Chemical castration considered for sex offenders after independent review by justice secretary David Gauke reveals prison capacity crisis – UK Times

The lead of an independent review into sentencing which could see violent criminals and sexual offenders released from prison earlier has said “nobody wants to see a repeat” of the emergency early release scheme.

Last autumn the Government released prisoners early to combat overcrowding, in a measure which independent reviewer David Gauke described as “rushed, unplanned and unstrategic”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Gauke, former Conservative justice secretary, said: “Nobody, I think, wants to see a repeat of that (early release scheme), because that is rushed, it’s unplanned, it’s unstrategic, and so on, and it’s much better to face up to the realities, recognise where we are with the prison population and set out a plan that is strategic, that is properly prepared and gives due notice to everybody, so that we do not find ourselves in that situation.

“Because if you run out of prison places, then really you are putting the whole criminal justice system at risk.”

He added that more community sentences could provide better value for money for the taxpayer.

“I think there is a point from the perspective of the taxpayer that can be missed here,” he said. “Prisons are expensive. They cost £54,000-a-year for a prison place. That money can be spent very effectively in the community, both punishing offenders and helping with rehabilitation.”

A dramatic intervention last night by a senior judge threatens to throw Keir Starmer’s controversial plans to sign away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius today in chaos.

The plan is to sign the deal today which will give Mauritius sovereignty over the islands. It would follow months of wrangling amid concerns over the future of the UK/ US military base on Diego Garcia.

But a late legal challenge from a Chagossian saw High Court judge Sir Julian Goose put a pause on the treaty being signed at 3am this morning following hours of legal wrangling.

Our Political Editor David Maddox reports:

David Gauke said there are recommendations in his sentencing review to send foreign offenders back to their countries.

He told Sky News: “If a foreign national offender is sentenced to less than three years, then we argue that they should be deported, as soon as possible.

“If they’ve got a sentence that is more than three years, so a particularly serious offence, we can deport them but there is absolutely no guarantee unless there’s a prison transfer agreement in place with another country that that offender will go into prison. They could well be then free, walking the streets.”

He added: “If we just deport them, whatever the length of their sentence, they could be walking free. And I don’t think that would be fair on victims. I don’t think that would be right for society as a whole.

“So you have to balance the guarantee of punishment for serious offenders with the case for getting them out of our jails as quickly as possible.”

It is possible to move quickly to deport people convicted of crimes, he said, but added that you “can’t have a blanket approach where every foreign national offender is deported”.

The sentencing review recommends exploring chemical castration for sex offenders as a way of reducing reoffending, independent reviewer David Gauke has said.

“One of our recommendations is that we think that we should continue to explore this, this is drugs that reduces sexual desire,” Mr Gauke told Sky News.

“It’s not appropriate for every sexual offender, and the evidence base for this does need to be built up.”

A small pilot under way in the south west of England could be expanded, he said.

“I’m not going to claim it’s the answer for everything. This is about reducing the risk of reoffending in future. There are some sex offenders who want to reduce their desires. And if we can explore this, I think that is something that’s worthwhile,” he said.

Asked if this would be used instead of keeping sex offenders in prison, he said: “The point being is at some point almost every prisoner will be released. We have to look across the system at doing everything we can do to minimise the risk of reoffending. You cannot remove that risk altogether.”

David Gauke has said drugs for sex offenders being released from prison can reduce their sexual desire.

The ex-justice secretary, following the publication of his sentencing review, said: “There are some sex offenders who want to reduce their desires, and if we can explore this, I think that is something that’s worthwhile.”

Speaking to Sky News, he said: “Remember, almost everybody in prison is at some point going to be released. What we have to look at is to have a system in place that reduces the risks of reoffending as much as possible. If we think there is some kind of pharmaceutical intervention that can make a contribution to that to further lower any risks, then we should at least explore it.”

The Tory ex-justice secretary who has carried out a sentencing review for the government has admitted many of the problems it is combatting arose under Conservative prime ministers.

David Gauke, whose recommendations were published on Thursday, said “the reality is the problems we face now were in place 10 months ago, two years ago”.

“This has been building up for some time, the capacity issue, particularly over the last five years,” he told Sky News.

He added: “I would say whoever was in power last July would have had to take the action [on early release] that the government did.”

But Mr Gauke insisted his recommendations will help the government avoid a similar crisis arising again. Mr Gauke was justice secretary between 2018 and 2019 under Theresa May.

Published on Thursday, the review which hopes to end prison overcrowding recommended introducing an “earned progression model” inspired by reforms in Texas.

Under the scheme, prisoners could be released earlier for good behaviour and be supervised on licence for a period of their sentence.

They would then remain unsupervised in the community for the final period of their sentence, but could be recalled to prison if they commit another crime.

Violent or sexual offenders who are serving sentences of four years or more could be released into the community on licence after spending half of their sentence behind bars, or longer if they do not comply with prison rules.

The review also suggested for the most dangerous offenders on extended sentences to be eligible for parole at half-way through their sentence, instead of two-thirds, if they earn credits to take part in rehabilitation activities in prison.

They would only be released if the Parole Board decided it was safe to do so.

The review chairman said: “The scale of the crisis we are in cannot be understated.

“Overcrowded prisons are leading to dangerous conditions for staff and contributing to high levels of reoffending.

“These recommendations, which span the entirety of the justice system, are focused not only on bringing the prison population under control but ultimately reducing reoffending and ensuring victims are protected.”

Fewer criminals will be put behind bars and more will serve sentences in the community under plans to end overcrowding in jails.

Violent criminals and sexual offenders could be released from prison earlier, while judges could be given more flexibility to impose punishments such as football or driving bans.

Short sentences of less than 12 months would also be scrapped, apart from exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.

An independent sentencing review led by former justice secretary David Gauke recommended the reforms to overhaul the prisons system and make sure there is space to jail the most dangerous offenders after a string of emergency measures to deal with the capacity crisis.

Five key proposals put forward by Mr Gauke are expected to cut the prison population by around 9,800.

Latest figures show the prison population in England and Wales is 88,103, just 418 below the record of 88,521, which was reached on September 6 last year, just before the Government began freeing thousands of prisoners early to ease overcrowding.

UK Government borrowing rose to £20.2 billion last month, ahead of forecasts and the fourth-highest April figure on record, new official figures show.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing was also £1 billion higher than in April last year.

The latest figure showed that the Chancellor had to borrow more money than expected over the month, surpassing analyst predictions of £17.6 billion.

It came amid a jump in central government departmental spending on goods and services, which rose by £4.2 billion year-on-year due to pay increases and cost inflation.

The coming months for people needing social care are likely to be “the most difficult we’ve seen in recent years” unless significant new funding is announced soon, almost 100 leaders in the sector have warned.

Next month’s spending review is a “crucial opportunity” for the Government to show its commitment to the future of adult social care, the leaders said in a statement to the Chancellor.

Rachel Reeves will deliver her review, setting out plans for spending and key public sector reforms, on June 11.

The call comes just weeks after the formal launch of the Casey Commission, which the Government ordered with an aim of transforming social care.

The first phase of the review, led by Baroness Casey, is expected to report next year, although recommendations from the initial probe will be implemented in phases over the course of 10 years.

Social care leaders have already raised concerns over the potential timeline of 2036 for some reforms to be introduced.

The second phase of the commission, setting out longer-term reforms, is due to report by 2028.