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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

This has been an interesting introduction to a number of amendments that we shall deal with in relation to indeterminate sentences. The Government very much welcome the opportunity for a serious debate on these matters. My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor has signalled that he is very much prepared for a serious debate. I also think that the recommendations in the report of my noble friend Lord Carter, particularly on a sentencing framework for the future, on which work led by a senior member of the judiciary has now been done, may offer a constructive way of dealing with these matters in a sober and mature way. They will ensure that we are in kilter with the legislation, the action of sentencers and the question of the prison population. I am sure that that is a constructive way in which to go forward. We have had a good introduction from the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, and others on the reason why public protection sentences were introduced. They were to protect the public and it is clear that the courts have taken up the use of those sentences in substantial numbers. There have proved to be issues with the focus and operation of sentences. Perhaps we are following the law of the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, but it had not been foreseen that many IP prisoners would have such short tariffs, although the legislation as it stands does not prevent that. The figures I have suggest that around 30 per cent now receive a tariff of two years or less. The average for all IPPs is 38 months and the record so far is 28 days. Aside from the question this raises as to whether the sentences are at an appropriate level of risk management for offenders whose trigger offence justifies only a low tariff, clearly, on a practical level short-tariff prisoners are difficult for correctional services to manage and a disproportionate amount of resources are used in trying to do so. As noble Lords have said, they make great demands on the Prison Service, which must prepare them to appear before the Parole Board, and on the Parole Board in terms of its workload, about which we heard something recently. At the end of January there were 3,850 offenders in prison serving an IPP. I understand that 17 IP prisoners have so far been released and it is predicted that the potential IPP population could grow to around 12,500 by 2011. We have already taken measures to assist the situation of those currently in prison on indeterminate sentences, but we believe that that is not sufficient to deal with the particular issue that we face. The statute is being reformed to ensure better use of the sentence and to enable us to manage risk more effectively across the piece. My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor announced his intention to make changes to this legislation and in particular to impose a seriousness threshold that should be met before an indeterminate sentence can be imposed. My noble friend Lord Carter of Coles recommended this approach in his review. We have already heard the comments of Anne Owers, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, in support of that intention. On the substantive point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, we think the threshold that we are suggesting is reasonable. It will target the most dangerous offenders without violating risk management. There is an association between the seriousness of an offence and the risk of future conviction and causing future harm, although that is obviously not the only factor in risk assessment. There is also the principle issue about the degree to which one can lock a person up on the basis of future risk. That, of course, goes to the core of the legislation. The question is whether the balance is right, and in the light of experience we think that we have not got it right. It had not been envisaged that the sentences would be used so widely for less serious offenders. In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, as a safeguard, we have included in the threshold legislation exceptions for those offenders who have shown themselves to be very dangerous by committing a particularly serious offence. When an offender has committed one of the offences set out in new Schedule 15A to the 2003 Act, the threshold need not apply to him if he commits future sexual and violent offences. The court will not be obliged to give him a public protection sentence, but will be able to if it sees fit in all the circumstances. I come to an associated question of how we are improving interventions for those people covered by the current IPP regime. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, that I well understand the pressures on prison staff. That point is very well taken. We have allocated £3 million to provide for additional assessments and interventions this financial year. We need to provide the right courses, programmes and training, and ultimate responsibility in that context still rests with the Parole Board and satisfying it that the level of risk is reduced. That still rests with the offender, but clearly there is more that we need to do to ensure that the appropriate programmes are in place. I also take the point raised by the noble Lord in relation to those prisoners who are likely to remain in prison for a very long time. We have debated on a number of occasions the many challenges facing the Prison Service at the moment, particularly in view of the population pressures. But I would say to the noble Lord that in the past few years we have also seen appreciable improvements in many of our prisons in the development of appropriate programmes and in dealing with some of the other issues that impact on these prisoners. The noble Lord mentioned mental health problems, in particular, which I endorse. The working group review established under the chairmanship of my noble friend Lord Bradley is considering some of those matters. Clearly a question of judgment is involved. We think the principle of these sentences is right, but we did not get the balance right. We have seen the impact in terms of the number of very short sentences that have become embraced within the system. We will discuss later whether the two-year threshold is appropriate, but overall we think that we have the balance right. This will be a better foundation for this sentence structure in the future.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
699 c615-7 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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