“We must not forget that when every material improvement has been effected in prisons, when the temperature has been rightly adjusted, when the proper food to maintain health and strength has been given, when the doctors, chaplains and prison visitors have come and gone, the convict stands deprived of everything that a free man calls life. We must not forget that all these improvements, which are sometimes salves to our consciences, do not change that position.

The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilisation of any country. A calm and dispassionate recognition of the rights of the accused against the state, and even of convicted criminals against the state, a constant heart-searching by all charged with the duty of punishment, a desire and eagerness to rehabilitate in the world of industry all those who have paid their dues in the hard coinage of punishment, tireless efforts towards the discovery of curative and regenerating processes, and an unfaltering faith that there is a treasure, if you can only find it, in the heart of every man these are the symbols which in the treatment of crime and criminals mark and measure the stored-up strength of a nation, and are the sign and proof of the living virtue in it.”

What an inspiring exhortation!

What further tireless efforts can we make towards the discovery of curative and regenerating processes for prisoners?

There’s a brilliant chart which shows this information and quite a bit more for the fiscal year ended March 2010.

According to the chart, the government spent around £17 billion directly on justice, prisons and policing including: £9.3 billion spent by the Ministry of Justice, £6.4 billion spent on policing, £1.1 billion of devolved spending on justice in Scotland and £200 million of devolved spending on prisons, the public prosecution service, criminal justice and youth justice in Northern Ireland (not to mention the relevant portion of the £4.4 billion of devolved spending on local government and social justice in Wales). Therefore, out of £669.3 billion total government spending for the year, the government spent around 2.5 pence out of every pound directly on justice, prisons and policing.

Of course, these numbers only account for the direct spending on justice, prisons and policing. It could be argued that there are considerable indirect costs which arise as a result of the prison system, for example additional benefits spending when a bread-winner in a relationship is jailed and faces reduced employment opportunities on release.

According to the chart, the government spent nearly £60 billion on employment related benefits in the fiscal year ended March 2010.

These benefits and the spending on justice, prisons and policing represented over 11 pence in every pound the government spent that year. One wonders whether they will prove to be a sensible investment of taxpayers’ money.

Judging by the facts – like persistently high re-offending rates by people released from prison – the money being spent on the prison system could be spent better. Have you got any suggestions for how the prison system could be improved? Please do post them below.

Much seems to have changed for the better since then. However, there are a number of problems which seem to persist – both in the US and here in the UK.

One of the most pernicious of these problems is that someone with little propensity for violence before prison is likely to discover that pre-emptive violence may be the best way to protect their interests in prison. Jack Abbott highlights this tendency towards offence as the best form of defence in prison throughout “In the Belly of the Beast”.

There is much talk of prisons being universities of crime. This description may evoke images of prisoners discussing safe-cracking and money laundering techniques. Hardly an ideal outcome for society.

How much worse though is the issue that prison may turn non-violent people into aggressors? Having learned to rely on violence for survival in prison, what is to stop the hardened prisoner relying on aggression following release?

Yet another reason why prison sentences for non-violent offences are such a disaster for society, in addition to their excessive costs and – in the majority of cases – failure to rehabilitate.

Let’s hope that our new government in Westminster shares this philosophy.

For example, it would be great if Nick Clegg MP and Ken Clarke MP swiftly make things happen to back up the former’s claim that he’ll “bring in a new approach to penal reform” which will end Labour’s “build and fill ‘em approach to prisons”.

Watch this space for further details.

If you miss the radio play, you can read more about this murder and why it could have been avoided by following this link to the Zahid Mubarek Trust’s website.

According to his letter, another constituent contacted him in March 2010 regarding the Howard League’s excellent work in prisons. Mr. Field in the past has written to both the government and his own front bench to highlight projects within prisons to get prisoners involved in interesting and productive work and to foster relationships with business.

He also feels that an imbalance exists in our justice system which we must address if we are serious about breaking the cycle of crime. As such, should the Conservative Party win the upcoming election, it has pledged to introduce a range of measures including:

• replacing the automatic release scheme with earned release;
• making community sentences tough and effective, and withdrawing any benefits for those who fail to attend;
• ensuring that offenders compensate victims through a victims’ fund – those serving custodial sentences will pay into the victims’ fund through work in prison;
• accelerating the deportation of foreign national prisoners; and
• introducing honesty in sentencing so courts set a minimum and a maximum period of incarceration.

