The Secret Life of Prisons · Prison Radio Association

Live at Clinks Conference 2026 | Lord James Timpson and Anne Fox

February 2, 2026·47 min·4 clips

Lord Timpson explains how his mother's foster care and a prison visit 25 years ago sparked his lifelong commitment to criminal justice reform.

This live recording starts at Conway Hall. Paula and Phil set the room first: the listeners, the upstairs crowd, and a quick nod to the hall's ethical society. The setting changes the feel. A studio conversation becomes public, held at the Clinks annual conference while reform is moving quickly around it. The question is practical. What does change look like when legislation, policy proposals, prisons, probation, and voluntary organisations all hit the same system at once? Lord James Timpson begins with probation. He says staff joined to help people turn their lives around, not to spend the day entering the same data into computers. The frustration is easy to understand. Technology, more staff, investment, better systems, and cleaner processes are treated as ways to give probation workers their actual job back. His focus has changed. He says he first came in with prisons more clearly in mind, but now spends far more time on probation. His reason is blunt: if probation is not working, prisons will not work either. Paula pulls the conversation wider. Success, here, is not owned by one department. It sits across prisons, probation, councils, the NHS, employers, families, and the voluntary sector. Timpson answers in personal terms. He frames his ministerial role as part of his ongoing philanthropy, because it lets him act on something he cares about deeply. The voluntary sector gets real weight in the discussion. He says a third of the people working within HMPPS are voluntary, and that the system would not work without them. Employment is the clearest example. Through Employment Advisory Boards in 92 prisons, he credits volunteers, local business leaders, social enterprises, governors, and employment teams with helping employment rise from 14% six months after release to 38%. The close turns back to institutions. The hosts name the Sentencing Act 2026 as a major shakeup, with provisions phased in over time and Clinks-supported organisations expected to matter a lot.

As heard by us

A live conference conversation that keeps criminal justice reform grounded in probation, staffing, technology, and the voluntary sector.

The Secret Life of Prisons leaves the studio for a live conversation at Conway Hall, recorded at the Clinks annual conference. It stays close to the practical side of reform in 2026, with Anne Fox and Lord James Timpson talking through probation, staffing, technology,…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Live from Conway Hall, this one asks what prison reform means in practice, not in slogans.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Secret Life of Prisons