Criminal Justice Reform

Debate between Lord Lemos and Baroness Stowell of Beeston

Tuesday 8th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I need to be straightforward with the noble Lord. Prison numbers are not going to come down quickly; in fact, they are going to rise. That is why we are building new prisons. A number of noble Lords have asked about reducing reoffending. The Government have done a great deal about reducing reoffending. Indeed, HMPPS had a great deal of support from the previous Government, financially, to build up our capacity for housing and for drug treatment, and my noble friend Lord Timpson did a great deal on the employment front. But I should say that what will not reduce reoffending, in any circumstances, is overcrowded prisons with overstretched staff operating in an environment that is extremely disruptive. If we want people not to reoffend, the way to achieve it is to have highly motivated staff working in a reasonable way, with the support and the facilities that are available, in the way that my noble friend Lord Timpson sought to achieve.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)]

My Lords, the Government’s early release scheme has clearly created a lot of concern among the wider public, so can the Minister provide any data on how many offenders who have been released under this scheme have since been returned to prison? Can he also commit to providing regular data updates on any prisoners who have to be returned to prison after being released early?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

Well, these arrangements are not coming in until the beginning of October.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)]

There have been prisoners released.

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

There have been prisoners released at the end of their sentences for a long time. We do publish data on prisoner releases and will continue to do so.