KEEPING AMBER VALLEY SAFE

“80% of offenders are reoffenders, so I saw the same defendants time and again. The current system does not work. Does the Lord Chancellor agree that the new approach will reduce reoffending, cut crime and lead to fewer victims?”

My question to Shabana Mahmood, Secretary of State for Justice

Last summer our prison system nearly collapsed, with fewer than 90 prison places available. We can never again risk not being able to put the most dangerous offenders in prison. We must reform sentencing.

Last week the independent review on sentencing was published.

Once the recommendations become law this will mean:

Earned release for prisoners:

·       Prisoners will have to earn their way to release through good behaviour or face longer in jail.

·       There will be no automatic release for prisoners who misbehave.

Protecting victims of crime:

·       Increased tagging for perpetrators of violence against women and girls – enabling the closer monitoring of cowardly abusers to reassure victims and remove the onus from them to prove breaches had occurred.

·       Perpetrators of domestic abuse will be identified at sentencing – judges will be required to flag domestic abuse at sentencing so that prisons, probation and the police can better identify and manage abusers.

·       Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts will be expanded – bolstering support for victims and ensuring their abusers are properly supervised and rehabilitated.

·       More transparency for victims at sentencing – including the provision of free copies of judges’ sentencing remarks for victims of rape and other sexual offences, and ensuring they receive the information and support they need to navigate the criminal justice system.

·       Going beyond the Review’s recommendations, the Government will explore changes to “exclusion zones” preventing offenders from entering areas their victims might be. Some offenders will instead be locked into specific ‘restriction zones’ monitored by GPS tags, so victims can feel safe everywhere else.

Foreign National Offenders:

·       Powers to deport foreign national offenders quicker so they aren’t clogging up our jails.

Tougher community sentences:

·       A presumption against custodial sentences of less than a year in favour of tough community sentences that better punish offenders and stop them reoffending.  

Currently, nearly 60 percent of those receiving a 12-month prison sentence reoffended within a year.

Judges will still retain the power to hand down sentences of 12 months or less to offenders who have breached a court order and those who breach protection orders, such as restraining orders and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders.

Prison outside prison

The Government will expand tough punishments outside jail to force offenders to pay back the

victims and communities they have harmed. This includes:

·       Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever

on criminals.

·       Ramping up the use of tagging with a £700 million more for probation -a 45% increase and enough to fund tens of thousands of tags.

·       Exploring expanding the scope of ‘ancillary orders’, for example blocking offenders

from attending football matches, banning them from drinking, driving or travelling

abroad.

·       More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as

alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.

·       Exploring ways in which offenders can undertake tough, unpaid work, including doing

a job for a private sector company with payment going to support victims.

·       Working closely with councils to find the jobs that are urgently needed, including street

cleaning and filling in potholes. Assigning unpaid work teams to each job.

·       Expanding the use of chemical castration for sex offenders.