Community penalties are now outperforming short prison sentences, according to statistics released today from the latest edition of the Prison Reform Trust’s Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile. If government succeeds in reforming the justice system, building on the success of community measures including diversion into health treatment where appropriate, and holding prison numbers to an unavoidable minimum, it could deliver on its promise of a “rehabilitation revolution”.
Ahead of the House of Commons’ second reading of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill on Wednesday 29 June 2011, the Briefing indicates that prisons will struggle to cut crime and further reduce reoffending unless the massive growth in the prison population is checked to enable governors and staff to work on the rehabilitation of serious and violent offenders.
The June 2011 edition of the Bromley Briefing reveals that:
On 17 June 2011, the prison population in England and Wales was 84,714. When Ken Clarke was last home secretary from 1992-93, the average prison population was 44,628.
Once a last resort in the justice system, use of custody is now so widespread that during their time at school 7% of children experience their father’s imprisonment. Estimates show that more children are affected by the imprisonment of a parent than by divorce in the family.
According to the government, the overall cost of the criminal justice system has risen from 2% of GDP to 2.5% over the last 10 years. That is a higher per capita level than the US or any EU country.
Court ordered community sentences were more effective (by seven percentage points) at reducing one-year proven reoffending rates than custodial sentences of less than 12 months for similar offenders
Prison has a poor record for reducing reoffending – 49% of adults are reconvicted within one year of being released – for those serving sentences of less than 12 months this increases to 59%. For those who have served more than 10 previous custodial sentences the rate of reoffending rises to 77%.
Over 70% of children and young people under the age of 18, and more than half of the women in prison, are reconvicted within a year of release.
Just 36% of people leaving prison go into education, training or employment.
In a recent Home Office poll only 11% of people believed that increasing the number of offenders in prison would “do most” to reduce crime. 55% of those surveyed thought better parenting would have most effect.
Plans in the bill include restrictions on the unnecessary use of custodial remand and increased discretion in response to technical breach of license. An urgent review of the indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP) is welcome. The government will also take forward proposals to invest in liaison and diversion services at police stations and courts to divert some people with mental health needs and those with learning disabilities away from the justice system into appropriate treatment and care. There is scope to further advance plans to get to grips with the addictions to drugs and drink that fuel so much crime.
To read the full article, click here: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/PressPolicy/News/vw/1/ItemID/136
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