Prisoner Early Release Scheme (FOI)

Request 

Could you please tell me the revised or actual Temporary Release Scheme please? (2022). On the internet, it says:

'Prisoners on HDC will have to be in employment; if not in paid work, then on community work. It should be noted that those prisoners who are unable to provide a suitable address for HDC will no longer be able to access community visits, community work or home leave.' This is the latest report I could find which is 2016.

A

Do the prisoners still get community / home leaves? Or was this scrapped altogether or not updated?

There was also an FOI in 2020 regarding CER- this showed a graph with very few people by 2019 being released early.

B

Are there any updates for this? Or could this be explained more?

There used to be a lot more community visits and home leaves etc., it would be nice for families to have home leaves again at the least.

Response  

A

The States of Jersey Prison Service currently operates a Conditional Early Release Scheme (CER) which provides opportunities for prisoners to be successfully tested in the local community, prior to the end of their custodial sentence. 

 The CER Scheme has the following purposes:

• To assist a prisoner, reintegrate into the local community
• To allow a prisoner to engage in community work as a form of reparation
• To facilitate work experience and provide the opportunity to gain employment or develop links with potential employers prior to completion of the custodial sentence
• To give a prisoner the opportunity while on licence, to prepare family and friends for his or her final release in the local community. 
  

Components of the CER Scheme: 

• Community Work and/or Paid Work - to allow prisoners to be involved in community work, giving payback to the local community. Prisoners may also progress to full-time paid employment that may continue after their sentence has been served. This will enable prisoners to pay for their own accommodation or support their families prior to release and better equip them to make a constructive contribution to the local community.
• Home Detention Curfew - to allow the prisoners to reside in their own place of residence while serving part of their sentence in the community. This will aid prisoners in re-establishing a home and relationships with family and or friends, while continuing to serve their sentence in the community, under the terms of a CER Licence for a period prior to the end of sentence.
• Supervision in the Community - The Conditional Early Release Licence will be supervised by the Jersey Probation and After Care Service. The aim of the licence is to help prisoners resettle safely back into the community without offending. Prisoners will have to report as directed to the Probation Service and attend both individual and group appointments if required.  Any failure to comply with licence conditions will be reported to the Prison and may result in the prisoner being recalled to custody.

B

Please see below updated CER figures broken down into months: