Seeking a Peaceful Heart

Christians on Ageing developed an interest in offering support to older prisoners and those who work with them following an initiative by the late Canon Michael Butler at Norwich Prison.  Members of our committee have gathered information about a special project organised by the chaplain aimed at supporting older prisoners in HMP Stafford, and the Salvation Army project at HMP Wymott which was decribed by the team leading the project to our Conference in September 2019.  We hope to develop these contacts and others when life gets back to something like normal.

Why are we doing this?  Simply because time in prison can allow people to look at their lives, give some thought to why they have ended up there and rekindle or even find a religious faith.

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The House of Lords produced a substantial report in July 2020 giving all sorts of information about the prison system.  You can find the pages dealing with older prisoners here

These are useful extracts:

The ageing prison population

19.According to the MoJ’s most recent quarterly statistics, there were 5,176 people aged over 60 in prison in England and Wales, as of 31 March 2020.42 A further 8,588 prisoners were aged 50−59. These represent 6% and 10% of the prison population, respectively, which was 82,990 as of the same period. 1,790 prisoners were aged 70 or over. As of December 2016, 234 prisoners were aged 80 or over, with 14 in their 90s.43 Joint inspections by the Care Quality Commission and HM Chief Inspect of Prisons since 2015 have identified 15 prisons where 30% or more of the population are aged 50 or over. In four of these, 10% of prisoners were aged 70 or over.44

Figure 1: Different age groups of prisoners by numerical size

Source: Ministry of Justice, Offender Management Statistics Quarterly, March 2020

20.The older prison population has increased substantially over the last two decades. Between June 2002 (the point at which comparable records begin) and March 2020, the number of prisoners aged 60 and over increased by 243%, from 1,511 to 5,176.45 For the 50–59 age group, the increase was by 159%, from 3,313 to 8,588.46 The proportion of older prisoners has also increased: for those over 60, from 2% of the prison population in 2002 to 6% in 2020; and for those aged 50–59, from 4.5% to 10% in the same timeframe.47

21.This increase in the number of older prisoners has applied to both the male and female prison estates, though the size of the older female population is much smaller. The number of women aged 60 or over rose from 23 in 2002 to 131 in March 2020.48 The 50–59 age group also increased in number, from 155 to 409 in the same timeframe.49 The overall female population reduced by 18% in this period, from 4,394 to 3,623.50

Notes: Data at June 2002–2019 and March 2020; age groups combined

Why has the older prisoner population increased?

22.The increase of the older prisoner population has primarily been driven by a rise in the number of convictions for sexual offences.51 The number of prisoners serving sentences for these offences has risen substantially in the last two decades. There were 5,294 prisoners under immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences in 2002; by June 2019, it had risen to 13,196.52 As mentioned previously, older adults are more likely to be convicted for sexual offences than their younger counterparts and older prisoners are disproportionately represented among this offence group within the prison population.

23.Sentence inflation was also identified as a cause of the ageing prison population.53 According to the Prison Reform Trust, more than three times as many people were sentenced to 10 years or more in the 12 months to June 2019 than in the same period as 2007. For more serious indictable offences, the average prison sentence is now 57.7 months, which is more than two years longer than in 2007.54 Average sentence lengths for sexual offences have increased in particular; given the high proportion of older prisoners convicted for sexual offences, this may have had a strong effect on the ageing of the prison population. According to the Howard League for Penal Reform:

Sentences for sexual offences have increased dramatically—the average sentence length for sexual offences increased to 61.4 months (more than five years) in 2018—16.9 months longer than a decade ago.55

24.This increase in the length of sentences, as well as the continued incarceration of some prisoners on indeterminate sentences, has meant that increasing numbers of middle-aged prisoners entering custody grow old while in prison.56

Future projections of the older prisoner population

25.The MoJ’s most recent prison population projection figures estimate that the population of offenders aged 60 or over will remain broadly constant between 2019 and 2023, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of the overall prison population. The population of offenders aged 50−59 is estimated to decrease by around 11%.57 This predicted decline derives primarily from decreases in the number of people serving indeterminate sentences and a recent fall in the number of convictions for sexual offences.58

Table 1: Prison population aged over 50, 60 and 70 years old, June 2019 actuals and projected June 2020 to June 2023

	Total prison population	50 to 59	60 to 69	70 and over
June 2019	82,676	8,532	3,321	1,756
June 2020	82,300	8,100	3,200	1,800
June 2021	81,200	7,900	3,100	1,700
June 2022	81,400	7,700	3,100	1,800
June 2023	81,700	7,600	3,100	1,800

Source: Ministry of Justice, Prison Population Projections 2019 to 2024, England and Wales, August 2019, page 11

26.However, these projections do not factor in the potential effects of proposed Government policies.59 In October 2019, the Government confirmed plans to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers over the next three years. Funding was announced to support the recruitment of the first wave of up to 6,000.60 It is possible that an increase in the number of police will lead to increased charge rates and more people being sent to prison. The degree to which this occurs will depend on whether, and if so by how much, the average number of charges per police officer (currently 3.3 per year) rises.61 In oral evidence, Justice Minister Lucy Frazer acknowledged that the older prison population was likely to rise with an increase in police numbers:

What we are anticipating is that the population as a whole will increase, and it is likely that the elderly population will increase comparatively with the population as a whole, but it will not increase out of step with the population as a whole.62

27.In addition, the Sentencing Bill, outlined in the December 2019 Queen’s Speech, proposes to change the automatic release point from half way to the two-thirds point for adult offenders sentenced for serious violent or sexual offences.63 This may well lead to an increase in the number of such offenders in prison. Draft secondary legislation changing the automatic release point to two-thirds of the sentence for offenders convicted of a relevant sexual offence for which the maximum penalty is life and sentenced to a standard determinate sentence of seven years or more, was laid before Parliament in October 2019.64 Justice Secretary Robert Buckland stated that the MoJ estimated that this would result in an additional 2,000 people being in prison by March 2030.65

28.At the very least, older prisoners will remain a significant proportion of the prison population. It is likely that the size of the cohort will rise further after increases in police numbers and changes to sentencing come into effect. It is important that the size of the older prisoner population can be predicted as accurately as possible, so the prison system can prepare and be resourced most appropriately. In its response to this report, the Government should publish updated projections for the ageing prison population for the next five years. These should factor in, as far as possible, the effects of its planned increases to police numbers and changes to sentencing policy.