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Labour’s new Sentencing Bill has already passed its second reading on 16 September 2025 and has moved on to the committee stage, where it will be debated, scrutinised, and potentially amended. This Bill represents more than just a political dispute between the Conservatives and Labour. On one side, the Conservatives are framing the Bill to villainise it, suggesting that prisoners accused of rape and other serious sexual offences will have their sentences reduced and be released early. On the other side, Labour claims that they are fixing the issues caused by the Conservatives, and that this Bill could be the solution to prison overcrowding, even though ‘the prison population in England and Wales has risen steeply since mid-1990s, doubling in size between 1992 and 2012’. I argue that the root of the problem is not attributable to a single party, but rather a reflection of the broader societal issues at play.
Why Is Overcrowding An Issue?
As a Law student, one of the first things I got introduced to when I began my journey in to Law was the issue of overcrowding in prisons. According to the official governmental website, on 31 December 2024, 8,674 prisoners were serving short sentences, which accounts for almost 10% of the overall prison population. Similarly, ‘sentences of 12 months or less accounted for around 62% of immediate custodial sentences in the year ending December 2024, which translates to around 49,300 adults coming in and out of prison over the course of the year’. This has put a lot of pressure on prisons, leading the government to implement several emergency measures between 2022 and 2024 to address capacity issues. These included using ‘police custody suites to house prisoners’, ‘deploying temporary modular prison cells’, ‘releasing some inmates early on license before the end of their custodial sentence’, and ensuring prison places were available for those on remand before their initial court hearings. Additionally, the early release scheme was expanded, allowing ‘foreign national prisoners to be released’ and deported up to 18 months before the end of their sentences, all in an effort to ease overcrowding and manage the strain on the prison system. Thus, the current Government faces the dilemma that the alternatives are either spending more taxpayers’ money on building and running prisons, or continuing to release prisoners earlier than the Courts intended.
What Are The Measures The Bill Is Introducing?
According to the Government, one of the first measures is ‘introducing a presumption for Courts to suspend short custodial sentences of 12 months or less,’ aiming to reduce prison overcrowding and increase flexibility in sentencing. Similarly, Courts will have the option to impose requirements such as unpaid work for offenders. However, for those who have breached a Court Order, ‘the Court will still be able to impose a short custodial sentence’ if deemed necessary, as ‘the Courts have the flexibility to choose and balance requirements in line with the statutory purposes of sentencing.’ To further enhance this flexibility, Courts can include, not only, requirements such as ‘electronic monitoring and community payback,’ but also a new measure that provides ‘the Courts with four further options to include in a community or suspended sentence…to enable punishment to be more effectively tailored to individual offenders.’ Some of these options include: ‘banning offenders from attending public events (including sports), banning attendance at drinking establishments (such as pubs, clubs, and bars), prohibiting offenders from driving, and requiring offenders to stay within specified geographic restriction zones.’ Additionally, the Government will require ‘Courts to collect and publish detailed data on sentencing, making Judges’ remarks available to the public within two days, and extending the time victims have to challenge sentences viewed as lenient.
What Is The Bill Missing?
Although the Bill has introduced some measures to ensure that offenders are still being punished, such as unpaid work/community payback, and has committed to ‘free up 14,000 spaces in prisons by 2031’. One important question is whether the prison environment is a necessary component of a Court sentence. Is unpaid work sufficient as a punishment to prevent reoffending?
The Bill also aims to reduce and address the backlog in the Courts, however, it does not consider whether this goal is realistic given the new transparency requirements that mandate Courts to publish detailed case information. Similarly, it overlooks the potential increase in appeals from victims seeking more severe punishment for offenders, and how this might impact taxpayer costs. How can the Government ensure that victims receive justice if they perceive the offender is being let off too easily?
Furthermore, the Government has acknowledged that releasing offenders early or suspending their sentences carries risks, especially when domestic violence may be involved. They have also stated that each case will be carefully investigated, but have failed to consider how this process could contribute to Court backlogs, which would again place a burden on taxpayers.
The Bill also neglects to specify how provisions such as banning offenders from certain establishments will be enforced. It does not account for the costs associated with extra enforcement tools like ankle monitors, nor does it consider the possibility that some areas or establishments might ignore these restrictions. How can the Government prevent a black market or underground economy from developing as a result?
Lastly, the Bill completely overlooks the potential for these measures to cause social isolation among offenders. Offending does not occur in a vacuum, and these provisions ignore the fact that many of the main causes of offending include poor mental health, issues with addiction, and poverty, matters which must be addressed first. Often, the key to reducing reoffending lies in tackling these underlying issues, rather than solely focusing on punishment.
Although the Bill seeks to prevent sentencing for some minor offences and instead focus on rehabilitation through local communities, it is overly reductive to ignore the fact that many people offend because they do not feel integrated into a community and are struggling with some of the above listed issues. According to the Bill, if the offender does not integrate well or diverges from the outlined path, they will be sentenced anyway, completely disregarding the initial approach. Similarly, the Government is not considering whether the local communities around an offender would be willing to assist and accept them.
After conviction, it remains significantly more difficult for individuals to reintegrate successfully into society and the workforce. Between April 2023 and March 2024, Nacro, a social justice charity, reported a “31% increase in the number of people released homeless.” With the current recession and ongoing global challenges, the reform fails to consider how issues like homelessness contribute to reoffending and does little to address them.
The reoffending rate for prisoners was 26.5% in 2022, amounting to approximately 82,000 reoffences. Additional data indicates that for those serving less than 12 months, the group most affected by this reform, the reoffending rate exceeds 56%. It begs the question, what support systems are in place to address the underlying issues that contribute to reoffending? How might addressing basic needs such as housing, employment, and mental health reduce the high reoffending rates?
My main takeaway from this Bill is that overcrowding is an issue that must be addressed urgently. Prior to its introduction, the previous Government was already releasing offenders early due to prison capacity constraints. This Bill at least provides some Law and uniformity around when and how such releases can occur. However, the main problem is that it offers no meaningful long-term solution. Prisons are necessary to serve justice, but many current inmates are there for minor offences. While it makes sense not to sentence or release these individuals prematurely, there is no substantial reform to ensure they are helped, rehabilitated, or placed on a path to prevent re-offending. Additionally, there is a lack of guidance on how local communities can support these individuals.
In a challenging economic climate, with a recession, and other crises, public willingness to help may diminish even further. Until the Government effectively addresses these underlying issues, overcrowding and reoffending will continue to persist, and the cycle will remain unbroken.
Image Source: Due Process by Nick Youngson //CC BY-SA 3.0
Edited by Freya Holland
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