Killers and other serious offenders could serve shorter sentences for good behaviour in a radical overhaul of sentencing to ease the prison capacity crisis, the justice secretary has signalled.
Shabana Mahmood admitted “we are filling prison spaces as fast as we can build them” and reforming short sentences alone will not be enough to ease overcrowding as she opened a new 1,500-cell prison on Thursday.
A Texas-style incentive system – which allows prisoners serving longer jail terms to work towards earlier parole with good behaviour – is one of a number of measures being considered by David Gauke as part of a government-commissioned review of sentencing, due to be published in spring.
Measures identified in the review could be taken forward in legislation in a bid to prevent prisons from running out of space, after the Labour government warned they inherited a justice system near collapse.
Speaking at newly-built HMP Millsike outside York, Ms Mahmood confirmed the government is “particularly interested” in how a good behaviour system can work in the UK.
Asked if this could include prisoners serving longer sentences for more serious crimes, including manslaughter, she said: “Short sentence reform on its own isn’t going to be enough. We are already over 99 per cent capacity and we are filling prison spaces as fast as we can build them and we know already we cannot build our way out of this crisis, even though we are also building at the same time.”
Her comments come after Mr Gauke last week warned that “controversial” changes will be “necessary” to reduce prison numbers in a University of Law podcast. However murder is excluded from the terms of reference for the review.
Any reforms which see criminals spend less time in prison are likely to spark a backlash from Conservative opposition and other critics, after this week the family of Sarah Everard joined calls for serious violent and sexual criminals to receive tougher punishments.
In a speech as she opened the state-of-art Category C prison, which is due to start housing inmates from next month, the justice secretary said the increase in prison capacity must come alongside longer term sentencing reform.
She said Texas had reduced crime rates by almost a third while also reducing their prison population by 20,000 under the progressive reforms.
She later told journalists that despite triggering emergency measures to ease overcrowding by releasing thousands of inmates after serving just 40 per cent of their sentence, prisons are already back at over 99 per cent capacity.
She said hoped after the sentencing review “we will not have a prison system that’s on the point of collapse”, but warned she could not rule out further measures to ease overcrowding as she monitors prison numbers daily.
“I have been open to say that if we find ourselves in difficulty again I haven’t ruled out further operational measures if needed and I would go back to parliament if I have to do that,” she added.
The prison opening comes after a damning report from the Public Accounts Committee earlier this month warned prisons are months away from “total gridlock”. Last week, Ms Mahmood re-enacted the use of police cells to hold prisoners as jail occupancy reached a six-month high.
HMP Millsike, built on a site the size of 39 football pitches next to Category A HMP Full Sutton, is one of four new jails under plans to create 14,000 extra prison places by 2031.
The £400 million prison is fitted with security technology including reinforced barless windows to deter drone activity, 1,850 CCTV cameras and X-ray body scanners to prevent drugs and contraband from entering the prison.
The facility, which will be run by private operator Mitie Care and Custody, includes 24 workshops and training facilities aimed at getting offenders into work on release and away from crime for good.
These will enable 500 offenders at any time to train in skills such as cleaning, bricklaying, barbering and carpentry.
Ms Mahmood said Millsike “sets the standard for the future” and is designed to turn inmates away from a life of crime.
“Yes prisoners must be punished, on that we have always been clear, but prisoners must be rehabilitated too,” she added.
Russell Trent, managing director at Mitie Care and Custody said: “As a resettlement prison, our focus is on rehabilitation and restoration centred on future orientation to break the cycle of reoffending. We want our prisoners to leave HMP Millsike qualified, employable and equipped for life in the outside world.
“Everything from the building design to the technology, education and training opportunities has been engineered to create an environment where people leave ready to integrate and contribute to society.”
Source: independent.co.uk
