New report offers recommendations to help ease pressure on prisons

A new paper supported by the University of Plymouth delves into the issue of fixed term recall
Prisoner

When someone is released from prison, they can be recalled to custody for up to 28 days for minor breaches of their licence conditions in a practice known as ‘fixed-term recall’ (FTR).
Now a new report is highlighting the issues with FTR, and calls for its reform to help ease pressure on individuals, the system and society.
The new report Fixing Fixed Term Recall highlights how in 2023 alone, the system saw over 6,600 fixed term recalls to custody – enough to fill a prison for an entire year. FTRs have also doubled in the last two years.
But the report, led by not-for-profit organisation Catch22 and supported by the University of Plymouth, also showed that most of these recalls are not for reoffending, with people more commonly recalled for breaches such as non-compliance or missing appointments. These breaches, the paper says, were often exacerbated by broader resettlement needs not being met, such as stable housing or mental health support.
Read the full report

Insights paper: Fixing Fixed Term Recall | Catch22
Fixing Fixed Term Recall draws on data analysis from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, individual testimonies, and a review of current practices in the justice system. It argues that FTRs are not fixing the real reasons why people break their licence conditions, and calls for more intense community-based support for prison leavers as an alternative to FTR.
The report also calls for prison leavers facing homelessness to be exempt from FTR, and publication of transparent data on the use and costs of the practice.

We know that short periods in custody are ineffective at getting to the root causes of non-compliance. That's why we're advocating for better alternatives to FTR; ones that don't disrupt the continuity of an individual's resettlement journey by pulling them back into prison for a mere two or four weeks.

Quarterly FTRs have nearly doubled in the last two years, such short stints in prison are rarely used productively to fix the root drivers of non-compliance, and can even exacerbate the challenges that led to licence breach in the first place.
It’s the equivalent of pulling a student out of lessons for a month, and expecting them to pass their final exam. It doesn’t make sense, and needs to change.
Miranda Shanks, Policy and Communications Manager from Catch22 

The University of Plymouth seeks to find and support solutions to real world problems, and the issue of prison overcrowding is one of the biggest problems on the national agenda today.

It’s been insightful and important to lend our academic expertise to this process, working with Catch22 to provide support and guidance on this project. 

Zoë JamesProfessor Zoë James
Professor of Criminology

We have worked with Catch22 on a number of different projects, and our students have worked with them previously on placement opportunities and micro-internships.

It’s great to have an ongoing relationship to explore solutions to real-world issues. 

Katie McBrideDr Katie McBride
Associate Head of School (Marketing, Admissions and Schools Liaison)

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