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21.12.13
7 Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat of St. Helier of the Minister for Home Affairs regarding
Prison! Me! No Way! (OQ.252/2021):
Will the Minister advise how "Prison! Me! No Way!" is currently being delivered?
Deputy G.C. Guida of St. Lawrence (The Minister for Home Affairs):
"Prison! Me! No Way!" is not currently being delivered. It was suspended pending review. The Bailiff :
I am sorry, Minister. I certainly cannot hear you and I suspect many others cannot either. Are you able to either get closer to the microphone or speak a little more loudly, please?
Deputy G.C. Guida: Sorry, can you hear me now?
The Bailiff :
That is somewhat better, yes. Deputy G.C. Guida:
I am sorry, my screen says that I have been queued but if you can hear me that should be good enough. "Prison! Me! No Way!" is not currently being delivered. It was paused pending review. Both Justice and Home Affairs and C.Y.P.E.S. (Children, Young People, Education and Skills) are working on plans to deliver a new programme to meet the needs of the Island's young people as part of their 2022 Business Plan. We are now looking for a business analyst to scope the new scheme in partnership with C.Y.P.E.S. with a view to having it up and running by September 2022. In the meantime, the States of Jersey Police community policing team continue their activity work with children and young people to provide support and advice around preventing offending and antisocial behaviour. I look forward to updating Members further as plans emerge.
- Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat :
When was the funding withdrawn for "Prison! Me! No Way!" and what workshops have been run by Justice and Home Affairs and C.Y.P.E.S. in the interim time as explained in his answer?
Deputy G.C. Guida:
"Prison! Me! No Way!" was suspended just before the pandemic started, so I believe that would be the end of 2019. There have been several workshops run by Justice and Home Affairs and C.Y.P.E.S. with key stakeholders to determine the future direction.
- Senator K.L. Moore :
What was the rationale for withdrawing the delivery of "Prison! Me! No Way!"? Were there any particular concerns about the outcomes or the effectiveness of that project, given that the Minister described it had been ceased before COVID?
Deputy G.C. Guida:
I do not think there were any specific concerns about the delivery of the programme by "Prison! Me! No Way!" but we were certainly looking at a more efficient system to work with C.Y.P.E.S. and J.H.A. (Justice and Home Affairs).
- Deputy K.F. Morel of St. Lawrence:
Could the Minister confirm, post-pandemic, a pandemic in which young people were locked down, as the rest of us, and it was predicted there would be a rise in antisocial behaviour and possible offending by young people, is it then the case that there is currently no preventative programme in action, preventing youth offending?
Deputy G.C. Guida:
There are always programmes in action and certainly the police have had very specific programmes in the last 3 years, 2 of them were operations that were fairly similar and again the community policing team is still actively at work. We are looking for a replacement for "Prison! Me! No Way!" and I hope it will be operational before the end of 2022.
- Deputy K.F. Morel :
Would the Minister then please advise the Assembly as to the names and the titles of those programmes, particularly those that have been operating in the past 12 months since the main lockdown finished, and can he confirm whether or not the vast increase in the numbers of stops and searches of young people is one of those programmes?
Deputy G.C. Guida:
The name of one of them escapes me right now, but I certainly remember Operation Porter, which was an extremely targeted operation, which did happen with the help of schools, but it was something that was at the same time to prevent offending but in the same vein as what "Prison! Me! No Way!" was delivering.
Deputy K.F. Morel :
Are the stop and searches part of these preventative programmes?
Deputy G.C. Guida:
No, they were not.
- Deputy R.J. Ward :
Can the Minister confirm what saving was made in the removal of the programme "Prison! Me! No Way!" as in what costing was not spent on it and where the funding that previously funded "Prison! Me! No Way!" went to?
Deputy G.C. Guida:
Sorry I do not know the budget of "Prison! Me! No Way!" The B.a.S.S. (Building a Safer Society) system is supposed to be a seed corn system that does not entirely finance the charities but helps them start, so I do not know what the budget was when we suspended our help to it. I can provide this answer of course if the Deputy wishes.
Deputy R.J. Ward :
No, thank you.
- Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat :
"Prison! Me! No Way!" was a very successful tool in the box for the States of Jersey. What I will ask the Minister is when they come back with a programme will this be delivered in schools as in all of the programmes that were and including all of those people who participated, for example, fire service, ambulance service, youth service, police, et cetera?
[15:15]
Bearing in mind that I think the Minister has alluded to some operations. Operations are not what was delivered by way of "Prison! Me! No Way!"
Deputy G.C. Guida:
Absolutely. First of all, we have no reason to think that "Prison! Me! No Way!" was not successful. I think it delivered exactly what it was supposed to do and certainly whatever replaces it does have to happen in school and with the help of the other services of Home Affairs.
Deputy R.J. Ward :
Sir, sorry to interrupt. I am really struggling. I do not know if it is my hearing, it might be, I have damaged my hearing over time.
The Bailiff :
Is this a point of order? Deputy R.J. Ward :
It is, Sir. I am struggling to make out answers and I do not know if something can be done. I do not know what to do about it. I cannot believe that for anyone at home who may have any difficulty in hearing that this is accessible. I cannot help pointing out that it would be a lot easier if Ministers were in the Assembly because the sound is pretty good in here.
The Bailiff :
Deputy Guida, what I can say is that it is quite difficult to hear your answers. I was able to hear them, but I had to strain a little bit in order to hear them and it may well be that other Members were not in a position to hear them as easily as they might otherwise have been. I would also mention, and should have done so before, that that is not the first time that I have had that experience. It would be helpful, I think, if you are not able to be in the Assembly during this time when Members do not have to be physically present if your sound system could be tested so that you are able to be heard very clearly to the Assembly when the time comes that you answer questions, and in fact will be passed on for the benefit of all Ministers or those answering questions in the Assembly, because that has been the experience of the Presiding Officer as well.