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Time out of cell:
By Eric McGraw
Between 82 and 92 percent of prisoners surveyed at 31 prisons said they did not spend the recommended ten or more hours out of cell on a weekday. The Prisoner Survey, carried out between September 2008 and August 2009 by the Prisons Inspectorate, is based on a random sample designed to be representative of the total population of the establishment being inspected.

The Prisoner Survey responses reveal: read full article

Jon Venables and the modern justice system
By Erwin James
We shouldn’t be surprised by the Bulger killer’s return to jail, says Erwin James

How to waste £200 million
By Keith Rose
If only Justice Secretary Jack Straw had read Inside Time he would have saved £200 million

The nature of the beast
By Mark Sleman
Mark Sleman is angered by the prison system’s continued attempts at legitimising its charade of rehabilitation

British prisons to relocate overseas?
By Matt Adlard
Apparently the relocation of British prisons to the Indian subcontinent is on the cards, claims Matt Adlard

Out and about
By Andy Thackwray
In the first instalment of a series focussing on topics surrounding release from prison, Andy Thackwray (pictured) says he will never again take freedom for granted

The Butler Trust Awards 2009-10
By Inside Time
In its 25-year history The Butler Trust has presented over a thousand awards for good practise. This year, 332 nominations were received from 133 different prisons and probation areas including 18 nominations from prisoners. Here we focus on just a handful of the 32 people who received Awards and Commendations this year.

Grave concerns over OASys assessments
By John Roberts
Representatives from the NOMs OASys team were clearly taken aback by concerns raised about inaccurate details prison lawyers regularly see in their clients’ OASys reports and the ways in which the assessments were being conducted (John Roberts writes).

Straw announces legal aid reforms
By Inside Time
The Ministry of Justice has announced new proposals for the tendering of criminal legal aid services with the aim of delivering significant savings to taxpayers and a more sustainable future for the legal aid budget.

Month by Month
By Rachel Billington
Rachel meets some keen new readers on the Toe by Toe project at HMYOI Brinsford and later in the month listens in as judges and magistrates react to a Clean Break drama

Survey of Scottish Prisoners
By Inside Time
Each year the Scottish Prison Service conducts an anonymous survey of its prisoners to find their views on various issues relating to their imprisonment. The results of the 2009 survey have just been published.

Suffer little children
By Gerard McGrath
Written from the perspective of the hypothetical son of a long term prisoner, Gerard McGrath refers to the often forgotten secondary victims of crime

The good, the bad … and the ugly! with apologies to Clint Eastwood
By Michael Fielding
In the first of a three-part series for Inside Time, former prisoner Michael Fielding examines the influence officers have on the lives of those in their charge

Can rehabilitation be designed into a prison?
By Justin Johnston and Sophie Hamilton-Grey
Architecture students Justin Johnston and Sophie Hamilton-Grey highlight the importance of rehabilitation and consider the determining factor in prison design seems to be cost rather than the betterment of society

A farewell to arms
By Stephen Shaw
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Stephen Shaw writes exclusively - and for the last time - for Inside Time

Prisons ineffective as crime control tools
By John Bowden
With Britain following trends dangerously similar to those which exist in the United States, John Bowden highlights the launching of a public campaign geared against prison expansion

A purveyor of myths and propaganda
By Charles Hanson
Charles Hanson is convinced alcoholism is not a disease and that AA is not what it claims itself to be

Short sentences are not the answer
By Francesca Cooney
Francesca Cooney, Advice and Information Manager at the Prison Reform Trust, says prisons need a breathing space

The Special Investigations Unit is coming!
By John Atkins
The legal aid’s own fraud squad are hot on the trail of legal aid cheats, warns John Atkins

Highly subjective assessment
By Lisa Gianquitto
Lisa Gianquitto examines the OASys assessment tool and considers it to be far from an exact science and not set in stone

This is no April Fool’s joke
By Julian Young
Solicitor Advocate Julian Young offers a glimpse into the crazy world of our legislators

Conspiracy
By Aziz Rahman and Jonathan Lennon
Law Tactics & Strategy in Defending in Conspiracy Allegations

The
insidepoetry book
is a collection of 213 poems by 202 prisoners of all backgrounds.

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