Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled Report to the United Kingdom Government on the periodic visit to the United Kingdom carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 8 to 21 June 2021, published on 7 July 2022, and the Government's response to that report, published on 7 July 2022, if he will take steps to reduce overcrowding in the prison estate by implementing changes to sentencing (a) policies and (b) other practices.

The Government is committed to a sentencing framework that takes account of the true nature of crimes and targets specific groups of offenders accordingly. This means that serious criminals must spend time in prison that reflects the gravity of their crimes, whilst we also look to divert offenders away from a life of crime and support them to rehabilitate.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act introduced targeted interventions for the most serious and most dangerous offenders, and those of most public concern. This includes those who commit the premeditated murder of a child, for example. These are serious crimes, and we must ensure that offenders are receiving appropriate punishments so that victims are protected for longer and the public can have confidence in the system.

This government has made tangible progress in tackling the £18 billion cost of reoffending and protecting the public. Data shows that over the last 10 years, reoffending rates have decreased from 30.9% in 2009/10 to 25.6% in 2019/2020. To continue this progress, we will invest £200m a year by 2024-25 to improve prison leavers’ access to accommodation, employment support and substance misuse treatment. This includes delivering a Prisoner Education Service which raises the level of the numeracy, literacy, skills and qualifications of offenders and delivering a presumption in favour of offering offenders the chance to work in prisons and on release.

Alongside delivering 20,000 additional prison places by the middle of this decade, we are also continuing to invest in critical maintenance projects to ensure as much capacity as possible is kept online. This will have a positive impact on lowering the proportion of crowding within the prison estate.