The Chair of the Justice Committee, MP, has today written to the
Secretary of State, , criticising the Government’s
lack of a plan for dealing with the prisons crisis and seeking
more detail about its strategy.
In April, the Committee’s major
report found that the Government’s approach to prisons
was inefficient, ineffective and unsustainable in the medium or
long-term. In order to address this, the Committee set out why
there should be a presumption against sentences of six months or
less and argued that the Ministry of Justice needs to
focus on ensuring safety and decency in prisons is
maintained, as well as improving rehabilitation of
offenders when they leave prison.
The Government’s response to that
report, published on 11th June, agreed with
many of the issues raised but offered little in terms of action
to deal with the multiple issues that prisons are currently
facing.
In today’s letter, Chair expresses frustration at the lack
of a plan and presses the Justice Secretary for answers to a
number of questions relating to the Government’s response to the
report. These cover the prison estate, the high turnover of
prison staff, rehabilitative programmes, resourcing of the
Sentencing Council and a number of other areas.
Chair of the Justice Committee, MP, said:
“From overcrowded, squalid and poorly maintained prisons to
inadequate opportunities for rehabilitation, the Government’s
crisis management approach to jails has been failing for more
than five years.
“Throwing money at such significant problems on an ad hoc
basis is both unsustainable and a waste of taxpayers’ money. Our
report set out the need for a clear strategy and demonstrated how
proper planned investment would reduce reoffending, save money
and start to alleviate pressures on jails.
“So far we have not seen that from Government. It’s response
to our report contained a rehash of current initiatives that we
already knew about.
“Without a strategy, we do not believe that the serious
challenges can be addressed. That’s why my letter to presses this matter once again
and I hope this time he is able to reassure us with greater
detail and clarity.”
The letter from the Chair of the Committee to , Secretary of State for
Justice, can be viewed here.
