Prison Population (Hansard, 22 January 2003)

§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)

It is for the courts to decide in individual cases whether a prison sentence is appropriate or not. But we have always been clear that a custodial sentence should be given for dangerous violent and sexual offenders and for those who persistently offend. Protecting the public is a priority and dangerous offenders should go to prison for as long as public protection requires. However, it is equally important, whether a custodial sentence is given or not, that steps are taken to break the cycle of offending behaviour. Whatever sentence is passed, it should be accompanied by interventions to address the causes of the offender's behaviour.

We are taking forward the Women's Offending Reduction Programme over the next three years which seeks to address the range of factors that have an impact on why women offend and encourages closer joint working between departments, agencies and other organisations to tackle those factors. A primary focus will be on improving community-based interventions that are better tailored to the needs of women and to encourage greater use of such interventions to ensure that custody is used only for women offenders who really need to be there.

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For young offenders the Government have introduced a range of credible community options, including electronically monitored curfew orders for 10–15 year-olds and electronic tagging for 12–16 year-olds on bail and local authority remand. The Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) is a recently introduced programme to tackle persistent and serious young offenders as an alternative to custodial sentences or secure remands. Targeting the 3 per cent of young offenders estimated to be responsible for 25 per cent of youth crime, it is the most rigorous non-custodial intervention available for young offenders, providing the courts with a credible alternative to custody.