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Tories planning new prison places Tories planning new prison places
(about 13 hours later)
Conservative leader David Cameron says his party would build 5,000 more prison places in England and Wales - taking capacity in jails to more than 100,000.Conservative leader David Cameron says his party would build 5,000 more prison places in England and Wales - taking capacity in jails to more than 100,000.
Under the plans, older inner-city jails would be sold off to pay for more new prisons on cheaper land elsewhere.Under the plans, older inner-city jails would be sold off to pay for more new prisons on cheaper land elsewhere.
Mr Cameron also wants new "min-max" sentences - with no chance of parole until the minimum term has been served.Mr Cameron also wants new "min-max" sentences - with no chance of parole until the minimum term has been served.
But Labour accused them of copying their plans and called it "yet another uncosted spending commitment". Justice Secretary Jack Straw accused him of copying Labour plans, saying the rest of the scheme was "uncosted".
The 5,000 extra spaces would be on top of the 15,000 new prison spaces being created by the government over the next five years.The 5,000 extra spaces would be on top of the 15,000 new prison spaces being created by the government over the next five years.
Reparations The package of criminal justice system reforms in the "green paper" also include proposals to:
Mr Cameron says he also wants more work and training for prisoners, a system which means they have to "earn their release" and more transparent sentencing.
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  • Sell off 30 Victorian jails in city centres for redevelopment, with goal of ending overcrowding by 2016
"Today, I think almost everything with the system is wrong," he told BBC Breakfast.
  • Bring in tougher community sentences, with offenders wearing uniforms and the withdrawal of benefits for those who do not attend
    • Most of their proposals seem to be way behind what we are doing already Prisons minister David Hanson class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7258725.stm">UK prisons hit 'over-capacity' class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7128181.stm">'Super-prisons' to be built
  • Ending automatic early release after half the full term. Prisoners who have passed their minimum term would earn their release with good behaviour, work and progress on rehabilitation programmes, such as drug treatment
    • "A criminal goes to court - they are told they have got a four year sentence and they are let out after two, so everybody feels cheated.
  • A victims' fund - those serving custodial sentences would pay into the fund through work in prison
    • Launching the proposals following a visit to Wandsworth Prison, Mr Cameron said: "Almost everything in our criminal justice system is going wrong and our prisons are in crisis."
    He told the BBC: "A criminal goes to court - they are told they have got a four year sentence and they are let out after two, so everybody feels cheated.
    "We are going to change that and say the judge should read out what we call the 'min-max'."We are going to change that and say the judge should read out what we call the 'min-max'.
    "And then the prisoner has to earn release through good behaviour, through hard work, through making reparations to their victims.""And then the prisoner has to earn release through good behaviour, through hard work, through making reparations to their victims."
    Most of their proposals seem to be way behind what we are doing already Prisons minister David Hanson UK prisons hit 'over-capacity''Super-prisons' to be built
    He added: "The real emphasis on it is actually turning prisons into places not where we just warehouse prisoners and bang them up for 23 hours a day in their cell.He added: "The real emphasis on it is actually turning prisons into places not where we just warehouse prisoners and bang them up for 23 hours a day in their cell.
    "But they should be places of work, of rehabilitation and of reparation, so that the work prisoners do do, means that they can pay money back to their victims - these are really important policies.""But they should be places of work, of rehabilitation and of reparation, so that the work prisoners do do, means that they can pay money back to their victims - these are really important policies."
    Automatic release Under the Tory plans, every public sector prison in England and Wales, except the eight high-security establishments, would become an independent fee-earning Prison and Rehabilitation Trust.
    Under the "min-max" proposal, being set out in the Conservative package being unveiled on Monday, judges would set the minimum sentence to be served before probation. The trusts would be able to commission private companies and voluntary organisations, who would also be responsible for inmates after their release.
    The trusts would be paid by results, with a bonus f the offender is not reconvicted within two years.
    Savings
    Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said making rehabilitation a priority could bring reconviction rates down by as much as 20% and cut the predicted prison population by 6,000 by 2020.
    The savings would produce up to £259m a year to invest in rehabilitation programmes.
    Under the "min-max" proposal, judges would set the minimum sentence to be served before probation is considered.
    And prison governors would decide exactly when inmates were released, depending upon their conduct in jail.And prison governors would decide exactly when inmates were released, depending upon their conduct in jail.
    This government must reach beyond party politics and... establish a royal commission on the nature and purpose of imprisonment Juliet Lyon,Prison Reform Trust Prisoners who refuse to engage in rehabilitation programmes or to stay off drugs would stay in custody the longest.
    Prisoners who refuse to engage in rehabilitation programmes or stay off drugs would stay in custody the longest under the plans which the Conservatives would introduce if they got into power.
    The additional capacity would be used to end the system of automatic release for prisoners after they have completed half the jail term handed down in court.
    The number of inmates this week in England and Wales hit a record high of 82,180.The number of inmates this week in England and Wales hit a record high of 82,180.
    And thousands of prisoners have been released early under emergency measures introduced last summer to tackle overcrowding. Learning in jail
    'Heartening success'? Thousands of prisoners have been released early under emergency measures introduced last summer to tackle overcrowding.
    The Conservatives want the voluntary sector to play a much greater role in providing inmates with work and skills. The government says 35,000 prisoners undertook training and employment in 2006/7 and spending on learning in prison has trebled to £164m since 2001.
    The government argues that 35,000 prisoners undertook training and employment in 2006/7 and spending on learning in prison has trebled to £164m since 2001. "We have an existing corporate alliance with 70 employers and we recently announced a big expansion plan," a Ministry of Justice spokesman said.
    A Ministry of Justice spokesman cited comments made by Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers that improvements in prisons learning and skills was a "most heartening success".
    "We have an existing corporate alliance with 70 employers and we recently announced a big expansion plan," he said.
    "We also have 370 workshops around the country employing 10,000 prisoners.""We also have 370 workshops around the country employing 10,000 prisoners."
    Prisons minister David Hanson said the proposal was "yet another uncosted spending commitment" from the Tories, and accused the party of copying the government's own plans. And Mr Straw dismissed what he called "a long and very thin document".
    'Policy vacuum' "Most of the sensible bits reheat what we are already doing and the rest of it is either incomprehensible or uncosted or both."
    "We have now some 15,000 net places being built over the next five years, some 2,500 places being built this year," he said. Prisoners off their bunks
    "And the Conservative Party have come forward today with proposals which are not costed, which don't have any relevance to the current building programme, and which I don't believe they will deliver in due course." David Heath, the Lib Dems' justice spokesman, said: "There is no evidence that our extremely high incarceration rates are doing any good."
    Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, welcomed the Tories' prisons review. But Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, welcomed the Tories' prisons review.
    "The purpose of prison must be to make the lives of those it houses purposeful," she said. "Our graphic design studio, Barbed in Coldingley Prison, is a beacon of just what could be done to get long term prisoners off their bunks and into purposeful work which pays a real wage and engages them as active citizens," she said.
    "Our graphic design studio, Barbed in Coldingley Prison, is a beacon of just what could be done to get long term prisoners off their bunks and into purposeful work which pays a real wage and engages them as active citizens."
    Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, called on the government to establish a royal commission, an ad hoc advisory committee often used to investigate major issues.Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, called on the government to establish a royal commission, an ad hoc advisory committee often used to investigate major issues.
    "Successive governments have allowed prisons to rot in a policy vacuum..." she said.
    "This government must reach beyond party politics and, instead of arguing about who can spend most money on more jails, it should establish a royal commission on the nature and purpose of imprisonment."