Latest news with #Gauke
Leader Live
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Leader Live
MP for Wrexham speaks out on pressures facing HMP Berwyn
MP for Wrexham Last week, along with colleagues on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, we took evidence from a number of witnesses for our enquiry into Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation in Wales. As MP for the constituency with the largest prison in the UK, HMP Berwyn, this session was particularly relevant to our area. I also wanted to hear the experiences of those representing people working in the prison and probation services. Berwyn faces pressures as it is increasingly being used to house the remand population from North-West England. The dynamics at Berwyn alongside its size is very different to jails like Swansea or Cardiff that tend to house inmates who are more local to the area. Furthermore, there have also been staffing challenges at Berwyn however recently the staffing levels have come close to a full complement. The importance of staffing and leadership was emphasised at all prisons. High recall rates in Wales are also putting pressure on the prison and probation services. There is no women's prison in Wales and we heard about the impact of this on women and their families. Welsh women are held in prisons in England, often meaning significant journeys for relatives wanting to visit them. Women from Wrexham for example, might be taken to HMP Styal near Manchester. A report entitled 'Time to Care' emphasised the importance of keeping close ties with families to support. Following on from this, I welcome the Justice Secretary's announcement on Thursday that the Government will take the recommendations of the Gauke report and introduce a presumption against custodial sentences of less than a year. As 77% of women sentenced to custody received a sentence of 12 months or less, this change should have a significant aspect on women. Having spoken to organisations working in our community like the Wallich and NACRO, I understand the issues around homelessness and reoffending and I am looking to work with them to see how we can strengthen prevention and rehabilitation efforts. As ever, if you have any queries or concerns or you have an issue that you would like me to try and assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01978 788854 or
New European
27-05-2025
- Politics
- New European
Prisoners of circumstance
Superficially, this could hardly be more dispiriting for those like me who believe that the country already jails far too many people. The justice secretary herself went on to admit that 'our prisons too often create better criminals, not better citizens'. But the country's penchant for locking up offenders has landed this government with a massive problem: a constantly growing demand for places in institutions, many of which are unfit for purpose and some of which are unfit for habitation of any kind. Rejoice! The UK government is on track for 'the largest expansion since the Victorians' in one crucial area of infrastructure. Could that be schools for social carers, perhaps, or roads, or maybe, at last, some new reservoirs? No, the proud boast made to parliament last Thursday relates to prison places. It appears Keir Starmer wants to radically reshape prison policy. His appointment of James, now Lord, Timpson as prisons minister indicated a determination to bring real reform. Asking David Gauke to lead a review of sentencing policy was another pragmatic step in that direction: Gauke is a former Tory justice minister who was sacked from the party, and then from parliament, because of his lack of support for Boris Johnson's Brexit strategy. Gauke's report advocating more use of non-custodial sentences and a greater emphasis on dealing with the underlying problems of offenders – a high proportion of whom have addiction issues, poor levels of literacy and multiple difficulties with housing, relationships and general health – accompanied the statement by Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary. The official launch was pre-empted by a flurry of media excitement about 'chemical castration' for sex offenders. This is a gross exaggeration of the use of medication that the report moots as a possibility, and was guaranteed to upset social liberals. Yet some cynics might suggest that the government would have been happy with that outcome. When the then home secretary, Michael Howard, declared in 1993 that 'prison works', heads across the UK nodded in agreement, many adding a wish to 'throw away the key'. Their views have not changed, even though it is now clear that crime can thrive even inside some prisons, where drugs proliferate and those who enter without a habit are at risk of picking one up. Punishment rather than rehabilitation is the demand from many voters. Any liberal thinker who doubts that should take note of the polling on capital punishment. In January this year, More in Common found that 55% of people wanted to bring back the ultimate sanction for crimes such as multiple murder and terrorism, up from 50% a couple of years earlier. Among millennials, (those born between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s) the proportion in favour was 58%. Only 27% were opposed. Even if the government had once been prepared to take a principled stand on issues such as prisons, the local election results, with the massive victories for Reform, will have reminded it that it cannot risk alienating a significant proportion of the electorate. 'Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' was the slogan first used by Tony Blair when, as shadow home secretary, he addressed the Labour conference in the year that Howard made his (in)famous remark. Blair was acknowledging the voters' appetite for harsh punishment – Starmer knows he must do the same. But the crisis point that is now being reached in the UK's prisons provides an