Beith's Committee to look into value for money of criminal justice system

4.00.00pm GMT Thu 31st Jan 2008

Alan Beith chairs the Justice Committee.

The Justice Committee, chaired by Berwick's Lib Dem MP Alan Beith, is launching an inquiry into whether the enormous sums spent on criminal justice and to cope with consistently high levels of re-offending are being used most effectively.

The National Audit Office has published a report stating that lack of resources in the Probation Service is preventing offenders from accessing the services required to address effectively their offending behaviour, especially in regard to social problems such as alcohol abuse and mental health. Probation cost £807million in 2006/07. Figures on people in custody in December 2007 show that the custodial population is continuing to rise and that at the end of last year prisons were operating at 110% of their certified capacity.

Alan Beith MP, Chairman of the Justice Committee, said:

"Vast amounts of money are being spent on the Prison Service, the Probation Service and Social Services on dealing with the consequences of crime and re-offending. The Justice Committee wants to look at whether those resources have been used effectively or whether other approaches might be more suitable. Our aim is to ensure that these resources are directed in the best possible way to improve public safety and reduce crime."

"Justice Reinvestment" is a term coined in the US to describe efforts to use funds which are at present spent on imprisoning offenders more productively on locally based initiatives designed to tackle the underlying problems which give rise to criminal behaviour. The Justice Committee's inquiry will focus on the question of the return for society on a policy of continued investment in prison building and other traditional methods of dealing with criminals.

Terms of reference of the inquiry:

The Committee will concentrate on the following questions:

1. An examination of current policy including: how cost-effective are prisons? What are the real cost implications and consequences of the Carter Report's recommendations in the medium and long term, in particular in relation to the proposed new Sentencing Commission and prison building programme? What are the implications for probation provision, the delivery of effective practice and the wider cross-departmental reducing re-offending agenda? How reliable is the evidence on which these policies are based?

2. An examination of potential alternative policies: How could resources which are currently invested in the criminal justice system be invested more effectively both within and outside the system e.g. in courts, probation, prisons and communities? To what extent should additional resources be redirected from the penal system into social, health and educational provision? What impact could Justice Reinvestment make on our penal policy? What can we learn from other European countries?

3. To what extent could existing structures and partnerships be used to implement alternative policies? What are the barriers to adopting alternative policies? What additional research is required?

4. What is the potential for a political consensus on an alternative future penal policy? What evidence exists concerning public opinion on the allocation of scarce resources for criminal justice? What role can the media play in shifting the culture of penal policy?

The National Audit Office's report can be found on their website at: http://www.nao.org.uk/pn/07-08/0708203.htm

The statistics on people in custody can be found on the Ministry of Justice's website at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/announcement310108a.htm

Lord Carter of Coles report, Securing the future: proposals for the efficient and sustainable use of custody in England and Wales, can be found on the Ministry of Justice's website at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/securing-the-future.htm.