An upcoming review of prison sentencing in England and Wales should consider all options, including allowing prisoners to earn an earlier parole hearing through work and good behaviour, the Justice Secretary says.
Shabana Mahmood recently went on a fact-finding trip to Texas, where a similar scheme was introduced in 2011.
She was accompanied by David Gauke, a Conservative predecessor who is leading the sentencing review for the Labour Government.
"We’ve got to be open to all potential future constructions of sentences. If you’re going to think about incentivised behaviour, obviously it’s a carrot and a stick, isn’t it," Ms Mahmood told The Daily Telegraph.
In Texas, prisoners can earn credits by working during the week and maintaining a clean disciplinary record.
Under any potential scheme in England and Wales, credits could be earned through work, training, and education, potentially leading to earlier parole hearings, according to The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, sentences could be increased for those who refuse employment opportunities.
“If you’re going down the road of incentivisation, actually that might mean some things no longer become automatic,” the Justice Secretary said.
“But we would have to consider carefully how you would take the best learning from the law and read across to our system because our arrangements are different.”
Ms Mahmood said she had visited Texas because “they’ve turned things” around, with lower re-offending rates for prisoners.
Mr Gauke said incentivising people over some time allowed a “more considered approach to assessing their behaviour”.
Most prisoners in England and Wales are released on licence after 40 per cent, 50 per cent or 60 per cent of fixed-term sentences.
Ms Mahmood told The Times she would “find a way” to make sure any plans to make prisoners work were not blocked by “obstacles” including human rights legislation”.
Last week, the Independent Sentencing Review issued a report which said longer jail terms have been a “knee-jerk” policy response to show action by successive governments, leading to an overwhelmed and ineffective system.
The “unstrategic manner” of increasing sentences over decades has also meant ways to cut crime and reduce reoffending have been overlooked as other aims of sentencing criminals, it said.
