Sentencing Review: Justice Committee Chair comment
22 May 2025
Chair's comments
Commenting on the Sentencing Review, Chair of the Justice Committee and Labour MP Andy Slaughter said:
“The series of measures announced in today’s Sentencing Review are necessary and pragmatic steps to reduce the unsustainable increase in the prison population following 14 years of unacceptable underfunding in the criminal justice system under the last government.
“Changes towards community-based programmes and away from short custodial terms will however require adequate investment in the Probation Service and associated tagging technology and supervision, and I am pleased to see there is substantial additional funding for these purposes.
“The policy changes and extra resources the Government is agreeing in response to David Gauke’s comprehensive review will be enough to bring the prisons numbers crisis under control but in the longer term only effective rehabilitation to end the cycle of reoffending will see complementary falls in crime and in prison overcrowding. That is why the Justice Committee chose rehabilitation and resettlement as its principal current inquiry. We aim to report later this year on longer-term solutions to break the cycle of reoffending.”
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