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United Kingdom: prison sentences, charities and probation staff union welcome proposals
Ministers are being warned that a proposal to scrap prison sentences of six months or less will only work if there is more investment in the probation services.
The government says this approach in England and Wales’ prisons could reduce overcrowding and re-offending.
It is thought it would free up thousands of prison places.
But the probation officers’ union says the partial privatisation of the service needs to be reversed.
About 30,000 offenders - including burglars and most shoplifters - could avoid jail every year under the Ministry of Justice plans.
Sentences for violent and sexual crimes would not be affected by the proposed change, which has been welcomed by prison reform charities as well as trade union Napo.
Ian Lawrence, Napo’s general secretary, said while he supported the concept, there was “one important caveat”.
He told the BBC the part-privatisation over the past four years had “had a massive impact on service delivery and the ability of our skilled professionals to do exactly what they should be doing”.
“Levels of supervision, in many regards, are unsatisfactory,” he said. “It’s not conducive to proper rehabilitation. It’s not cost-effective for the taxpayer.”
“And what we need to see is more provision in the community for people to be given the opportunity to turn their lives around.”
Offenders could face sanctions such as community sentences if the proposal goes ahead, but no alternative penalties have been confirmed.
Ministers argue that short jail terms are less effective at cutting reoffending than community penalties.
Prisons minister Rory Stewart told the Daily Telegraph that such sentences were “long enough to damage you and not long enough to heal you”.
Arguing for the need for reform, Mr Stewart said: “You bring somebody in for three or four weeks, they lose their house, their job, their family, their reputation.