Former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke has been appointed to lead a review of sentencing.
Gauke was the Ministry of Justice’s most senior minister from January 2018 to July 2019, in Theresa May’s government.
He said it is “a privilege to serve, not least because such a review is timely and necessary”, in an op-ed for the New Statesman.
“Clearly, our prisons are not working,” Gauke said. “The prison population is increasing by around 4,500 every year, and nearly 90% of those sentenced to custody are reoffenders."
Gauke said the review will explore "what punishment and rehabilitation should look like in the 21st century, and how we can move our justice system out of crisis and towards a long-term, sustainable future".
This will include examining “tough alternatives to custody”, such as using technology to place criminals in a “prison outside prison” and forcing offenders to do hard work in the community that gives back to society, the MoJ said.
The review was launched yesterday as more prisoners were released under an emergency scheme to deal with prison overcrowding. The MoJ said the review “will make sure no government is ever placed in this position again”.
In Gauke’s column for the New Statesman, the former justice secretary said the government “had no choice but to take emergency measures and release prisoners early” and that “anyone in office over the summer would have done the same”.
The terms of reference for the review state that it will be guided by three principles:
- Sentences must punish offenders and protect the public – there must always be space in prison for the most dangerous offenders
- Sentences must encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime, cutting crime by reducing reoffending
- The need to expand and make greater use of punishment outside of prison
Gauke and the rest of the panel “are encouraged to draw not only on national data but also on international comparisons” in developing their recommendations and that the sentencing framework “must follow the evidence of what reduces offending”. The review will not look at sentencing in individual cases or the role of the judiciary, which is a matter for the independent judiciary.
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said the review will “make sure prison and punishment work – and that there is always a cell waiting for dangerous offenders”.
“This government inherited prisons in crisis, within days of collapse,” she said. “This review, along with our prison building programme, will ensure we never again have more prisoners than prison spaces.
“I believe in punishment. I believe in prison, but I also believe that we must increase the range of punishments we use. And that those prisoners who earn the right to turn their lives around should be encouraged to do so.”
The review will submit its findings in full to the justice secretary by spring 2025.