opportunity to make changes while blaming impossible inherited circumstances. Sentencing guidelines that pander to the public and the more strident media have led to a record number of people being crowded into a limited prison estate. This has had disastrous effects, not least on any hope of rehabilitation, as facilities and staff for training and education are overwhelmed. The government has already had to institute one batch of early releases in order to avoid a potential complete breakdown in the system, when there would simply have been nowhere left to send even the most dangerous criminals. Now, despite another 2,400 places being added, if current trends continue, by early 2028 the country will be short of 9,500 prison places. This is why the government has accepted Gauke's recommendation that most prison sentences should offer the chance of earlier release, on licence and with strict conditions, than is currently the case. There will also be a move towards much greater use of non-custodial sentences for offences that currently put people behind bars for less than a year, often with disastrous long-term effects. These sentences do not work on any level: nearly 60% of those sentenced to 12 months or less reoffend within a year. And, while women make up only a tiny proportion of the prison population, there will be a determined effort to further reduce the number. Achieving a more humane, successful and economic prison system will take time. These may seem like baby steps to prison reform, but they are a start. Crucially, they are enough to unsettle the extreme 'throw away the key' brigade without alienating the bulk of the electorate.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK will roll out chemical castration for sex offenders
LONDON (AP) — The British government will roll out the use of medication to suppress the sex drive of sex offenders, as part of a package of measures to reduce the risk of reoffending and alleviate the pressures on the prison system, which is running out of space. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Thursday that so-called chemical castration would be used in 20 prisons in two regions and that she was considering making it mandatory. 'Of course, it is vital that this approach is taken alongside psychological interventions that target other causes of offending, like asserting power and control," she said in a statement to Parliament following the release of an independent sentencing review, Though the review highlighted the treatment wouldn't be relevant for some sex offenders such as rapists driven by power and control, rather than sexual preoccupation, Mahmood said that studies show that chemical castration can lead to a 60% reduction in reoffending. It's been used in Germany and Denmark on a voluntary basis, and in Poland as mandatory for some offenders. The recommendation was part of a wide-ranging review led by former Justice Secretary David Gauke. As well as looking at ways to cut reoffending, Gauke recommended reforms to overhaul the prisons system, which is running at near capacity. One of the first things Mahmood did as justice minister after Labour returned to power after 14 years last July was sanction an early-release program for prisoners to free up space. She says she inherited a judicial system that had been neglected for years by the previous Conservative government and set up the review as a means to stabilize it. 'If our prisons collapse, courts are forced to suspend trials,' she said. 'The police must halt their arrests, crime goes unpunished, criminals run amok and chaos reigns. We face the breakdown of law and order in this country.' The review recommended that criminals could be released from prison earlier than they are now for good behavior, while judges could be given more flexibility to impose punishments such as driving bans. It also recommended that sentences of less than 12 months would also be scrapped for tougher community sentences. It also called for the immediate deportation for foreign nationals handed a three-year sentence or less. The review called for higher investment in the probation service to allow officers to spend more time with offenders for their rehabilitation and extra funding for the many more who are monitored with electronic tags in the community. Mahmood responded by giving a 700 million-pound ($930 million) a year for probation within years. 'If the government doesn't put the resources into probation that is necessary, then the risk here is that we won't make progress on rehabilitation that we need, and there will be a public backlash against it," Gauke said. The prison population in England and Wales has doubled over the past three decades or so to nearly 90,000. That's despite a fall in crime rates and is driven in part by the fact that longer sentences are being handed out amid pressure to be tough on crime. Robert Jenrick, the justice spokesman for the Conservatives, warned that scrapping short sentences would be effectively 'decriminalizing' offenses like burglary, theft and assault. And monitoring tags, he said, are as useful as 'smoke alarms putting out bonfires' in stopping reoffending. In response, Mahmood said that she was clearing up the mess left by the Conservatives and that the government has also embarked on the largest expansion of prisons since Victorian times in the 19th century. Pan Pylas, The Associated Press
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
UK chancellor considers mandating chemical castration for serious sex offenders