These all seem like pragmatic policies – in particular withdrawing benefits for those who fail to attend community sentences. It would be good if the next government would also consider re-aligning incentives in the justice system along the lines mentioned in an earlier post on this blog to encourage less re-offending.

What would be your top priority for reform of the justice system if you were in charge – let readers know by commenting below.

Re: Finding better solutions for society than prison

As the local representative for Cities of London & Westminster, I hope
that in this election you will lend your broad support to the Howard
League for Penal Reform’s Take Action 2010 campaign.

As you know, the English and Welsh prison system is in crisis, with a
prison population that has more than doubled since the early 1990s.  It
has become too easy to talk about being tough on crime and simply
increase the number of prison places but all the evidence tells us that
this does not work.

Around two thirds of those receiving short sentences go on to re-offend
within two years of release and this rises up to three quarters for
children leaving custody.  Locking up children and vulnerable people
with mental health needs does not make our community much safer and
will not do much to cut crime.

Instead of simply accepting that each year the prison population will
hit record levels, it seems high time for a different vision.

I have a particular interest in the field of investment in the
community and feel that local justice problems should be tackled
locally. Bureaucratic targets dictated from Whitehall are all very well
but the best way to increase public confidence in the criminal justice
system is to bring it closer to the people.  I think investing in
amenities for the community and schemes to protect local vulnerable
people – particularly addiction treatment programmes – would prevent a
lot of crime from happening in the first place.

It seems to me that a government priority should be ending the use of
short-term prison sentences. In 2008, around two thirds of those
sentenced received a jail term of less than 12 months. Such sentences
are a waste of taxpayers’ money and do very little to stop
re-offending. The re-offending rate of those leaving prison after
sentences of a year or less is 60% within two years of release,
compared to 38% for those completing community orders. There has to be
a better way to tackle petty crime than a short and inefficient spell
in prison.

As my local representative I would really like you to consider the
scandal of how we treat children in the criminal justice system. I
believe we are far too punitive on some of our youngest and most
vulnerable people. England and Wales jails more children than any other
region in Western Europe. 76% of these children re-offend within one
year of release. Since 1990, 30 children have died in custody. I think
such a deliberate policy of incarceration of children is morally
questionable and practically inefficient. I would really like to know
your views on how we can better support our vulnerable young people.

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Howard League’s
radical new approach to providing real work in prison. The Howard
League for Penal Reform believes prisoners should be introduced to the
world of real work and its responsibilities. Real work requires an
employment relationship between an external employer and the prisoner,
in order to create a meaningful and realistic employee-employer
relationship. The work should be suitably meaningful to inspire pride
in the work done and should be fairly paid for the task undertaken to
create an incentive to work. I think this is exactly the sort of scheme
we need in English and Welsh prisons that could help turn people’s
lives around.

This election I hope you will make a priority the Howard League’s
campaign promise to fight for “less crime, safer communities, fewer
people in prison”.  It is a promise not to take the soft option on
crime by simply increasing the number of prison places but to think
about how certain individuals might be better catered for in the
community and how the justice system can do more to tackle the
underlying causes of crime.  It is a promise to make our community
safer and it is a promise to use taxpayers’ money wisely on a system
that can justify the expenditure with results.

If you feel you can support this campaign, then please sign up at
www.howardleague.org/takeaction.

Thank you for taking the time to consider backing this campaign.

Yours sincerely,

Justin Atkinson.

PS This email has been published on my blog, Just & Reasonable™, which
you may be interested to read at www.justinatkinson.com/blog/.

Anyone have any experience of how prisoners are prepared for release in the UK? Please let readers know by posting a comment below.

Each new prison place costs around £170,000 excluding running costs according to the Prison Reform Trust. The average burden to the taxpayer of keeping someone in prison is around a further £40,000 each year according to the Howard League for Penal Reform. Based on these estimates, the 9,400 new prison places would cost around £1.6 billion to build and a further £376 million per year to run.

Given that there’s little benefit to the taxpayer of imprisoning someone who doesn’t pose a threat to public safety (including many of the existing prison population), it seems outrageous to build more prison capacity at such colossal expense.

Do you think we need more prison capacity when around 7 out of 10 prisoners are back in prison again within two years of their release? Or should we make more use of alternative sanctions to prison, including community payback programmes and addiction treatment? Have your say by posting a comment below today.