Demand rising faster than any supply ‘could possibly catch up with’, justice secretary saysThe Law Society of England and Wales has said that building more prisons will not be enough to solve the problems with the criminal justice system. Its president, Richard Atkinson, put out this statement about the Ministry of Justice’s announcement.The lord chancellor’s investment in the criminal justice system is welcome. However, as an essential service protecting the public, the criminal justice system can only be dealt with holistically, so it will be essential that building more prisons is matched by investment in legal aid, the Crown Prosecution Service and courts. It is vital that the government also invests in rehabilitation for prisoners to reduce reoffending rates and tackle the courts backlogs to help bring down the remand population.We cannot build our way out of this crisis. The billions of pounds earmarked for opening new jails would be better invested in securing an effective and responsive probation service, working to cut crime in the community.
Problems in prisons spill out into the towns and cities around them, and new jails put added strain on local public services. When violence and self-harm are rife behind bars, it is hardly surprising that proposals to build more prisons meet significant opposition from residents living nearby. This is why the forthcoming review of sentencing is so important. Unless we see concerted action to make sentences proportionate and reduce demand on the system, this crisis will deepen and leave an even bigger mess for future generations to tackle.The government has said it will build four new prisons within the next seven years in a bid to grip the overcrowding crisis.The Ministry of Justice promised to find a total of 14,000 cell spaces in jails by 2031.Demand is still rising faster than any supply could possibly catch up with. We’re very honest and transparent in the strategy itself that building alone is not enough because the demand is rising more quickly.The demand for prison places is actually 4,500 extra every single year. Even with the emergency measures that I’ve been forced to take, that’s 3,000 every year, we can’t get there just by building alone. That’s why I set up the sentencing review just a few weeks ago, because we need a longer term solution.We will run out, because even all of that new supply, with the increase in prison population that we will see as a result of that new supply, doesn’t help you with the rise in demand, because demand is still rising faster than any supply could possibly catch up with. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/dec/11/pmqs-live-uk-politics-keir-starmer-kemi-badenoch-labour-tories-prisons
Author : Andrew Sparrow
Publish date : 2024-12-11 09:36:00
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Four new prisons to be built but space could still run out, minister warns – UK politics live
