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Corrections Minister Anne Tolley and Courts Minister Chester Borrows today welcomed the new audio visual link (AVL) connection linking New Plymouth Court with Whanganui Prison.

The new link is the first in a $27.8 million upgrade programme, which is expanding AVL links from the current four courts and four prisons to a total of 18 courts and 13 prisons by 2015.

Mrs Tolley says around 40,000 remand court appearances are made each year nationwide, and AVL will be used for more and more of those appearances as the rollout continues.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that offenders have clocked up over a million hours in unpaid community work so far in the fiscal year, to pay something back for the crimes they have committed.

Every week offenders across New Zealand are engaged in activities ranging from cleaning up graffiti, to gardening, painting and clearing rubbish.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that building work is on schedule for the 29 buildings on the site of the new prison at Wiri in South Auckland.

Work is due to be completed on the new cell blocks, training, education and health buildings by early 2015, for the new 960-bed men’s prison.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that communities are safer, and high-risk offenders are being held to account, following the introduction of 24-hour GPS monitoring.

Ankle bracelets are used to track the real-time movements of offenders, which send an alert if the criminal strays into an area which they have been excluded from, such as parks and schools, or from locations near victims.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that officers in two prisons are to wear on-body cameras, in a six-month pilot programme aimed at further increasing staff safety.

Auckland and Rimutaka prison staff working in maximum and high security areas, and prison drug dog handlers, will wear the cameras to de-escalate incidents, deter assaults on staff and to gather evidence for use in court and complaints processes.

Footage will also be used to improve staff training and for debriefs following any incidents.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says $81.3 million is being invested in upgrading five prisons to improve security and safety, and to provide better facilities for prisoner rehabilitation and training.

Major infrastructure work will begin soon at Invercargill, Whanganui and Tongariro Prisons, while development is already underway at Waikeria and Rolleston Prisons.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that Auckland Prison’s maximum security wing is to be completely rebuilt to provide a secure, safe and modern facility which will deliver improved mental health services.

The rebuilt wing will also improve conditions for staff to work with prisoners to lower their security classification, so they can be transferred to a facility with greater rehabilitation opportunities.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says an expert advisory group has been appointed to support a new education strategy for prisoners, as the Government continues its focus on reducing reoffending through rehabilitation.

The group will provide advice on the implementation of the strategy under which, for the first time, every offender will have an education assessment when they enter prison. This will then be used to develop an individual learning and training plan for each offender.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a Bill which improves the effectiveness of community sentences and orders has passed its third reading in Parliament.

The Administration of Community Sentences and Orders Bill amends the Bail Act 2000, Parole Act 2002 and Sentencing Act 2002, and clarifies aspects of home detention, community-based sentences and electronic monitoring.

“We are tightening legislation and closing some existing loopholes to improve public safety,” says Mrs Tolley.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that the safety of prison staff is being enhanced, following recommendations from an expert advisory panel.

The panel, chaired by former Police Commissioner Howard Broad, was set up at the end of last year to review and support the implementation of the Department’s Staff Safety Action Plan. It consulted extensively with staff, unions, stakeholders and other Government agencies.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a new reintegration service to help steer just-released prisoners away from a return to crime will begin this month.

Five providers have been selected to operate the $10 million “Out of Gate” service, funded over two years by the Justice Sector Fund in Budget 2013.

The post-release service will support prisoners before, and immediately after they leave prison, when they are trying to readjust to life on the outside and are most at risk of reoffending.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has officially opened a new mountain bike track in Taupo, which was built with the help of offenders serving community sentences.

Over the past three years, 150 offenders have contributed 1,120 working hours to complete the new 2.5 kilometre Beagle Boys Mountain Bike Track.

Police and Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has officially opened a new joint Police station and remand centre in New Plymouth, built at a cost of $17.25 million.

It is the first time in New Zealand that Police and Corrections have joined forces to deliver frontline operations under one roof.

The New Plymouth facility is the fourteenth new Police station to open since the start of 2009, representing total building costs of over $120 million.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a number of prison regulations are being changed which will affect remand and transgender prisoners.

Firstly, remand prisoners will soon have an individual security classification, replacing the current system where all remand offenders are treated as high security.

This will mean that remand prisoners who do not pose a high security risk will have better access to appropriate rehabilitation programmes.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has acknowledged the support given to the children of prisoners by the charity Pillars, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Pillars provides support for prisoners’ families and mentoring programmes for children, to try and ensure that they don’t end up in prison themselves.

Over 20,000 children have a parent inside the wire, and research shows they are at greater risk of going to prison in later life.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith say there will be great benefits for the Canterbury rebuild, following the official opening of the Rolleston Working Prison Construction Yard by Prime Minister John Key.

A partnership between Corrections and Housing New Zealand will see prisoners and community offenders’ refurbish 150 earthquake-damaged red zones houses over the next five years.

More than 400 offenders will gain training in construction skills such as carpentry, plastering, painting and decorating, and roofing and joinery.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that Cabinet has given approval to change legislation which will allow the introduction of alcohol-monitoring bracelets for high-risk offenders and bailees in the community.

“Alcohol is a major driver of crime, and this is another tool to support Police and Corrections increase public safety and reduce reoffending,” says Mrs Tolley.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says that prisoners are to pay for television access for the first time, under a new scheme which will prevent weapons and contraband being hidden in cells, and save taxpayer’s money.

Clear, plastic-cased televisions which enable officers to detect any hidden objects will be available for rent, while offender’s personal TVs are to be removed.

Prisoners will be charged $2 per week to rent the TVs, a substantial amount for offenders given that many of them earn between 20 and 60 cents an hour.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says there will be fewer victims of crime, and further reductions in reoffending rates, as a result of a new education strategy for prisoners. 

“We know that the majority of prisoners can’t read or write properly, and that this is a serious driver of crime,” says Mrs Tolley.

“Lack of education means they can’t function in society, can’t access employment or training, and often return to crime.”

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has turned the sod on new construction yards at Rolleston Working Prison, where prisoners will refurbish around thirty Housing New Zealand houses each year for the next five years.

The refurbishment of the earthquake-damaged houses will allow prisoners and community offenders to gain valuable training in construction skills such as carpentry, plastering, painting and decorating, roofing and joinery.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley and Courts Minister Chester Borrows have announced that safety and security is being enhanced with the expansion of audio-visual links (AVL) to a further 14 District Courts and nine prisons, allowing more prisoners to make court appearances while physically remaining inside the wire.

The $27.8 million expansion will take place over the next two years, with connected courts able to link with connected prisons anywhere in the country. 

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a new nationwide reintegration programme for prisoners will help reduce reoffending and result in fewer victims of crime.

Budget 2013 made $10 million available over two years from the Justice Sector Fund to establish the new “Out of Gate” programme, which is aimed at steering offenders away from a return to crime.

The post-release service will support prisoners as soon as they leave a facility, at a time when they quickly need to readjust to life outside the wire.

Budget 2013 supports the Government’s target of further reducing reoffending, leading to fewer victims of crime, and the redesign of electronically monitored bail, Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says.

Some $10 million in operating funding over two years is being made available from the Justice Sector Fund to establish a new post-release service for offenders, at a time when they are at a high risk of returning to crime.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says reoffending has been cut by 8 per cent since the Better Public Services June 2011 benchmark, meaning there are 1,476 fewer repeat offenders and over 5,904 fewer victims of crime each year.

The Government has a target of a 25 per cent reduction in reoffending by 2017, which will result in 18,500 fewer victims each year.

“The latest statistics, to the end of December, show that Corrections is making excellent progress,” says Mrs Tolley.