The King’s Speech

“The current capacity crisis shows how desperately prisons need a respite from politicians legislating to toughen sentences as a supposed ‘solution’ to crime. In this respect, the King’s Speech can be given a cautious welcome. Much of the government’s longer-term agenda on prison reform remains to be decided, and will depend on the outcome of its promised sentencing review.

“It remains to be seen whether liberalising planning law will enable new prisons to be built at greater pace. But without efforts to also reduce demand and bring our use of imprisonment down to a sustainable and proportionate level, we condemn prisoners to live in inhumane and indecent conditions in outdated establishments not fit for purpose and which should have been closed decades ago.

“We welcome the government’s commitment to legislate to bring the draft mental health bill into statute. This includes provision to remove police stations and prisons as a place of safety, better support for people with severe mental health problems to access care as quickly and early as possible, and improved management of those patients subject to a restriction order (for the purposes of public protection). These long overdue reforms will be widely welcomed by the mental health and criminal justice sectors.

“We also welcome better support for children and young adults to prevent them getting caught up in violent crime. Proposals to introduce respect orders to tackle persistent offending by adults, along with measures to address shoplifting, will need careful scrutiny, to ensure they do not become a conveyer belt into prison for people with mental health needs or addictions.”