Three core principles
The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood yesterday (21 October 2024) announced that the new Government would honour its election pledge to undertake a review into sentencing. The review will be led by a former (Conservative) Lord Chancellor, David Gauke and 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
Public safety at heart of review
Many penal reformers see the review as a chance to re-balance the system, increasing the use of community sentences and reducing the number of women sent to custody (a disproportionate number for relatively minor crimes. Among the key facts and figures highlighted by campaigners are:
- England and Wales has the second highest imprisonment rates in western Europe at 140 people per 100,000 head of population, Scotland is in “first place”.
- The prison population has risen by 93% in past 30 years and currently stands at just over 87,000. It is predicted to rise by as high as 114,800 by March 2028.
- Over the last 10 years, the average custodial sentence length for indictable offences increased from 18 months in 2013 to almost 23 months in 2024.
- Use of the most severe sentences has also increased. Almost 11,000 people are currently serving an indeterminate sentence, comprising 16% of the sentenced prison population and up from 9% in 1993.
- The number of life sentence prisoners serving a minimum term of over 20 years more than doubled between 2013 and 2023. As of June 2024, there were 67 people serving whole life orders (compared to 43 a decade earlier).
- The remand population figure at the end of June was 17,070, 10% higher than in June 2023 and is the highest figure in at least the last fifty years (effectively a ‘record high’).
- The population recalled to custody (12,199 prisoners) on the same date increased by 3% relative to the total a year earlier.
- Most women entering prison to serve a sentence (69%) have committed a non-violent offence.
- In 2022, more women were sent to prison to serve a sentence for theft than for criminal damage and arson, drug offences, possession of weapons, robbery, and sexual offences combined.
- More than half of women (53%) sentenced to prison in 2022 received sentences of six months or less.
However, the language of the MoJ press release emphasises the importance of prison and reflects the “tough on crime” language used by both Labour and Conservative parties during the summer’s election campaign. The press release emphasises the Government’s commitment to create (a staggering) 14,000 extra prison places and pledges to outline a 10-year prison capacity strategy “later this year”. The paragraph below from the Justice Secretary sets the tone:
“I believe in punishment. I believe in prison, but I also believe that we must increase the range of punishments we use. And that those prisoners who earn the right to turn their lives around should be encouraged to do so.”
Terms of reference
David Gauke set out the purpose of his review:
“This review will explore what punishment and rehabilitation should look like in the 21st century, and how we can move our justice system out of crisis and towards a long-term, sustainable future.”
The Terms of Reference say that the Review will provide long-term solutions for our justice system by:
- examining the use and composition of non-custodial sentences, including robust community alternatives to prison and the use of fines
- looking at the role of incentives in sentence management and the powers of the probation service in the administration of sentences in the community
- exploring the use and impact of short custodial sentences
- reviewing the framework around longer custodial sentences, including the use of minimum sentences, and the range of sentences and maximum penalties available for different offences
- looking at the administration of sentences, including the point at which offenders are released from prison, how long they are supervised in the community on licence, recall to prison, and how technology can support this
- considering whether the sentencing framework should be amended to take into account the specific needs or vulnerabilities of specific cohorts such as young adult offenders, older offenders, and women
- considering the approach to sentencing in cases of prolific offenders
- considering specifically sentencing for offences primarily committed against women and girls
They also clarify that the review will not consider:
- the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence or the administration of it
- the use of remand
- the youth sentencing framework
- Out-of-court resolutions
The timeline is for the review to be completed in full by Spring 2025.
Any reader interested in the full terms of the Sentencing Review can find them here.
Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here