Labour will open the door to wider use of community punishments for criminals—including house arrest—under a new review.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said extending technology such as electronic tags would see the creation of a ‘prison outside prison’ for non-dangerous offenders.
The goal of the sentence review is to resolve the jail problem, which has resulted in the early release of thousands of prisoners in the past six weeks to make room in the cells.
Led by former Tory minister David Gauke, the review will look at ‘robust community alternatives to prison.’
Thousands of criminals a year are currently released from jail on a ‘home detention curfew’ which requires them to wear an electronic tag and observe a curfew.
This type of ‘house arrest’ cannot currently be imposed as an initial sentence by a court, but the review may recommend introducing it as a substitute for jail.
Ms Mahmood said, ‘We have an opportunity now to reshape and redesign what punishment outside of a prison looks like.
‘Theoretically, a judge could hand down a sentence of house arrest.
‘I’m interested in what punishment outside of a prison looks like.
‘It still has to be punishment, they still have to have their liberty curtailed, people have to know and believe there are consequences to breaking our laws.’
The review is also likely to recommend an end to short prison sentences.
When he was justice secretary in 2019, Mr Gauke said short jail terms did not prevent reoffending and called for them to be scrapped in favour of tougher community sentences.
Labour is still committed to constructing an additional 14,000 jail places, increasing the total capacity in England and Wales to 105,000.
Ms Mahmood said: ‘This review, along with our prison building program, will ensure we never again have more prisoners than prison spaces.
‘I believe in punishment. I believe in prison, but I also believe that we must increase the range of punishments we use.’
The review will look at introducing ‘minimum sentences’ for serious crimes but it remains unclear how they could work.
Ms Mahmood is also understood to have been impressed by a scheme in Texas that gives well-behaved prisoners time off their jail sentences.
To learn more about the programme, she intends to visit the United States in the next year.
The new review will scrutinise ‘the point at which offenders are released from prison’, opening the way for some inmates to be freed earlier.
Additionally, the length of time they are under community probation officers’ supervision will be examined.
The 34% of people who voted for Labour are not me, and I’m happy that I didn’t vote Labour or Conservative, and before you ask, yes I did vote for a party.
The reasons for voting for a party and not saying which one is because successive governments have failed to do anything constructive, like building enough prisons to cope with the enormous increase in our nation’s population caused by 20 years of open borders, and releasing dangerous criminals into our neighbourhoods is far from the answer, and instead of voting for who we think would be the best choice, vote nobody. Don’t go to the polls like it’s the Olympics. Stay at home, and let our government swing from the chandeliers whilst trying to scratch their heads like a bunch of Orangutans, wondering what the hell is happening.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 