Displaying 49 - 72 of 80 results.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a Bill which improves prison safety and security has passed its third reading in Parliament.

The Corrections Amendment Bill improves drug testing and searching procedures in prisons, and makes it an offence to “waterload”, or drink a lot of liquid, to attempt to dilute a drug test.

The Bill also strengthens contraband regulations, to make tobacco and smoking items illegal on prison grounds.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has officially opened a Young Offenders Unit at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison, which will deliver a much more structured approach to dealing with young prisoners.

The under 20 year olds will be required to take part in a daily routine which includes education, vocational training and rehabilitative programmes. 

“We don’t want these teenagers to get used to a life of crime, and to continue creating victims in the years ahead,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has announced that two thousand prisoners are to be enrolled in an education programme leading to NCEA qualifications over the next two years, as a result of a new partnership between Corrections and the Open Polytechnic.

The partnership will help Corrections reach its Better Public Service target of a reduction in reoffending of 25 per cent, with 18,500 fewer victims of crime, each year by 2017.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has announced that GPS monitoring of offenders is to be extended to include prisoners on release-to-work schemes.

Low security prisoners will be electronically tracked while travelling between prisons and their workplace, as well as on the job, and swift action will be taken if they stray into designated exclusion zones.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a Bill which will enable prisons to operate more effectively has passed its second reading.

The Bill proposes improvements to drug testing and searching procedures, which will lead to enhanced safety and security.

It will also make it an offence for a prisoner to “waterload” prior to a drug test.

“We are using this Bill to make tobacco and smoking items illegal on prison grounds, which will strengthen current regulations,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has officially opened a new probation centre at Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast.

The $1.8 million facility will provide better support for staff and for community offenders trying to steer clear of a return to crime, with a purpose-built Community Work Centre, room for on-site training, and enhanced safety provisions for staff with CCTV and glass interview rooms.

The new probation centre will have 14 staff, who manage 220 offenders in the community, 90 of whom are on community work.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has officially opened a new High Dependency Unit at Rimutaka Prison, the first of its kind in New Zealand.

The new 20-bed unit, which will be operated by Corrections officers and health services staff, will cater for prisoners who can no longer look after themselves and who have high health needs.

It will cater mostly for older men, some of whom have dementia, and for younger prisoners with significant health conditions such as physical disabilities, motor neurone disease or multiple sclerosis.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has announced that an expert advisory panel has been formed to help deliver improved safety for prison staff.

The international panel, chaired by Howard Broad, will review the Corrections Department’s new Staff Safety Action Plan and oversee its implementation in 2013.

The panel will recommend additions and any possible improvements to the Action Plan, as well as consulting with staff, interest groups and unions.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Police and Corrections Minister Anne Tolley is travelling to England and Italy from October 31 to November 8 for discussions on organised crime, the UK sex offenders' register, online child pornography and prisoner rehabilitation.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Police
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says targets for prisoners engaged in education and employment have been exceeded by more than 100 per cent.

During the course of the Prisoner Skills and Employment Strategy 2009-2012, the number of prisoners in vocational training, employment and literacy and numeracy education increased to 7,529 from 5,359 – an increase of 2170 compared to the target of 1000.

“These figures are fantastic and we are determined to do even better,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has today turned the sod for the new 960-bed men’s prison at Wiri in South Auckland.

Up to 1000 construction jobs and 300 long-term positions will be created, with the new facility scheduled to open in 2015 as part of a 25 year contract worth approximately $840 million.

The SecureFuture consortium of Fletcher Construction, Serco and Spotless Facility Services has been contracted to design, finance, build, operate and maintain the prison under a public-private partnership (PPP).

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a contract has been signed allowing the SecureFuture consortium to design, finance, build, operate and maintain the new 960-bed public-private partnership (PPP) prison at Wiri, South Auckland.

The new prison will deliver value for taxpayers and support the Government in reaching the target of a 25 per cent reduction in reoffending by 2017.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has officially opened the expanded drug and alcohol treatment unit at Hawke’s Bay Prison, as part of the Government’s target of reducing reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017.

A new intensive addiction programme for low security segregated prisoners will see an extra 120 offenders receive treatment each year at the prison.

Across the country, 33,100 additional offenders will receive new and expanded drug and alcohol treatment in prisons and in the community, an increase of almost 500 per cent.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has today officially opened the new Community Probation Centre in Napier.

Staff at the new centre will be responsible for managing around 680 offenders every year, who are serving community sentences and orders in Napier.

“Community Probation Centres play an important role in protecting the public and reducing reoffending,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has today officially opened the new Community Probation Centre in Napier.

Staff at the new centre will be responsible for managing around 680 offenders every year, who are serving community sentences and orders in Napier.

“Community Probation Centres play an important role in protecting the public and reducing reoffending,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says a record number of prisoners are now employed in on-the-job training or trades training programmes which lead to qualifications.

Offenders in Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE), including Release to Work programmes, increased by 175 to 3,144 in June, well over a third of all prisoners and the highest ever number engaged in formal training and employment activities.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley is in Adelaide from 11-13 July to attend a Corrective Services Ministers’ Conference.

The Conference is held annually, to allow Ministers from New Zealand and Australian States and Territories to exchange ideas and information.

Issues to be discussed this year include the management of sexual offenders in the community, emerging technologies, and the prevention of self-harm and suicide in prisons.

“The sharing of experiences with other jurisdictions is extremely worthwhile,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley is travelling in Australia from 3 - 7 July for visits to prisons, offender reintegration facilities and prisoner employment programmes.

Mrs Tolley will also have talks with Australian Corrections Ministers and officials during the trip to Queensland and South Australia.

“These visits will be valuable for information-gathering and for sharing ideas,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says the first anniversary of the ban on smoking in prisons is a significant milestone, with facilities now much safer and healthier for staff and prisoners.

The ban was introduced on 1 July 2011, following a year-long campaign to help prisoners quit smoking.

“Corrections staff and prisoners have already seen great benefits,” says Mrs Tolley.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says 24-hour Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring of high-risk offenders is to be introduced for the first time in New Zealand to strengthen public safety.

Real time monitoring, using ankle bracelets, will track the movements of offenders in the community, and Corrections staff will be alerted and can intervene if offenders stray into exclusion zones such as parks, schools and other specific locations or if they break curfew.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says officers in every prison are to have access to pepper spray to improve safety for frontline staff, following a successful twelve-month trial.

The 2011 trial found that pepper spray is an effective tactical option and deterrent, which can reduce the risk of injury to both staff and prisoners in some potentially violent situations.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections

Budget 2012 supports better public services by contributing to targets that will reduce prisoner reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017 and result in 18,500 fewer victims of crime every year, Police and Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says.

Reprioritising Corrections funding and maintaining funding for Police supports the Government’s focus on preventing and reducing crime, and making communities safer.

  • Anne Tolley
  • Budget 2012
  • Police
  • Corrections

Taking responsibility for Reducing Reoffending

  • Pita Sharples
  • Corrections

Budget 2012 will contribute to a 25 per cent reduction in reoffending by 2017, and 18,500 fewer victims of crime every year from 2017, Corrections Minister Anne Tolley and Associate Corrections Minister Dr Pita Sharples say.

The moves are part of the Prime Minister’s expectations for a more efficient and results-driven public service.

A boost in alcohol and drug treatment, alongside increased education, skills training and employment programmes for prisoners, including remand prisoners, will lead to safer communities and better value for money for taxpayers.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Anne Tolley
  • Corrections
  • Budget 2012