31 May 2007
An inquiry into how sentencing can be reformed to counter Britain’s rising prison population has been launched by the Constitutional Affairs Committee.
The inquiry—entitled Towards Effective Sentencing—will look at the main drivers for the current size of the prison population and at how numbers could be cut. It will scrutinise to what extent prisons are occupied by people who should not be there and look at alternatives to custody. A strategy for dealing with vulnerable people in custody, such as young people, and those suffering from mental health problems, will also be devised and it will ask whether legislation is needed to require judges to make resources part of their thinking when sentencing.
