End of Custody Supervised Licence Scheme: Extension

Lord Howell of Guildford Excerpts

Monday 13th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

My noble friend makes a very serious point, which has considerable force. The Government are well aware of it and will take it forward.

[Lord Howell of Guildford (Con)]

My Lords, 50 years ago, when the prison population was about 40,000, some of us proposed radically—and, it was thought at the time, dangerously—that non-state or semi-state organisations, institutions and enterprises should play their role in reorganising the Prison Service and that there should be a radical appraisal, as we heard called for a moment ago, of the nature of custody and penalties so that we could be more in line with other countries on the proportion of people in prison in relation to population. We are still miles ahead, except for America. Can my noble friend reassure us that, whichever party is in government, there will be a serious, organised effort to grip this custody issue and bring us into line with civilised patterns in other countries and away from the problems with overcrowding and drugs and the endless stories of difficulties to which we are at present subjected?

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

My Lords, if my noble friend is suggesting that we need a radical and thorough debate on sentencing policy and the use of custody, I entirely agree with him. Any Government would need to take that very serious issue forward.