Former Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, the Rt Hon David Gauke, and an expert panel are carrying out an independent review of sentencing.
This comprehensive re-evaluation of our current sentencing framework was prompted by the extreme capacity pressures on the prison system and the subsequent emergency measures announced by the new government. The review seeks to provide long term solutions to the prison overpopulation crisis by examining non-custodial sentences, short and longer custodial sentences, alongside sentencing practises for prolific offenders and those with specific needs and vulnerabilities, and the administration of sentences.
The review is guided by three key principles, as stated on the government website:
- Sentences must punish offenders and protect the public, ensuring that there is always space in prison for the most dangerous offenders.
- Sentences should encourage offenders to desist from a life of crime, ultimately reducing crime rates through lower reoffending.
- There should be an increased focus on utilising punishment outside of prison.
Our submission to the review was informed by our members; we consulted with civil society organisations, academics, and those with lived experience of the justice system. Our response states that to tackle the prison overpopulation crisis, we must urgently invest in prison and probation services, expand the use of problem-solving courts, and develop new quasi-custodial sentences. Importantly, we highlight issues of repetition. Numerous policy consultations have been held on these issues over the past decade, but recommendations have failed to be implemented.
We were pleased to see that many of our members, including Clinks, The Howard League, Restorative Justice Council, Centre for Justice Innovation, JUSTICE, Prison Reform Trust, Hibiscus, Sentencing Academy, and Centre for Women’s Justice submitted their own responses. Below we have highlighted a few:
Restorative Justice Council’s submission calls for urgent reforms within the sentencing framework to embrace flexible, restorative, and rehabilitative approaches. They advocate for a paradigm shift in sentencing practices, emphasising the need for evidence-based alternatives such as non-custodial sentences, community interventions, and restorative justice. Their response includes international comparisons that highlight successful models prioritising rehabilitation and community reintegration over incarceration. Their response argues for a system that not only holds offenders accountable but also facilitates healing for victims, by integrating restorative justice practises into community and custodial sentencing frameworks.
JUSTICE’s submission highlights four ways to improve our current sentencing framework: increasing alternatives to long prison sentences, supporting an evidence-based approach to sentencing, improving the form and delivery of community sentences, and learning from other countries and jurisdictions (such as the use of Substance Misuse Courts in Northern Ireland).
The Howard League’s submission states that the rising prison population cannot be addressed without grasping the nettle of sentence inflation. They argue that the principle of ‘resetting the clock’ should be the guiding principle of any legislative reform to reverse this trend, and advocate for a reversion to the sentencing benchmarks of the 1990s. The submission states that a sustainable criminal justice system is one in which prison is used as sparingly as possible, for as little time as possible. They call for a well-resourced and effective probation service (crucial to the delivery of community services), and urge the review to explore how justice for victims and public protection might be achieved beyond the failed ‘tough on crime’ approach.
Centre for Justice Innovation’s submission urges the review to consider not just the mechanics of how laws are passed, interpreted and implemented, but also how we create a strategic central Government function that actively and publicly manages supply and demand across the justice system. Further, they call for: a community justice reboot; a reinvigorated response to repeat, persistent prolific offending; and reform to the court fine system.
Prison Reform Trust’s submission calls for fundamental changes to the sentencing framework, citing an “unmanageable increase” in the prison population and deteriorating conditions across many establishments. The submission says that current prison sentences are failing to meet three of the five statutory purposes of sentencing adults under the Sentencing Act 2020. They also call for the creation of an independent panel on sentencing.
The Independent Sentencing Review’s first report History and Trends In Sentencing was published 18 February 2025. The CJA welcomes the report, which provides clear analysis and conclusions on how we arrived at the prison capacity crisis, and details positions that the CJA and wider civil society have been making for several years. The report echoes concerns highlighted in our submission. It is clear in the report’s proposition that urgent decisive action is needed now. We look forward to the final report and the detailed recommendations, due to be published this Spring.
