Prison overcrowding: cause and effect

The UK finds itself in a prisons crisis with overcrowding and a lack of funding. We are now at breaking point. Nothing has been done to prevent this escalation. In 2021, it was said that the prison population would increase by 25% over the next five years. To help ease this situation, the government has announced a number of proposals, including the early release of low-risk prisoners, and the potential scrapping of certain sentences, such as those of under 12 months. 

The release of low-risk prisoners, however, is nothing new. In fact, the government implemented this proposal during the Covid‑19 pandemic to reduce the prison population and to stop the spread of the virus in custody. Many are asking: why was it halted? If this was something that was working during the pandemic, people rightly argue it made little sense to bring it back once restrictions eased. The system should not be changed at a whim; it needs a robust structure and its rules need to be clear and succinct.

Misleading headlines

Recent media reports have been misleading. With headlines stating that ‘violent criminals are to be released within weeks’, no wonder the public have little faith in the justice system. The media and government should be united in making the public feel safe rather than engaging in political point scoring. In reality, the proposals will only allow low-risk prisoners to be released, not dangerous and violent offenders. As such, the proposed release reforms would not extend to life sentence prisoners, those still serving imprisonment for public protection sentences, or those on extended determinate sentences. Most of these would still have to be approved for release by the Parole Board.

In relation to the scrapping of certain sentences altogether, this seems to suggest that all matters where the sentence can be anything up to 12 months, can be assessed with a blanket rule. This appears to be naive. Are some matters not more serious than others? By imposing such a blanket rule, this proposal would directly contradict the risk assessments that are carried out on many defendants to inform on sentence.

The suggestion that community orders or suspended sentences could be given as alternatives is ludicrous to anyone who works in this sector. The under-funded and under-resourced criminal justice system would be even more stretched. There would need to be even more input from probation services and more provision for support services in the community.  

To think that such alternative sentences could succeed alone is a pipe dream. Such a move must be backed up by appropriate support measures. The criminal justice system deals with some of the most vulnerable people in society – and they require a high level of support. We must address their individual issues that lead to offending and reoffending. These can include poverty, addiction or mental health problems.

It is all well and good amending sentencing guidelines to tackle the numbers going into prison but what about the ones that are already there? We appear to be forgetting about them and letting them fall into the trap of cyclical offending behaviour. Rather than looking to fund appropriate rehabilitation, the government sought to change legislation. The change would see many prisoners spending longer on the inside by serving two-thirds of their sentence as opposed to the half that they would have served under the previous legislation. How is this tackling overcrowding?

Prisons and the pandemic

Prisoners experienced challenging times during the pandemic. Courses were suspended, mental health support or healthcare provisions were impossible to access, and access to family and loved ones suspended. Today, we still see a considerable lack of provisions available for detainees. For example, some offending behaviour courses are only available at certain prisons. Yet there are no spaces available at those prisons, meaning offenders cannot be transferred and assessed for these courses, let alone for them to join the waiting lists for such courses which are up to 18 months.

The parole system is also riddled with continuous delays. This means that by the time cases get to the oral hearing stage, prisoners have been waiting at least 12 to 18 months. And they are still at risk of being ‘knocked back’ due to not having had the opportunity to complete the courses they have been on the waiting list for.

Those of us working in the criminal justice system bang our heads against a brick wall in the hope that the government listens. The only way to deal with these issues is to provide proper funding. Changing the law as and when it suits only exacerbates the problems.

The system is supposed to operate a rehabilitative culture. However, rehabilitation will be impossible if the government continues to seek the popular vote. Headline-making statements about tackling crime only continue to overstretch the system, while not providing much-needed tools for rehabilitation.

Nicola Maynard is a partner and head of prison law at Reeds Solicitors, Milton Keynes