Howard League response to government’s sentencing changes

The Howard League for Penal Reform has responded to the government’s announcement on the Sentencing Act Review, published today (Monday 3 August).

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Successive governments have failed to grasp the nettle of sentence inflation over many years and the end result is a prison system unable to deliver what it is designed for. It’s important to recognise that this government is making some effort to address the capacity crisis it inherited but even before Andy Burnham pressed pause on the changes due to come in next month, the measures in the Sentencing Act only bought the government a little time before the system will once again run out of cells.

“Against that parlous backdrop, the changes announced this evening ease a little of the immediate political pressure on ministers, but do nothing to head off future challenges. There are other ways to reduce pressure on the prison system, and the Prime Minister is absolutely right to highlight that there is scope to finally deal with the ongoing injustice of people still imprisoned on the abolished indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP), as well as dramatically reduce the number of women in custody. The government must explore these and other options urgently, while mustering the bravery to tackle unsustainable sentence inflation and prevent an endless cycle of crisis and failure, followed by imperfect and short-term emergency responses.”

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. For detailed analysis of how sentencing policy failures have contributed to the prison capacity crisis, read the explainer article ‘What is sentence inflation?’ on the Howard League website: https://howardleague.org/what-is-sentence-inflation/

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Noor Khan
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