Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 9780215522009

This report evaluates the extent to which the provision s of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to provide overall structure and clarity to sentencing, by reserving prison for the most dangerous offenders and by making effective provision to deal with other offenders through community sentence, have been implemented, and its impact on sentencing. The Committee is concerned that the Government failed to engage in any adequate resource and capacity planning for the coming into effect of the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP). This new sentence was not accompanied by the level of custodial resources required to make it work. Meanwhile, the desired shift to community penalties where public safety is not at issue has not occurred to the extent that was hoped. Resources are a fundamental issue in delivering an effective sentencing strategy. So too is public confidence in the criminal justice system. The Government has failed to provide the information and leadership required to facilitate an informed public debate, while the media climate for such debate often depends on isolated discussion of particular cases which inhibits calm consideration. While the Government accepted the recommendations of Lord Carter's review of prisons, the Committee found his report deeply unimpressive, as it was not evidence based and was a missed opportunity. It should have considered how to develop new ideas to address the problems with sentencing and provision of custodial and non-custodial facilities in England and Wales. The Government has not learnt vital lessons from past experience. It needs to adopt a strategic approach to sentencing. The Committee make a series of detailed recommendations around these issues in order to make further progress towards effective sentencing.