Responding to the government’s 1 September statement on criminal justice reform, the Prison Reform Trust has warned that simply building more prison capacity treats the symptoms of the crisis rather than its causes. In a strongly worded comment, PRT chief executive Pia Sinha said the government was “trading rehabilitation for the warehousing of prisoners”.
The Trust acknowledged that prisons are overcrowded and understaffed, with education, healthcare and rehabilitative support “often severely limited” – but argued that the answer lies in reducing unnecessary imprisonment and investing in community alternatives, not just building more cells. It gave a cautious welcome to the announced review of IPP sentences, which will involve cross-party oversight from Robert Buckland and Lord Blunkett, while warning that IPP prisoners have had their hopes raised and dashed before, “sometimes with tragic consequences”.
It’s a good reminder that today’s news – more prison places, a smaller early-release cohort, promised IPP reform – is only one side of an ongoing argument about how the system should actually work.