I have spent decades in and out of this country’s prisons. But I had never seen them as bad as they were when I became prisons minister, almost a year ago.
The sad truth is that, on taking office, we inherited prisons that were so full, they were close to collapse. The consequences of this perilous position cannot be overstated. If prisons run out of space, courts are forced to halt their trials. Soon thereafter, the police must stop their arrests.
While the idea is terrifying, it is far from fearmongering. This is the precise situation that senior police leaders warned the last government they faced. We took immediate action to stop the crisis on taking office. But we were always clear that our measures would only delay disaster, not end it.
Safer streets are fundamental to our Plan for Change, and today we set out how we will, finally, end the crisis in our prisons.
And let me be absolutely clear – that must start by building prisons. We are carrying out the largest expansion of the prison estate since the Victorians. We have already opened around 2,400 new places. And we will now invest £4.7 billion over the spending review period, putting us on track for our goal of 14,000 places by 2031.
But even at this exceptional rate of construction, we must be honest. The prison population is soaring and we cannot build our way out of this crisis. By early 2028, we will be 9,500 places short.
At the same time, it is clear our prisons need to do more to reduce reoffending. All too often, they create better criminals, not better citizens. Eighty percent of offenders are reoffenders, so we need to do things differently.
David Gauke’s sentencing review has now been published. It provides us with the reforms that can lead to better and more effective prisons, and that can end the cycle of crisis once and for all. The review has recommended a new earned release model. Good behaviour will be encouraged. Bad behaviour will mean offenders stay in custody for longer.
This follows a model pioneered in Texas, one I have long admired. As a businessman, I know that incentives work. And this model creates incentives that have transformed prisons, cut crime, all while reducing their prison population.
On leaving prison, offenders will now enter a period of intensive supervision in the community. Many more offenders will be put on electronic tags. Community sentences will be toughened and offenders will be made to do unpaid work to give back to the communities they’ve harmed – such as filling in potholes or cleaning up graffiti.
Undoubtedly, this requires more investment. The Probation Service has been underfunded and overworked for far too long. I am proud to say that this is now changing. The government has announced a significant increase of up to £700 million in the Probation Service to better manage offenders in the community.
The Gauke review also recommends a reduction in short prison sentences. Offenders who receive these short stays in prison are far too likely to reoffend today. So, while it’s important that judges can hand down short sentences in exceptional circumstances, such as to protect victims in domestic abuse or stalking cases, in others we must ask whether there’s a better way to make the public safer.
So, we will look at expanding the use of intensive supervision courts, which focus relentlessly on the root causes of crime. This can include drug and alcohol treatment, and access to education and accommodation – all the things we know make offenders more likely to get on the straight and narrow. And these interventions are enforced by a court, with the prospect of prison keeping offenders on the right path. I have visited these courts many times before. It is clear to anyone who sees them in action that they turn offenders’ lives around for good.
And this government will look at every option to better protect the public from crime. That’s why we have announced a wider rollout of medication to manage problematic sexual arousal. Chemical suppression has been used across Europe, including Germany, Denmark and Poland, in differing ways with positive results, and we will build an evidence base to see how these can improve public safety.
Taken together, these proposals mark a step change in our approach to sentencing and, crucially, they will make sure we never return to the cliff edge on prison places. At the same time, they will mean the criminal justice system works to punish offenders and prevent more victims being created.
All of this is crucial to achieving the safer streets we promised the public – and this government will do what it takes to deliver.
Lord Timpson is minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending
