To think prison reform wasn't the top of most voters agenda?

[malificent7]

I get it is important due to overcrowding but I'm a bit surprised this is one of the first topics in the headlines.
I am all for youth hubs to target knife crime....excellent idea but releasing lots of prisoners who apparently shouldn't be there will give Reform lots of ammunition what do you think?

Apologies for missing apostrophe btw!

I am concerned we will have lots of people running around who aren't rehabilitated.

He is in government, crime and punishment should be one of his priorities

Good he is making progress before he gets bogged down with other tasks

They’re using their huge mandate to do what needs to be done, and to change something that will benefit our country at all levels. Luckily, racist Janice down the road who voted Reform because Nige seems like a really good bloke doesn’t set the political agenda. The actual qualified people looking at the big picture on our country do.

They will be releasing people just a few weeks before their time is up anyway, also I expect non-violent crime offenders: fraud, theft etc.

Otherwise, with the prisons being full - judges can't sentence people as there are literally no spaces.

What would you prefer?

My thoughts also.

But there is no money. So they have to try and make positive headlines with low cost projects to soften the blow of the inevitable austerity measures.

Watch them tinker with crime figures though.

I think it's really important though, overcrowding and people being released early/not even imprisoned at all when they are dangerous is scary (conversely there are people sentenced who arguably shouldnt be which is equally as scary).

Locally to me a man was impersonating a police officer, he pulled a woman over in her car and only walked away when he noticed her son in the back seat. He had attached blue LEDs to his vehicle so this was premeditated, and they found a bat and handcuffs in his car. Guess his punishment?

They might have won all those seats but it's hardly a huge mandate

They aren't being rehabilated now, just learning how to be better criminals.

Locking more people up with longer sentences is a nice soundbite but all the last 14 years has got us is a massive prison population, nowhere to put any new offenders and no reduction in crime. Plus a huge backlog in the courts.

Building new prisons for all these extra prisoners is expensive and they can't recruit enough prison officers for the ones we already have.

From what I've read/heard, it seems that the prisons are in severe difficulties at the moment and if it's not sorted asap we'll be in big trouble within a year.

Apparently there is money available, which was allocated under the last government but not spent, so it's something that they can actually make a start on now.

Quite a high proportion of prisoners would be better off in rehab than prison, so that seems like a good place to start to me.

I actually thought it was quite an inspired appointment.

You clearly weren't reading the news. The overcrowding and reaching of limit was repeatedly reported.

I voted Tory but this is great, your election messaging needs to be simple. I think the inspired appointment of James Timpson has brought the conversation to a head earlier. But do this right (and generally bring competence to public services without bloating them and taxing us to death) and I’ll be tempted to vote for him next time. If he just kicks 1/3 off prisoners out then many of his seats are quite small majorities and we could have a very different outcome in 5 years.

@JudasButler1 412 seats is a huge mandate. That’s how our system works. That voter turnout was low is a different issue

Prisoners have been getting released early for months to free up space under the tories anyway. This article is from May 2024

Some prisoners will be freed up to 70 days early, after a scheme aimed at tackling overcrowding in jails in England and Wales was extended.
The scheme was introduced last October, at the time allowing for release up to 18 days early, with this increased to up to 60 days in March.
Justice Minister Edward Argar said only offenders near release are considered.
But Labour claimed the early release scheme is the price the public pays for a justice system in "crisis".
Anyone convicted of a sexual, terrorist or serious violent offence is excluded.

Explained perfectly what I was going to say.

I think James Timpson is a great appointment. And they have to do something about the prisons - they are full. It's a problem the previous government needed to deal with. It's not top of most people's agendas because it doesn't directly affect them. But it's still a problem which needs resolving.

I don’t think prison rehabilitates anyone anymore, if it ever did.

I’m ok with some people being released. People like John Worboys/John Radford, not so much. After previous talk of releasing him a few years ago, it concerns me that sex offences aren’t treated as seriously as they should be and that these people will be deemed suitable for release.

It is a crisis - it’s not just court delays but no space in prison so the Tory government told judges to limit sentencing. They didn’t crow about the state they’d left things in but Labour are right to take action now.

It’s an urgent problem because the prisons are days away from being full and there’s a huge backlog of cases in the courts. Timpson is a great appointment I think.

Well what else would you want the prisons minister, who comes with a wide background in rehabilitation methodologies, to look at? Education, that he knows nothing about?

It's not their only thing. Just the one that's been reported.

This is desperately needed, and impacts on all of us - the crime and justice system is totally bunged up, and not moving. The worst time prisoners have, the more alienated they are when they come out. Overcrowding in jail leads to more crime and less rehabilitation in the long run.

We all benefit from this

Prison in the UK does very little in the way of rehabilitation. They are chronically underfunded, overcrowded and experienced officers were pensioned off early leaving a massive skills gap in staff. Sadly in this country any kind of reform is met with 'going soft on crime' type of tabloid headlines. We to be more mature as to how to deal with prisoners and move beyond 'just throw away the key' thinking.

The prisons are so full that they are concerned they can't accept new prisoners soon. The courts are full of people waiting for justice for violent offences. They need space.
I want a huge overhaul of sentencing.
No sentences under 2 years (if the crime warrants a sentence under 2 years don't give it out). Research has shown that short sentences lead to higher reoffending rates. As people lose their jobs/homes etc and that can lead to a cycle of crime.
Would do a lot more about rehabilitation and restorative justice.

Well, James Timpson has been made prison minister, and he has a clear (imo excellent) agenda to reduce the number of prisoners we have. So I wasn't surprised about this announcement. The stuff Timpsons Group do to support prisoners (and also groups like children in care) is excellent.