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Select Committee · Justice Committee

Prison Population 2022: planning for the future inquiry

Status: Closed Opened: 23 Oct 2017 Closed: 11 Jun 2019 2 reports
Inquiry scopeThe Committee agrees with Justice Secretary David Gauke that there is a very strong case for abolishing sentences of six months or less altogether. Re-offending costs an estimated £15 billion a year; the report recommends that there must be a focus on investing services to reduce this, thus cutting crime and reducing the overall size of the prison population - which is increased through repeat imprisonment. The report argues that the Government’s focus on addressing safety and decency in prisons has come at the expense of rehabilitation. The Ministry of Justice needs to refocus its efforts to enable a dual approach to maintain both safety and decency, as well as improve rehabilitation. Government response published Read the Government response (PDF 333KB) Read the Government response Ministers need a clear plan of action to tackle the problem of rising prison populations and the health and safety of prisoners. The Justice Committee welcomes the Government’s agreement with the issues raised in its Prison Population 2022: planning for the future report, but says ministers have failed to commit to a sufficient plan of action to effectively tackle the crisis faced. This inquiry into the prison population focuses on: Who is in prison and who is expected to be imprisoned over the next 5 years The reasons prisoners are there, why they stay there and why they return Whether the Ministry of Justice and prison services currently have a credible approach to accommodating the changes anticipated.

Reports

2 reports

Oral evidence sessions

8 sessions

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Date Session and witnesses Source
11 Dec 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗
21 Nov 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗
13 Nov 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗
30 Oct 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗
10 Oct 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗
11 Sep 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗
11 Jul 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗
26 Jun 2018 No witnesses recorded View ↗

Correspondence

4 letters

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PublishedDirectionLetter
24 Jul 2019 To committee Letter from Rt Hon David Gauke MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, on Prison population 2022: planning for the future, dated 17 July 2019
27 Jun 2019 To committee Letter from Bob Neill MP, Chair, Justice Committee, to Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, on the Government Response to the Committee’s Sixteenth Report, Prison Population 2022: planning for the future, dated 26 June 2019
6 Feb 2019 To committee Letter from the Minister of State for Justice, regarding Prison Population 2022, dated 18 January 2019
20 Dec 2018 To committee Letter from Minister of State for Justice, regarding a follow-up to the evidence session on the inquiry into Prison population: 2022, dated 21 August 2018