MoJ press release today:-
The review, which aims to end the crisis in our prisons and make sure the country always has the prisons space needed to keep people safe, will consider how other jurisdictions who have faced similar capacity challenges have been able to tackle rising prison populations and reducing reoffending.
To ensure the review considers all aspects of the justice system, including the impact of changes on victims, an expert panel has been appointed to support independent chair David Gauke. This includes former Chief Executives of the Crown Prosecution Service, Peter Lewis and HMPPS, Michael Spurr, as well as former Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and Executive Director of End Violence Against Women Andrea Simon.
The review will be further informed by a call for evidence launched today [14 November 2024] with academics, experts and the public encouraged to share ideas for innovation and reform over the next eight weeks.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood said:
"No Lord Chancellor should be put in the invidious position I was on taking office – faced with a prison system on the verge of collapse. We must make sure there are always a cell to lock up dangerous offenders.The panel appointed to support David Gauke are:
This panel represents a wealth of experience. I have no doubt it will be invaluable in delivering a review which will help set out the long-term plan for our prisons."
- Lord Burnett – Previous Lord Chief Justice (2017 – 2023)
- Catherine Larsen KPM – A retired inspector from Avon and Somerset whose work included transforming the way rape and serious sexual offences are investigated by the police
- Nicola Padfield KC (Hon) – Criminal Law Barrister and academic at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Criminal Justice
- Sir Peter Lewis – Former Chief Executive of Crown Prosecution Service (2007-2016), Former Registrar of the International Criminal Court (2023).
- Michael Spurr – Former Chief Executive of HMPPS (2010-2019)
- Andrea Simon – Executive Director at End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW)
Review Chair David Gauke said:
"This review will investigate how we can create a more effective criminal justice system, looking to jurisdictions who have faced similar challenges, and at how we can harness new technology to manage offenders in and out of prison.Alongside the call for evidence, international learnings will be a central focus for the panel. Sweden and the Netherlands have both used technology to manage offenders in and outside of prison and tackle rising prison populations. This has included an electronic monitoring system integrated between prisons and probation in the Netherlands, and using mobile apps in Sweden to support rehabilitation outside of prison, such as improving attendance at probation meetings.
I welcome responses to the call for evidence which challenge current thinking, are innovative, and which spotlight how best practice can be scaled, so we can build a justice system which works both now and in the future."
Texas faced similar capacity challenges to England and Wales in the early 2000s. In 2007, prisons were at capacity and the population was predicted to rise, needing an additional 17,000 cells over the next five years. Under a system implemented by a Republican governor, prisoners can now reduce the time they spend in custody by participating in courses aimed at tackling the root causes of crime, and for good behaviour. The Texan prison population has now decreased by over 20,000 and crime in the area has fallen.
In developing its recommendations, the Sentencing Review will follow 3 core principles to ensure a sustainable justice system:
- make sure prison sentences punish serious offenders and protect the public, and there is always the space in prison for the most dangerous offenders
- look at what more can be done to encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime, and keep the public safe by reducing reoffending
- explore tougher punishments outside of prison to make sure these sentences cut crime while making the best use of taxpayers’ money
Notes to editors
The seven key themes the call for evidence will explore are:
- History and Trends in sentencing
- The Structure of sentencing
- The use of technology within sentencing
- Community sentences
- Custodial sentences
- The progression of custodial sentences
- The individual needs of victims and offenders
A panel of previous, former and retired. It’s failed before it started.
ReplyDelete3 core principles, the last two of which may well be, are almost certainly, contradictory. In fact the third makes its own false assumption, that being "tough"...a fallback buzzword as embraced by political justice rhetoric as "robust"...will reduce crime. That is the one big fat non truth that may well doom any progress on this and any other attempt to sort out our crumbling justice system. How I hate this obsession with "being tough". It not only hampers any potential for humane and effective work in the community, it by extension tacitly invites complacency in the face of the dreadful conditions in our prisons and the deprofessionalising of both prison and probation workers
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lbc.co.uk/news/governments-early-release-scheme-put-pressure-on-probation-service-as-inspectors/
ReplyDeleteA government scheme to release prisoners early “put pressure” on the Probation Service, according to bodies in the sector.
DeleteIt comes as a probation unit in West Yorkshire has been rated “inadequate” and in a “chaotic state” in an inspection.
Inspectors visited Bradford and Calderdale PDU in September, the same month where around 1,700 people were released from prisons in England and Wales to reduce overcrowding. Those freed were serving time for crimes like fraud and drug offences, and had to have completed 40% of their sentence.
A report out today found staff in Bradford and Calderdale didn’t feel valued in their roles, and criticised a “divisive culture” and high sickness levels. There was an average loss of 18 days a year down to sickness. NAPO, the Probation Service Union, says 75% of absences across the country are down to mental health including work-related stress.
Dave Argument from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation says: “We found really concerning issues to do with the way the probation service in Bradford and Calderdale was working with the police, social services and other agencies to protect children from harm and others in the community from harm.
“The workloads staff are facing are too high, there are major issues in terms of recruitment and retention, that all has an impact on the ability of good quality work to the standard we expect.”
On the early release of prisoners under the government, Argument said: “We completely recognise the extreme difficulties the prison service faces in terms of capacity. Equally, it’s important to highlight that the Probation Service is extremely stretched.”
Commenting on the report, Tania Bennett from NAPO said, “Depressingly, it’s not unexpected. It’s not that much of a surprise.
"In terms of that part of the country, it is the worst of a bad lot, rather than being a huge exception to the rule compared to what we’re seeing across England and Wales.
"The issues at Bradford and Calderdale are quite common from what we’re seeing nationally.”
On the early release of prisoners, Bennett added: “I don’t think anyone working in probation would see these early release schemes as a good thing.
They see them as necessary and understood why they happened. Ultimately we need a fundamental review of sentencing. If we don’t stem the flow going into prisons, it’s like running a bath with the plug out all the time.”
Government figures show that between April and June, 13,338 people were released from jails in England and Wales, with 9,782 being recalled for breaching licence conditions. That’s a 44% rise on the same period in 2023.
This was Bradford and Calderdale PDU’s first inspection since its creation in 2021, when parts of the private and public sector in the Probation Service were joined together.