§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reduce the prison population. [75316]
§ Hilary BennThe Government believe that prison is right for those convicted of an offence who are a danger to the public or who are serious or persistent offenders and that sentences served should be as long as necessary for punishment, public protection and rehabilitation but no longer. It also recognises that short sentences with no support and no supervision after release do not allow the correctional services to do effective behavioural or rehabilitation work with offenders. We set out our proposals for reducing the use of short sentences in the White Paper "Justice for All".
Home detention curfew plays an important role in managing the prison population by enabling prisoners to be released from prison early, while still subject to restrictions placed on their liberty. This facilitates a smoother and more effective integration back into the community and helps offenders to serve or resume employment or training as soon as possible.
As also announced in the White Paper "Justice for All" I have commissioned an independent review of the correctional services in England and Wales looking particularly at effectiveness and value for money in the delivery of services to reduce re-offending and how we improve our ability to manage the prison population. This review is in progress. As well as the correctional services, other professional and voluntary sector stakeholders have also been invited to submit their views.