Fixing Fixed Term Recall

We are calling on you to help us fix fixed term recall. Below, you will find a selection of copy and assets which you can use to amplify Catch22's latest Insights Paper along with its recommendations within your spheres of influence. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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📈 The use of fixed term recall (FTR) is on the rise, with thousands of prison leavers returning to custody for minor licence breaches, causing further strain on a prison system already at breaking point.

In 2023 alone, there were over 6,600 fixed term recalls back into custody - enough to fill a prison for an entire year.  Catch22's latest Insights Paper argues that Fixed Term Recall (FTR) to prison for minor breaches are costly to the system, individuals and wider society – and calls for:

• More intense community-based support for prison leavers as an alternative to FTR
• Prison leavers facing homelessness to be exempt from FTR
• Publication of transparent data on the use and costs of FTR

“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 to explore how the mechanism of FTR is impacting both those subject to it, and the system itself.

The paper argues that FTRs aren't fixing the real reasons why people break their licence conditions, often through housing precarity or substance dependency, and emphasises the inadequacy of the current FTR system to address the challenges faced by prison-leavers. Their use can be compared to pulling a student out of lessons for 2- or 4- weeks, and then expecting them to pass their final exam.

✅ The key findings from the paper show that:

• Quarterly FTRs have nearly doubled in the last two years. 
• Most FTRs are due to minor breaches, like missing appointments, rather than committing new crimes. 
• FTR periods 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.

📢 What Needs to Change?

Catch22 is advocating for a system that, especially amid a prison capacity crisis, prioritises rehabilitation over custody. The Insights Paper is calling for: 

1. Better alternatives to FTR
2. Better continuity of rehabilitation
3. Better transparency and data sharing around the use of FTR

📖 Read the full Insights Paper and recommendations here:Fixing Fixed Term Recall Insights Paper

#FixingFTR #FixedTermRecall