prisoners and prepares them for life on the outside’. The paper recognises the salience of mental health, accommodation, substance use and neurodiversity as drivers of offending and reoffending, both in prisons and community settings, and the importance of education, work and skills training.