A tailored approach

Mr Gauke starts by highlighting that the Review focuses on how rehabilitative interventions can reduce reoffending and that central to this is considering an offender’s personal circumstances and needs and providing a tailored approach to tackle the root causes of their offending. He then looks at key recommendations for different groups.

Prolific offenders

The main recommendation here is to expand the availability of Intensive Supervision Courts. The Review acknowledges that ISCs aren’t appropriate for everyone and loosely endorses Integrated Offender Management (IOM) schemes too although it sounds that even with his resources, Mr Gauke was unable to access reliable information about just how many people are supervised via IOM and how their reoffending compares with those sentenced to custody.

Women 

There is a general consensus (with which I agree) that women is the only area where the current Justice Secretary has shown real appetite for a progressive response (as opposed to building more prisons and generally acting tough on crime). Mr Gauke makes four specific recommendations for women:

1. Provide more sustainable and long-term funding to Women’s Centres (a central plank in the female offender strategy but one which has never been properly honoured).
2. Ensure female offenders receive appropriate support by (1) expanding the use of liaison and diversion and (2) considering a women’s specific pathway as part of Drug and Alcohol treatment requirements.
3. Collect and publish data on the use of prison as a place of safety. This recommendation is aimed at preventing women being sent to prison because of a lack of appropriate mental health resources.
4. Commission a study of the impact and consequences of the Assault on Emergency Workers legislation. The Review expresses concern that AEW incidents often involve women who are neurodivergent, victims of domestic violence or have mental health conditions. Staff at a Women’s Centre observed that women are often charged with AEW after police are called to perform a welfare check on an individual, as AEW charges can be brought for shouting threateningly if the emergency worker believes they are going to be harmed. 

Older offenders

The Review recommends an increase the use of Early Release on Compassionate Grounds for suitable older offenders, noting that many “elderly and frail” offenders pose little risk to public safety.

Foreign National Offenders

There were around 10,800 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in HMPPS custody, as of 31 March 2025, representing around 12% of the total prison population. The Review recommends “the earlier removal” of FNOs by bringing forward the Early Removal Scheme removal point from 50% to 30% of the custodial term and an expansion of the removal window beyond 18 months, to increase the speed of removal of FNOs from the prison system.

Sex offenders

Even though the section on sex offenders comprises less than half a page of the 192 pages in the Review, its consideration of “whether pharmaceutical options which suppress libido or those which reduce sexual thoughts, could be used to provide targeted treatment for specific sex offenders” has received disproportionate attention in the media. The Review recommends that the Government:

“Build a comprehensive evidence base around the use of chemical suppression for sex offenders and explore options for continued funding of services in this area.”

Drug and alcohol offenders

Although the need to improve the availability and quality of drug and alcohol treatment requirements is featured in Chapter 2 (strengthening alternatives to custody in the community), the sole (and, to my mind, slightly odd) recommendation in this section is to “continue to monitor emerging medications to treat drug and alcohol dependency” with a reference to the possible impact of semaglutide (the medication better known as Ozempic or Wegovy) on reducing the rewarding effect of certain substances.