If Britain's criminal justice system is “failing” then how do we fix it? The Young Foundation thinks it has the answer, reports New Start (May 2).

The think-tank has called for the creation of a new organisation to promote radical thinking to address the crisis of a growing prison population. It would be similar to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which provides guidance on medical treatment.

Geoff Mulgan, director of the Young Foundation, says: “What we need now is much more systematic innovation in alternatives which address the causes of crime - from poor skills to mental health - and to bring down reconviction rates.”

But would the organisation actually have the opposite effect? Thames Valley Partnership, a crime reduction charity, says that creating a “bureaucratic” body like Nice might stifle innovation. Lindsey Poole, the organisation's new chief executive, says Nice is about eliminating risk. “If you apply that model of innovation in the criminal justice system you will end up killing opportunities for people to explore new ways of thinking.”

Assessors wreathed in secrecy

Research assessment exercises are now so secretive that academics are using the Freedom of Information Act to view assessors' reports

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The report - Escape from the Titanic - also calls for a public-funded body similar to the Centre for Court Innovation in New York and urges councils to support solutions such as community justice centres. The National Offender Management Service and the Ministry of Justice should also dedicate resources to innovation, it argues.

www.youngfoundation.org.uk

Uniforms of the week

Adjustable trousers? High-visibility capes? What would Dixon of Dock Green have made of such fripperies? In his day, coppers' uniforms were one size and woven from Brillo pads; now they are designed by fashion students.

Ill-fitting uniforms are a recurring beef in Police Review but the May 2 issue suggests that for the Metropolitan Police, at least, the search for practical and comfy clothing may be over.

Jude Cunningham, one of the students, came up with those natty adjustable waistbands that allow women officers to wear their trousers high or low. Her winning design also features “moveable pockets” - handy for storing handcuffs.

The prize for the best item of male clothing went to Alice Burkitt and the aforementioned cape, which folds into a handy storage pouch, unlike PC Dixon's, which doubled as a police horse's blanket.

But spare a thought for plain-clothes officers who are not entitled to adjustable waistbands or folding capes. They have to buy their own work clothes and now they want cash for a “uniform equivalent”. Apparently, many are reluctant to don bulky stab vests beneath their workwear because the vests “stretch or tear their clothes”. And the colour is so-o-o last year.

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