Cabinet veteran Ken Clarke has arrived at the MoJ with ambitious plans for reform. Ben Willis sets out an agenda that aims to cut both reoffending and public expenditure.
At the end of June, in his first big speech since taking office, the new Conservative justice secretary Kenneth Clarke set out plans to overhaul the UK’s criminal justice system. As one starting point for his proposals, Clarke cited evidence that simply imprisoning criminals doesn’t address reoffending, with half of prisoners reconvicted within a year of release. But another major driver was the £325m of savings the MoJ was asked to find in June’s emergency Budget, with more certain to follow come the autumn’s spending review.
Clarke said that, rather than ‘salami-slice’ departmental programmes, it would be more effective to go back to the drawing board and ask fundamental questions about how criminal justice can be delivered in a more “targeted” way. Proposed reforms include an increased use of rehabilitation to move offenders away from the drivers of crime such as drug and alcohol abuse. Private and third sector organisations will help deliver rehabilitation, with these same bodies paid according to their success in reducing reoffending. Clarke also pledged a renewed focus on prison as a place of reform as well as punishment, where prisoners should be offered “education, hard work and change”.Dale Bassett, a senior researcher at think tank Reform, says the form of criminal justice envisaged by Clarke will require the MoJ to build strong links with other departments and agencies to ensure offenders receive the right support. “MOJ is going to have to work particularly closely with work and pensions, health, education and the communities department,” he says. “That’s going to be increasingly important to delivering this cohesive agenda.”
The ministerial team
Ken Clarke, the lord chancellor and justice secretary, is the only surviving ‘big beast’ of the last Tory government and by far the most experienced minister in David Cameron’s cabinet. Observers suggest that Clarke is unlikely to hold back in pushing through his proposed reforms. “If you look at his record as home secretary and health secretary, he won’t be afraid to take on vested interests,” says Max Chambers, a criminal justice researcher at the Policy Exchange think tank. Meanwhile, in a recent blog post, Simon Bastow, a public policy expert at the London School of Economics, wrote of Clarke: “He has relatively little to lose, and can be a bold reformer without worrying too much about career implications.”
The police and criminal justice minister is Nick Herbert: the shadow environment secretary before the election, Herbert is no stranger to his new brief, having also previously shadowed police reform. Working in a post straddling the MoJ and Home Office, Herbert will – says Chambers – be pivotal in securing the cross-departmental input thought necessary for Clarke’s criminal justice reforms. Peter Bottomley, Conservative MP for Worthing West, which neighbours Herbert’s own Arundel and South Downs constituency, describes Herbert’s approach as a blend of traditional and progressive, adding: “He’ll demand a lot. But there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Tom McNally is the justice minister: a former professional PR man and political adviser to James Callaghan, Lord McNally is also leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. His portfolio includes freedom of information, constitutional affairs and civil liberties.
There are also two parliamentary under-secretaries. Crispin Blunt, the Tory MP for Reigate, was previously an opposition whip and the shadow minister for home affairs and counter-terrorism. He will have responsibility for prisons, probation and youth justice.
Finally, Jonathan Djanogly, MP for true-blue Huntingdon, will have responsibility for the courts service, legal aid and civil law. Djanogly has extensive legal experience, gained during more than a decade spent as a corporate finance solicitor.