Offenders will serve community sentences instead. The announcement marks a 360-degree turn for the government—former Lord Chancellor David Gauke announced a similar policy in 2019 but it was dropped by Boris Johnson’s government before it could be implemented.
Chalk also promised more emphasis in prisons on rehabilitation.
However, these two policies, aimed at minimising disruption to a convicted person’s life, family and job and reducing the likelihood of reoffending, will be tempered by a policy of longer sentences for the most dangerous offenders.
Chalk aims to tackle overcrowding by arranging more prisoner transfer deals so foreign offenders can be returned up to 18 months before they are due to be released.
He will allow the prison service to let inmates out of prison 18 days early with certain conditions attached, such as tagging. This will not apply to anyone serving a life sentence, an extended determinate sentence, or to anyone convicted of a serious violent offence, terrorism or a sex offence, Chalk said this week.
He told MPs he is considering increasing the sentencing discount for offenders who plead guilty at the first opportunity. He also hinted he may take action on the controversial issue of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences, which are indefinite. While IPP sentences were abolished in 2012, Ministry of Justice figures for December 2022 show 2,892 IPP prisoners remained incarcerated. All but 35 of these had passed their tariff date. Chalk called IPP sentences ‘a stain on our justice system’.
Richard Miller, head of justice at the Law Society, said: ‘The government has taken a pragmatic response to the prison crisis which is a complex issue.
‘There are advantages and disadvantages in the measures proposed by the Justice Secretary, and difficult balances to be struck.’
Andrea Coomber KC (Hon), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: ‘Two-thirds of prisons in England and Wales are overcrowded, so it makes sense to introduce targeted early release and limit the use of short sentences.’
