Prison governors back Clarke reform plans
By politics.co.uk staff
Ken Clarke earned the support of prison governors for his plans to reduce the use of jail for trivial offences.
The support comes just as the justice secretary prepares to address the Prison Governors Association (PGA) annual conference.
A survey of prison governors conducted by the Howard league for Penal Reform found 81% of all respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement ‘short prison sentences serve to reform and rehabilitate the offender’, with only six per cent of governors agreeing or strongly agreeing.
Fifty-nine per cent of all respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed when asked if short prison sentences serve to reduce crime, while 76% reported that they considered the current use of short prison sentences between zero and six months to be ‘excessive’.
“Upon arrival prisoners on short sentences might as well be handed their release forms along with their induction papers. People are literally sent to prison, with all the costs that go with it, for a few weeks, or even days, at a time,” Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said.
“This survey confirms that those who know best – the prison governors themselves – do not believe short prison sentences can reform individuals or cut crime.”
Mr Clarke remained unrepentant about his plans to reduce the role of imprisonment in trivial criminal cases during the Tory party conference last week, but a majority of party members are uncomfortable with the plans.
Key New Labour figures remain convinced the scheme is equally unpopular with voters, but Ed Miliband has made it clear he will support the justice secretary from the opposition benches.
