Overcrowded prisons and an already overwhelmed probation service being forced to pick up the slack were hotly debated by MPs during yesterday’s justice questions.
The session coincided with more than 1700 prisoners being released early because the prison estate is nearing capacity.
Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood fielded questions from MPs on topics such as foreign criminals, steps being taken to increase prison capacity, housing provision and substance abuse treatment for those being released.
Napo was particularly interested in the questions raised about the type of offences which would be excluded from the scheme.
The Justice Secretary told MPs: “We have taken every measure available to us to exclude offences from this measure.
“Serious violence, sexual violence and offences connected to domestic abuse have all been excluded, as have terror offences and so on—the hon. Gentleman will know the list of exclusions.
“We will work with our probation service, which has done a heroic amount of work over the summer to deliver this policy, in the coming months.
“We will also work very closely with criminal justice system partners to make sure that the roll-out of the scheme is as safe as possible. We have taken every measure, we will continue to keep matters under review and I will keep the House updated in due course.”
In Napo’s media release yesterday, we revealed that members had provided us with evidence to the contrary of what the Justice Secretary had told MPs, and there were in fact instances where people who were convicted of sexual assault or domestic violence were being released early because they were serving a lesser sentence that ran concurrent.
Napo HQ has been involved in a number or press stories in the run up the SDS 40 coming into effect so that we can make sure that the voice of our members are heard and a true and accurate picture is painted.
If you have any evidence of how SDS 40 is impacting yourself, colleagues and the general public, please contact editorial@napo.org.uk so that we can start compiling briefings to MPs.
To read a transcript of yesterday’s Justice Questions click here
