Better Prisons: Less Crime (Justice and Home Affairs Committee Report)

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, the Justice and Home Affairs Committee deserves congratulations on producing such an excellent and thorough report. Congratulations are also due to those who have delivered their maiden speeches today, all of excellent quality—and I am sure there is one more to come.

The only thing in which our prison system excels is the number of people it crams into it. That is the root of all the problems we are addressing today. There are too many people who cannot be given enough work to do, or the education or experience they need, many of whom should not be there in the first place.

I am sure many noble Lords, like me, were delighted when the noble Lord, Lord Timpson, was appointed to his post, because we knew that he wanted to do the best possible thing for the country, for the prisoners and for those who offend, many of whom are not really bad people but just find themselves in a bad position. I have every sympathy with him in trying to align his principles and aims with the system he finds himself confronting—in particular the media, which the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, referred to, which is out for blood all the time rather than rehabilitation. It is a very difficult equation to balance. It cannot be done overnight, and I wish the noble and learned Lord, Lord Timpson, all the best still, but it is not to underestimate the problems he faces.

Many of us will have dealt with Timpson, the family business, which has done so much to encourage the employment of prisoners. One of the things that is most notable is that the staff in Timpson appear to feel empowered to do what they believe is right for the customer and to use their initiative. They are not bound in by stupid bureaucratic rules. But it is appalling to read how little autonomy the governors in our prisons have. If a member of staff at Timpson appears to have more autonomy than a prison governor, there is something radically wrong in the system. We are seeing the results of that in the way the staffing levels and budgets in prisons are allocated. They are not fit for purpose. As the committee said, Governments need to give more autonomy to governors. I would be very interested to hear more from the noble Lord about how he is going to address that.

Many people have talked about the drugs issue. It is absolutely crazy that we have the House of Commons Justice Committee saying quite blithely that it is now at “endemic levels. The noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, talked about how it manages to flourish. There is a prevailing culture of acceptance of drugs in our prisons. This cannot be right. There were 136 drug-related deaths in the two years to December 2024 in our prisons. If anyone in this Chamber tried to run a drugs racket, our doorkeepers would be on it in seconds.

How is it that such things are allowed to flourish in our prisons? We know: it is the corruption that the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, referred to. There are organised criminal gangs running rife in our prisons, and in part that must be because we do not have the right prison officers. The vetting system has to change. There have to be face-to-face interviews and, as in many public services, there has to be lifelong vetting of those in these positions. These are positions of power, and we cannot afford for them to be in the wrong hands.

I would also like to refer to the plight of women prisoners, many of whom—if any—should probably not be there. Female prisoners suffer not only the cost to themselves; the cost to their families is huge. The reoffending rate for women, if they have been on a short sentence, can be up to 58% and beyond, but if they have a job on leaving, that makes all the difference. Training is all-important for women prisoners. The charity Working Chance does great work in putting women prisoners into work when they leave, but we need that for all our prisoners.

We need more education. It is utterly crazy—as Charlie Taylor, HMIP, has already said—that, at £45,000 a year, we cannot educate prisoners to read. We need to learn more from the noble Lord the Minister about what he is going to do about that.

I would also like to bring up the issue of mentees and mentors, which others have raised. They are all-important. They do not need to be sportspeople, and they do not necessarily need to be other prisoners, but they are all-important in building relationships.

Criminal Justice System: Capacity

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

I think I can reassure the noble Lord. It is intended that we will have very senior former judges on the sentencing review, who I am sure will take to heart the noble Lord’s point.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, this measure is intended, in part at least, to take pressure off the Crown Courts, but can the Minister say something about the pressure on magistrates? Is it the case that the number of magistrates fell by 50% over the decade to 2021 and has not yet got anywhere near that number? Can he say something about the backlog of cases at magistrates’ courts, too, please?

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

I became a magistrate just under 20 years ago and at that point there were 30,000 magistrates in England and Wales. There are now about 14,000 and we are trying to get the number back up to 18,000. So, I accept the point the noble Baroness made on that. The other point is that in the youth court, magistrates have powers to sentence up to two years—I was a youth magistrate as well. The change is important and significant, but it is not such a big step change that magistrates will not be able to handle it in any way. I am confident that they will be able to handle it, and the backlogs in the magistrates’ courts are nowhere near as bad as those in the Crown Court.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

It is certainly our intention to do so. That underpins so much of what we are going to do. We are increasing the number of people in the Probation Service. Obviously, we want to increase the rehabilitation figures and reduce the reoffending figures. The spotlight will be on the Probation Service to try to deliver that objective.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, given the importance of employment in stopping reoffending, are there plans to increase the number of employers that will consider taking on ex-offenders? Will the Government provide any incentives for them to do so?

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

My noble friend Lord Timpson has just whispered in my ear “Employment advisory boards”, of which he was a leading light and which we intend to increase. I accept the noble Baroness’s point that if people can get gainful employment when they leave prison, they are far less likely to reoffend.