Short jail terms may be ditched in ‘smart justice’ plan

JAIL sentences of less than six months face abolition, the Justice Secretary announced today, as he warned that the UK imprisons too many people, with incarceration rates higher than almost anywhere in western Europe.

David Gauke said there was a “very strong case” for abolishing prison terms of up to six months in all but exceptional cases, a plan that goes further than any previous minister and even exceeds the Scottish model where there is a “presumption” against shorter sentences.

“For offenders completing these short sentences, whose lives are destabilised, and for society which incurs a heavy financial and social cost, prison simply isn’t working,” said Mr Gauke, pointing to evidence that almost two thirds of inmates re-offend within a year of release.

He said he wanted “smart justice” rather than “hard or soft justice” in which resources were switched from jail sentences to probation, rehabilitation and community orders enforced by technology such as GPS tagging.

Mr Gauke will also expand the release of prisoners on temporary licences (ROTLS) under which they work or train in the community while still in jail. Research showed the more time spent out on licence, the lower the rate of re-offending, he said.

Speaking at the think tank Reform, Mr Gauke said: “Now is the time for us as a society, as a country, to start a fresh conversation, a national debate about what justice, including punishment, should look like for our modern times.

“I know there will be some who argue that the only problem with our criminal justice system is that it isn’t tough enough, that the answer to short sentences is longer sentences, that the best way of stopping recently released prisoners from re-offending is not to release them.

“And that the endless ratchet effect of higher sentences is giving the public what it wants. But I believe that those in positions of responsibility have a duty to show leadership.”

The Conservatives approach to sentencing has been centred on the “prison works” doctrine, encapsulated in the phrase used by Michael Howard, who was home secretary 25 years ago.

However, Mr Gauke said Britain now incarcerates 139 people per 100,000 compared to Denmark’s 63, Germany’s 76, Italy’s 99 and France’s 104. This had partly been fuelled by longer sentences. Terms for sex offences now average 61 months, from 42 in 2007.

“I do not want to reverse the tougher sentencing approach for serious offences,” he said. “But equally, we should be extremely cautious about continuing to increase sentences as a routine response to concerns about crime.”

“We must recognise such an approach would lead us to be even more of an international and historical outlier in terms of our prison population.”