Andy Slaughter MP on the Sentencing Bill and the plan to fix our prisons

Why short sentences fail, how community sentences and progression can work, and what services must be in place to make reform real

Guest blog by Andy Slaughter MP

This week the Sentencing Bill was debated in Parliament.  When it becomes law later this year it will be the biggest shake up in punishment and rehabilitation of offenders for 30 years.  As Chair of the Justice Committee, I spoke at some length on its opportunities and risks.

Here is my speech but for those wanting the distilled version, the Bill will stand or fall not on its intentions, which have been widely welcomed, but on how quickly and effectively these can be put in practice in a criminal justice system that is groaning after 14 years of disinvestment and neglect.

The Justice Committee has an open inquiry into rehabilitation and resettlement and how those two things can help lower reoffending rates.

The decision to focus on this topic was in response to the ever-growing prison population crisis, leading to overcrowding and unsafe conditions for those currently serving custodial sentences.

Stopping reoffending is not only good for the taxpayer, victims and society generally, but also for those who are currently stuck in the cycle of reoffending and want to change their lives.

One of the biggest contributors to an oversized prison population are short sentences. Often given for low-level crime they overwhelmingly affect those who need help and support to be reintegrated into society.

Although the custodial sentences may be short, they can have drastic and long-lasting consequences. From losing your home and your job to contributing toward the breakdown in family relationships, these consequences can be insurmountable for someone who is newly released from prison, and when there is no other option available the cycle of reoffending continues.

The new Lord Chancellor, David Lammy, has recognised the harmful and unhelpful nature of short sentences and through the Sentencing Bill is seeking to replace this with community sentencing.

Community sentences are designed to encourage rehabilitation of an offender whilst giving back to their own community.

Keeping people out of prison helps cut prison population numbers and stops further alienation of those who have become institutionalised through time spent in prison. But it does not have to be a soft option, and the proposed community sentences offer a range of measures to curtail an offender’s freedom through tagging, prohibition on activities and confining them to restriction zones.

Taking inspiration from Texas, far from being known as a soft prison regime, the Bill proposes a ‘progression model’ for prisoners for the first time. At present, a person can receive time added to their sentence for bad behaviour, but with prisons fit to bursting, another approach is needed.

The progression model flips this outdated method and instead reduces time spent in custody for good behaviour and engaging with rehabilitation. The model sets a minimum release point of one third for those serving standard sentences.

The rationale for this Bill, itself the product of the independent sentencing review conducted by former Tory Lord Chancellor David Gauke, is to try and solve the chronic issue of overcrowding and out-of-control prison population left by the previous Conservative government.

But it goes much further than that in aiming to reduce reoffending, which if successful will further cut prison numbers by reducing overall crime and anti-social behaviour.

It is not without challenges, however.  As I raised in the debate, prisons will still be full even if 10,000 places are freed up by the Gauke reforms, as a result of more police officers catching more criminals.

Early release must be based not just on keeping your nose clean in prison, but on engaging with education, training and rehabilitation and that in turn depends on those services being available in prisons, along with treatment for mental health and addiction problems.

Community based punishment and reform also puts more pressure on struggling probation services and tagging companies that have repeatedly failed to carry out their responsibilities.

So, there is a lot to do but for the first time in 14 years there is a plan for our prisons.

Finally, there is a significant omission from the Bill in my view. 2,500 prisoners, many imprisoned for relatively minor offences are serving imprisonment for public protection or IPP sentences.  These have no release date, and any release is dependent on completing courses and satisfying the parole board it is safe.

The opportunity to do this may be years away and some prisoners have served many years beyond the tariff for their offence.

Everyone agrees IPPs were a mistake, but the victims of that mistake are languishing in prisons around the country with little hope of release. It is the opposite of fair and effective justice system.

Andy Slaughter out and about in Chiswick this month

Top: At the official opening of the Chiswick Medical Centre

Middle: At Strand on the Green for Tidefest

Bottom: At Chiswick Flower Market’s fifth birthday celebrations

Andy Slaughter is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hammersmith and Chiswick and Chair of the Justice Committee