As a former criminal justice practitioner, member of a probation board and now chair of a charity offering employment and training to prisoners in prisons and upon release, I have to echo the relief expressed by others at the appointment of James Timpson as prisons minister (Editorial, 9 July).
For too long, prison policy has run scared of the rightwing press, promoting a punitive ideology that has led to overcrowding and a lack of rehabilitation and education, and promoting the rhetoric that such things are rewards for criminality. What has been ignored is the evidence that shows this is an ineffective and expensive strategy. For most offenders, community sentences that provide mentoring and supervision are better at reducing recidivism rates.
Several things need to happen, including a change to sentencing guidelines and a reversal of the decimation of the probation service. As previous correspondents have said (Letters, 4 July), it means investing in people, not just in staff and training, but in offenders, their education and development.
Pam Walker
Chair, The Oswin Project
• James Timpson’s arrival as prisons minister is certainly a sign of hope for our failing prison system. We simply send far too many people to prison. Building more prisons will not solve this problem. It certainly requires more meaningful rehabilitation inside prisons, but it also depends on greater use of shorter sentences, improving community support and making real attempts at prevention. If we cut prison numbers by half, we would save around £2bn a year.
Shorter sentences requires cooperation from magistrates, judges and the courts. It also needs a functioning probation service. Prevention means identifying children at risk at a young age, making sure that all children get a decent education (over half of current prisoners are functionally illiterate), and increasing job opportunities for school leavers.
This is a problem that cannot be solved simply by throwing money at it, especially if the money is thrown at the wrong targets.
Prof Geoff Shepherd
Cambridge
• The new government has the chance to give millions more access to justice. The family court system has backlogs, meaning thousands of children are trapped in legal limbo. These backlogs could be eased by providing early advice and representation to those involved in the cases. Wide gaps in provision caused by increased legal advice deserts mean fewer people can get free legal advice. And those who are eligible find it hard to access. The new government has an opportunity to invest in the system and we urge it to uprate the means test, continue with the review of civil legal aid and ensure its sustainability.
Nick Emmerson
Law Society of England and Wales
• In 2016, I spent a week chaperoning Macedonian judges and lawyers around Wales thanks to the Welsh probation service. The highlight was a visit to the Clink project in Cardiff prison – a restaurant within the prison, open to the public and run by serving prisoners. When they reached a certain standard of competence, participants received an NVQ, and that stood them in good stead on release. It was humbling to hear the participants say how transformational it had been for them and showed the importance of meaningful rehabilitative activity. If that does not exist in any shape or form during incarceration, the revolving door of prison, release and prison again will turn ever faster.
Andy Stelman
Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire
• At Nacro, a social justice charity, we see the impact of our broken prisons system every day. Overcrowded and inhumane conditions leave people without access to rehabilitation support and offer little hope for people on release. Our prison population has almost doubled in the last 30 years, without evidence that this reduces reoffending. In fact, community sentences have been proven to reduce reoffending more than prison sentences of 12 months or less, yet we still send people to prison on them. The system is failing us all.
Keir Starmer is right that this is not an overnight fix. But we can fix it. The government will be forced to take emergency steps as we are about to run out of prison places. But what we desperately need is a longer-term approach that supports people earlier to divert them away from crime, and which follows the evidence on what works to stop people committing more crimes. Starmer’s comments and the appointment of the new prisons minister offer hope that this will get the attention it deserves and we can build a justice system that serves us all.
Campbell Robb
Chief executive, Nacro
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