The emergency measures announced today to ease the prison overcrowding crisis — which will result in suspects being held in police cells across northern England instead of prison — are a direct result of the far-Right riots first triggered by disinformation spread online about the hideous killings of three girls in Southport last month
The Government and public will hope, of course, that the shocking disorder that followed will eventually be seen as an appalling one-off that won’t be repeated.
But even if that does turn out to be the case, the problem s in prisons highlighted by the impact of tough riot sentencing certainly won’t be going away. They will require far more than today’s quick fix or Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s planned early release scheme, which begins in September and will see large numbers of inmates freed after serving only 40 per cent of their jail term.
The reason is simple: our prisons have been in a mess for years, with long-standing problems of vermin-infested buildings, widespread violence and rampant drug use inflamed by a rising number of offenders being sent into custody.
There is no sign of those challenges being sorted soon. Official prison population projections show continued upward pressure amid demands for tougher action against criminals — not only rioters and those who incite disorder, but also perpetrators of violence against women and thugs who assault shop workers, to name just a few examples.
Throw in the impact of the continuing flow of new laws and it is clear — as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has admitted — that even the Government’s planned prison building programme, which will take years to deliver, is unlikely to be enough on its own.
Instead, what will be needed — as Tom Franklin, the head of the Magistrates’ Association, pointed out today — is reform and investment across the criminal justice system including in probation officers, as well as drug treatment and education courses.
More court capacity, extra staff and investment in the lawyers who defend and prosecute are all needed
Prisoners could be rehabilitated more effectively, and made less likely to reoffend and end up back behind bars, if they had better support of this type both while they are inside and after their release. Making sure they had homes to go when freed — instead of becoming homeless — would help too.
The same applies if the Government wants the courts to make more use of community sentences. They work only if there is a genuine chance for rehabilitation to take place and cannot be delivered effectively on the cheap.
Another area where money is needed is the courts. The record Crown Court trial backlog, as well as being bad for victims seeking justice, means some suspects are held for longer in custody than they need to be and delays efforts to deal with the causes of their offending.
More court capacity, extra staff and investment in the lawyers who defend and prosecute are all needed.
None of this will be easy and the high cost won’t be welcome to a government in which Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been sounding the alarm about a financial black hole in the public finances.
But she and Sir Keir will also know that emergency measures don’t, by definition, deliver permanent solutions and that long-term reform across the justice system is required sooner rather than later.
