Prisons are at a critical point, at
99% of their capacity and many of them in extremely poor
condition. At the same time, sentences which keep offenders out
of prison, while – importantly – addressing the underlying causes
of much offending and preventing reoffending, are not being used
to best effect. The use of community sentences has dropped
dramatically.
In its report,
‘Cutting crime: better community
sentences’, published today,
the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee sets out
proposals for making the most of community
sentences.
Custody is sometimes necessary, but
sentences served in the community can be demanding, contrary to
public perception. They must include a punitive element, but they
can succeed where short-term prison sentences fail; indeed
sentences of less than 12 months are described as providing a
university education in crime. Community sentences on the other
hand can guide offenders away from crime and at the same time
meet public safety needs.
‘Treatment requirements’, for alcohol
and drug use and for mental ill-health, tailored to the
individual, are effective, but best practice should be shared
more widely and they need investment.
The Probation Service, which
supervises sentences, has faced many challenges over the last few
years following institutional reorganisations, and is inevitably
taking time to recover. Caseloads are unmanageable, there is a
large shortfall in staff numbers, and the Service is struggling
to produce the reports needed by the courts before they impose
sentence. The recruitment and training of new probation staff
should be sustained until vacancies are filled so that the
Probation Service is fully
functional.
Over the course of an eight-month
inquiry, the Committee looked at best practices in sentencing and
in how sentences are carried out. It heard that Women’s
Centres can cut reoffending to 5% against a national average of
23%. The wraparound support offered to some female offenders has
proved its effectiveness. It should be a model for probation
services generally.
The need for mental health and alcohol
and drug treatment far exceeds the current rate of imposition of
Community Sentence Treatment Requirements. Drug treatment
requirements have more than halved over ten years. 38% of people
on probation (c91,000 at any point) have mental health
difficulties but only 1302 started mental health treatment in
2022.
Greater trust should be placed by the
Probation Service in the expert and experienced third sector
organisations which provide treatment. Community sentences,
delivered locally, and which the court is confident will actually
be available, are key.
, Chair of the Justice and
Home Affairs Committee, said:
“The dots must be joined up. Prisons
are at crisis point. Places are simply not available. Yet it is
well-known that a short time in custody too often schools someone
in how to be a ‘better’ criminal. The Government acknowledges all
this.
“If the crisis is regarded as an
opportunity to focus on how to make the best use of community
orders, their potential can be realised, to the benefit of
individual offenders and of the
community.
“The use of community sentences has
dropped dramatically over the last ten years. Used well, and with
the necessary investment in the intensive treatment that is often
needed, they can turn people’s lives
around.
“We acknowledge the challenges the
Government faces in the prison service, and welcome the attention
on community sentences. Our report shows the contribution that
these sentences can make, and that they are valuable in
themselves—and that they need commitment from Government for
their full potential to be realised.”