Lord high chancellor of Great Britain, Shabana Mahmood is considering introducing mandatory chemical castration for the most dangerous sex offenders in England and Wales, United Kingdom. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now According to government sources, the proposal is part of a broader effort to address prison overcrowding and reform the criminal justice system. Justice secretary exploring mandatory chemical castration for some sex offenders Chemical castration involves the use of drugs to reduce sexual urges. These drugs include Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) that reduces intrusive sexual thoughts and anti-androgens that lowers testosterone levels. Currently, the programme is voluntary, but Mahmood is looking at whether it could be made compulsory for high-risk offenders. A pilot programme using these drugs began in 2022 in south-west England and is due to end next year. Officials are planning to expand the trial to 20 more regions before considering a national rollout. The proposal is part of recommendations made by former conservative justice secretary David Gauke. He suggested that the government should gather more evidence on the effectiveness of these drugs and study the application in countries like Germany, Denmark and Poland. Mahmood is expected to address the issue in Parliament this week. At the end of March 2025, sexual offences made up to 21 per cent of all adult prison sentences, as reported by the Guardian. Gauke recommended that short prison sentences of under 12 months should be used only in rare cases. Instead, courts should have more options, like longer suspended sentences, delayed sentencing for low-risk offenders, and greater use of fines or bans (such as travel or driving restrictions). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now To support victims, expand courts that deal with domestic abuse and increase the use of electronic tags for those who commit violence against women and girls. It also calls for better training for judges and legal professionals on these issues. Additionally, change the statutory purpose of sentencing so judges and magistrates must consider protecting victims as much as they consider punishment and rehabilitation when passing sentences. He warned that these reforms will only succeed with more funding including expanding the availability of electronic monitoring equipment like tags. The Conservative Party has strongly criticised Gauke's recommendations. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said, 'By scrapping short prison sentences Starmer is effectively decriminalising crimes like burglary, theft and assault. This is a gift to criminals who will be free to offend with impunity,' as reported by the Guardian.
Japan Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
UK to roll out chemical castration for sex offenders
By PAN PYLAS The British government is to roll out the use of medication to suppress the sex drive of sex offenders, as part of a package of measures to reduce the risk of reoffending and alleviate the pressures on the prison system, which is running out of space. In a statement to Parliament Thursday following the release of an independent sentencing review, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said so-called chemical castration would be used in 20 prisons in two regions. 'And I am exploring whether mandating the approach is possible," she said. 'Of course, it is vital that this approach is taken alongside psychological interventions that target other causes of offending, like asserting power and control.' Though the review highlighted the treatment would not be relevant for some sex offenders such as rapists driven by power and control, rather than sexual preoccupation, Mahmood said studies show that chemical castration can lead to a 60% reduction in reoffending. It's been used in Germany and Denmark on a voluntary basis, and in Poland as mandatory for some offenders. The recommendation was part of a wide-ranging review led by former justice secretary, David Gauke. As well as looking at ways to cut reoffending, Gauke recommended reforms to overhaul the prisons system, which is running at near-capacity. One of the first things Mahmood did as justice minister after Labour returned to power after 14 years last July was sanction an early-release program for prisoners to free up space. She says she doesn't want to do that again and set up the review and appointed a Conservative predecessor to oversee it. The review recommended that criminals could be released from prison earlier than currently, while judges could be given more flexibility to impose punishments such as driving bans. It also recommended that sentences of less than 12 months would also be scrapped, apart from exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases. It also called for the immediate deportation for foreign nationals handed a three-year sentence or less. The review called for higher investment in the probation service to allow officers to spend more time with offenders for their rehabilitation and extra funding for the tens of thousands more offenders being electronically tagged in the community. Mahmood responded by giving a 700 million-pound ($930 million) a year for probation within years. 'If the government doesn't put the resources into probation that is necessary, then the risk here is that we won't make progress on rehabilitation that we need, and there will be a public backlash against it," Gauke said. The prison population in England and Wales has doubled over the past 30 years or so to nearly 90,000. That's despite a fall in crime rates and is driven in part by the fact that longer sentences are being handed out amid pressure to be tough on crime. Robert Jenrick, the justice spokesman for the Conservatives, was clear in his opposition to the proposals and warned that scrapping short sentences would be effectively 'decriminalizing' offenses like burglary, theft and assault. And tags, he said, are as useful as 'smoke alarms putting out bonfires' when it comes to stopping reoffending. Alongside accepting any changes, the government has said it will embark on a big prison building program, partly to replace some that have been used since Victorian times in the late 19th century. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
