A vital case for change: Howard League responds to the final report of the Independent Sentencing Review

The Howard League for Penal Reform has responded to the final report of the Independent Sentencing Review, published today (Thursday 22 May).

The review, led by David Gauke, a former Secretary of State for Justice, calls for a series of measures to address the prison capacity crisis through reducing reoffending and ending an overreliance on custody.

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This is a vital review that makes the case for change by focusing on the evidence on what will reduce reoffending and prevent more people becoming victims of crime.

“The ball is now in the government’s court. Solving the prison capacity crisis will require major intervention and, as the review recognises, this will only succeed if reform and investment deliver an effective and responsive probation service that works to cut crime in the community.

“And more must be done. The proposals unveiled today are a good start, and if enacted they will buy ministers more time and some headroom in an overstretched system. Ultimately, however, they are insufficient because the terms of reference for the review excluded consideration of more serious offences.

“If the government really wants to ensure that the country never runs out of prison places again, it must be bolder and address the longest and indeterminate sentences that have driven the criminal justice system to the brink of collapse.”

The Howard League submitted evidence to the review in January 2025, calling on the government to abolish sentences of 12 months or less and expand the use of suspended sentences, and emphasising the need for a well-resourced and effective probation service.

The charity’s submission, which drew on feedback received from members in prison, also called for custodial sentences to be reconceived, with focus on rehabilitation and incentivising progression.

Notes to editors

1. The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the world. It is a national charity working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison.
2. The Howard League’s submission to the Independent Sentencing Review can be found here.
3. For detailed analysis of how sentencing policy failures have contributed to the prison capacity crisis, read the explainer article ‘What is sentence inflation?’
4. In September 2024, the Howard League published a paper by the most senior former judges in England and Wales, which called on the government to reverse the trend of imposing ever longer prison sentences. Read Sentence inflation: a judicial critique.
5. For more information about the prison overcrowding crisis, read the explainer article ‘Why are prisons overcrowded?’
6. An earlier report from the sentencing review, published in February 2025, stated that the number of people in prison had grown by 40,000 and the number under probation supervision had risen by more than 100,000 since 1993. This, the report said, was the result of many decisions made by successive governments and a “tough on crime” narrative that has focused primarily on punishment – understood as incarceration and longer sentences – on occasion responding to embedded misunderstandings about sentencing and high-profile individual cases. Read the report here.

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