Following our round up of the major parties' manifestos, we take some time to explore the commitments around sentencing and prisons and the impact they might have on people  in contact with the criminal justice system, and the voluntary organisations who support them.  

Prisons are already struggling: England and Wales have the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe, as of December 2023. Just 13 (of 122) prisons were given a rating of outstanding in 2022-23 - the lowest number of prisons receiving this rating since 2016-17. Nine prisons were given a rating of serious concern - an increase from 2019-20 when seven (5.9%) prisons attained this rating. 

The prison population has risen by 93% over the last 30 years and is forecast to rise by about a further 17,000 people by 2026. At the same time, sentence lengths have increased: the average sentence length for all offences rose from 13.7 months in 2010, to 21.4 months in 2022. For more serious, indictable offences, sentence lengths have risen from 38.7 months in to 62.4 months. This has led to significant overcrowding, with the prison estate in England and Wales holding about 7,500 more people than advised by the Ministry of Justice’s own definition of safety and decency. 

It is disappointing then that many of the major parties made commitments to continue to increase sentence lengths, whilst remaining largely silent on broader prisons policy and tackling the underlying drivers of the increased demand for prison places. Prison overcrowding is therefore likely to remain a feature of our criminal justice system, as sentence lengths continue to rise, and the challenges and pressures that voluntary organisations face in trying to access and work with people in overcrowded prisons will persist.  

Conservatives 

In their manifesto, the Conservatives pledged to toughen sentences for ‘the worst offenders’, following their previous changes to end automatic release for those convicted of violent and serious sexual offences. Moreover, they also committed to making whole life orders mandatory for people convicted of the most serious instances of murder, increasing a 25-year starting point for domestic murders, and altering release provisions for people convicted of rape and serious sexual offences so they spend more of their sentence in prison.  Sentencing for murders that take place in the context of domestic abuse would be subject to new aggravating factors, and the manifesto pledges a review of homicide sentencing, with a view to increasing sentences in some cases. 

The Conservatives also committed to continuing their prison building programme, aiming to deliver 20,000 new places by 2030. This is unlikely to solve the overcrowding issue - analysis from the Prison Reform Trust in 2023 found that even delivering on plans to build the 20,000 new places by the originally announced timeline of the mid-2020s would still leave a shortfall of prison places by March 2025.  

Labour 

Labour plan to create several new offences, including assault of a shopworker, criminal exploitation of children, and spiking. Alongside this, they commit to a review of sentencing ‘to ensure it is brought up to date’, noting that sentences ‘often do not make sense either to victims or the wider public’. Whilst such a review could present an opportunity to begin to reverse the significant sentence inflation observed in England and Wales, their manifesto contains no further detail, and there is a risk that it could therefore result in longer sentences.  

Alongside this, Labour pledge to ‘use all relevant powers to build the prisons so badly needed’. This is not accompanied by any further detail in the manifesto, but Labour have subsequently said they will deliver the 20,000 places that have already been promised by the government, constructing the remaining 14,000. The manifesto does go on to recognise some of the dangers caused by prison overcrowding.  

Liberal Democrats 

The Lib Dems to pledge to end prison overcrowding, but they give very few details as to how they intend to achieve this. However, they do commit to setting a clear target of halving the time from offence to sentencing to help reduce the court backlog – which stood at a record 67,573 in March 2024 - and the number of people on remand - 15,523 at the end of March. In addition, they also announced plans to make youth diversion a statutory duty, so that there is a pre-charge diversion scheme for young people up to the age of 25 across England and Wales, and to divert people arrested for possession of drugs for personal use to treatment where appropriate, which could both also help to reduce the number of people who are sentenced to custody.  

Green Party 

The Greens are the only party who maintain a commitment similar to that seen in the Sentencing Bill to introduce a presumption against short prison sentences, in fact going further than the provisions of that Bill, calling for a presumption against prison sentences of under two years. They also commit to ensuring there are diversion programmes in place for young people arrested for low-level offences.  

Reform UK 

Reform also commit to a sentencing review, with one outcome pre-determined: people who commit a second ‘violent or serious offence will receive a mandatory life sentence’. Regarding child grooming offences, they call for child grooming to be an aggravating factor and bail to be refused for people charged with being part of a child grooming gang. Within their first 100 days, they would also commence building 10,000 new prison places, with disused military bases being commissioned for this purpose if needed. Their manifesto does not make clear whether these 10,000 places would be in addition to, or instead of, the prison building programme that is currently underway.  

Plaid Cymru 

Plaid Cymru argue that sentencing policy should consider what works to best prevent reoffending and to prevent people who have committed offences from posing a danger to the public. They highlight measures including restorative justice, community-based sentences for people who are ‘low risk’, and community-based prevention and rehabilitation. They also call for a review into the effectiveness of short prison sentences for women, and an increase in sentences for domestic violence and stalking offences.  

Alongside these measures, Plaid Cymru also commit to supporting people who commit acquisitive crime because of substance use needs for those needs, the introduction of a policy of ‘soft drugs decriminalisation’, and for the Home Office to ‘cleanse’ the criminal records of people cautioned or convicted of drug possession where there are no aggravating factors.  

Conclusion 

It is disappointing that the largest parties are not looking further than the status quo on sentencing, and, at least in their manifestos, offer little to reduce sentence inflation or overcrowding, or to improve reoffending rates. The smaller parties, including the Lib Dems, the Greens, and Plaid Cymru, propose some innovations that could positively impact those areas:  the Lib Dems’ commitments around youth diversion, the Greens’ pledge to introduce a presumption against prison sentences under two years, and Plaid Cymru’s commitment to reviewing the use of short prison sentences for women and their desire for a sentencing policy that reduces reoffending whilst keeping the public safe, and emphasis on restorative justice and community-based prevention.  

The voluntary sector in criminal justice works with people at all stages to support them to transform their lives. However, organisations are currently facing huge challenges in accessing and supporting people in prisons. There are delays to prison vetting to get voluntary sector staff into prisons, shortages of prison officers meaning people cannot always be unlocked or escorted to access support, and the ever-rising prison population mean even more people need support without sufficient resources to deliver it.  

Clinks thinks that the prison population can and must be reduced to make communities safer. Too many people are imprisoned where alternatives for them would be more effective. Consequently, Clinks believes that whichever party, or parties, form the next government, they should develop and implement a clear strategy for reducing the number of people in prison through investment in prevention and diversion, and expanding the use of community alternatives that are proven to be more effective at reducing crime. They must also halt sentence inflation and reduce the amount of time people are trapped in prison on remand.  

Image credit: Clinks conference 2023 - Ian Cuthbert