The Morgan Report of 1991 had looked at effective approaches to crime prevention . We needed to apply that logic to prisons , he said , and look at motivating people not to reoffend .

A look back at recent history revealed a scattergun approach . Cranstoun ’ s release scheme and RAPt ’ s intensive abstinenceprogrammes had popped up in the 1990s and finally , at the beginning of the 21st century , there had been a good treatment budget . A specialist service was set up in every prison , with an expansion of both OST and abstinence-based treatment .

‘ It all looked pretty rosy in 2010 ,’ he said , ‘ but it all went wrong in 2012 ’ when drug treatment went from the Ministry of Justice to the

Department of Health . ‘ It wasn ’ t a bad decision to take it to health – but we lost all our learning ,’ he said . There were new statistics , new priorities and new learning systems , with counselling , assessment , referral , advice and throughcare ( known as CARATs ) leading to a ‘ quantity not quality ’ system .

A vast amount of the target group got rushed interventions , said Trace – and the vast majority of the structured programmes in prisons were closed down . ‘ Some were poor quality , but many were research-based and flying ,’ he said . We had entered an era of decline and missed opportunities . Furthermore , ‘ the wing drug dealers won massively in the 2010s ’ with the expansion of markets , introduction of spice , and the pressure to use instead of engage . With drug markets now out of control , we had not created the environment where prisoners could go for treatment instead of using drugs in prison .

Dame Carol Black ’ s report represented a phase of refreshment , he said – a chance to come back from ten years of neglect . There was no underestimating the ‘ awful challenge ’ for prison staff , with ‘ the

nature of being a prison governor [ being ] to get through the day ’. The bit of money would have to go a long way , as we were still faced with the same problems , with ‘ services massively stretched ’. But at least there was political attention and acknowledgement that things must change .

As criminal justice service manager at Humankind , Jessica Scott brought experience from a cluster of seven prisons in the North East , where the organisation had worked with its healthcare partner Spectrum and delivered psychosocial interventions .

‘ It ’ s about reconnecting our men and women to health and their personal goals ,’ she said . ‘ Our services are about finding

‘ The wing drug dealers won massively in the 2010s with the expansion of markets , introduction of spice , and the pressure to use instead of engage .’

MIKE TRACE

that glimmer of hope , and about clinical and non-clinical services working together , making sure there ’ s no break in support .’ Detox and therapies were available when people came into prison , to make sure they were well enough to have interventions , and there was planning around release that included carrying a naloxone kit .

‘ We want to replicate in prison the options that people could have in the community ,’ she said , including prescribing slow-release

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