There remains an expectation that Basic should continue to be used only in exceptional circumstances and for the shortest periods possible.
When considering what constitutes exceptional circumstances, Governors should take into account their own local risk factors and needs of their establishment which will differ across the estate, and commuicate this clearly to staff.
Updated guidance on defensible decision making and governance processes is available below, including a form that should be used for decision making in all cases where Basic is being considered. There is also an optional monitoring log and a poster for staff reference on the wings.
Establishments must not look to move all prisoners to Enhanced status as a mechanism of providing additional spending power to prisoners as this will result in unnecessary pressure to the prison retail service.
Access to Television
If using Basic, removal of a television should not be automatic. If a television is removed, this must be for the shortest period possible, and all improvements in behaviour taken into account when deciding to return it. Staff should also consider frequency of TV removal – multiple short periods of removal should not be used instead of a long period of removal.
The standard system for in-cell broadcasting provides prisoners with nine free-to-view channels. Governors are permitted to make additional Free-to-view Channels available, within the constraints of the available infrastructure in their prisons. It is the Governor’s responsibility to ensure the suitability of any additional channel chosen for viewing. Governors have discretion to prohibit the showing of any material they consider unsuitable, taking account of the age of the prisoner and any other local factors.
4 replies on “Incentives Status”
Is there a link to the national instruction regarding the decision to rescind basic? Does this relate only to the TV provision, or is this for all associated privileges (Earnings, Regime, Spends, Canteen range)? We are currently looking at how to ensure that there are still incentives and ways to demonstrate progress against sentence plans before this starts to affect things like sentence planning and categorisation reviews.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for getting in touch. The guidance itself was considered to be the instruction. This guidance went through the Director’s office for clearance before publication.
Further comms went out through Gold on Monday 4th May 2020 stating:
“Governors should ensure that basic is not used routinely for prisoners at this time and that televisions are provided as set out in the operational guidance. Where, for exceptional reasons a prisoner is put on basic and their television is removed, this must be recorded in the defensible decision log.”
Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Cheers
Mike
Can I clarify, are the attached forms still applicable now in August 2021 or is it dependant on the regime stage that your prison is operating under?
Thank you
Hi Jennifer,
As present the lines on this page remain up to date across the board. There will be updated guidance coming out to Governors later this week which will update the position.
Best wishes,
Sian Blake