2004 press releases

Lewes MP Report Highlights That Prison Isn't Working

Lewes MP Norman Baker has today published a report on the country's prison system in which he voices his concerns at conditions inside prisons and calls for a fundamental rethink by the government of how prison is used. The MP decided to compile the report following the disturbance at Lewes Prison last October.

Amongst the report's findings are:

• The UK prison population is at its highest ever recorded level, is continuing to rise and is predicted to rise even further, making the UK now has the highest imprisonment rate in the EU. As a result, with many prisons near capacity, more will have to be built 
• 59% of prisoners are reconvicted within 2 years of being released. The reconviction rate for male young adults (under 21) over the same period is 74%
•  Over half of all prisoners say they have a drug dependency problem.
• More than half of male adult prisoners and more than two-thirds of female adult prisoners have no qualifications at all
• An estimated 125,000 children in this country have a parent in prison.
• Around one third of prisoners lose their housing as a result of their imprisonment

Speaking on the subject Norman comments:

"The UK has gone on a prison spree, locking up more and more people, and a much higher percentage of its population than other European countries - yet we also now know just how poor prison can be at reforming offenders. Prison too often turns amateur criminals into professional ones by functioning as a 'college of crime'. Clearly, for many offenders, prison isn't working and indeed, for many, a spell in jail can do more harm than good both for themselves, for their families, and for the wider society.

"I want crime cut and I want fewer victims of crime. Those who do commit crime need to be treated in such a way as to make them understand the seriousness of what they have done, understand the impact of their actions on the victims, and make them resolve not to reoffend. The present system singularly fails to achieve that. The government can no longer duck this issue and must now begin a fundamental re-think of its approach towards the penal system. It is about time that we started to take seriously the alternative punishments to prison; these can have a greater rehabilitative effect and come at a much lower social and economic cost."

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