MEMO To: Tony Blair
From: Frances Crook
Subject: Prisons policy in the second term
Prison is always damaging. As Prison Minister I would force the Government to make the case for the use of alternatives, and reserve custody for serious and violent offenders. The overuse and consequent overcrowding of prisons must stop.
If I were Prisons Minister I would hope to see the number of people locked up inside prisons reduced by a half during my tenure. Back in 1993, the number of men, women and children in prison was only 40,000 – still too high, but it meant that prisons could start to improve regimes and contacts with the real world. The prison population is now 66,000 and has risen steadily since the General Election.
I would achieve this reduction in three ways: propaganda and education; early release; and by targeting particular groups.
The message must change. The Home Affairs team must give a consistent message that prison should be reserved for serious and violent offenders, and only then can real work be done with prisoners to reduce the likelihood of reoffending. Two-thirds of people imprisoned are there for minor crimes at the moment. They clog up the system and often have special needs which cannot be addressed in prisons, like alcoholism and drug abuse. It all costs a fortune to the taxpayer, around £25,000 per year per person, and we could spend that money on managing people in the community and on crime prevention.
I would attempt to persuade the Home Secretary to bring in laws to stop the courts from sending certain categories of people to prison. If I was unable to, I would introduce new legislation to allow the prisons to let people out early.
I would close prisons. I would make sure that each prison only held the number of people it could cope with, and that they never go over 250 people. If a prison got full, then we would have to use early release to make room for others. If prisons are going to be effective at working with people to reduce reoffending, the staff must have the time and resources to do that, and the institution should be small enough to function as a cohesive unit.
I would not allow prisons to hold children. At the moment there are over 200 boys and girls aged just fifteen locked up in prisons.
I would close the mother and baby units inside prisons. Prison is no place for babies, nor should they be separated from their mothers. The only answer is to use alternatives to custody as much as possible. For the very few mothers who need custody because they have committed serious and violent crimes, I would set up small secure units run jointly with the probation and social services.
After five years with me as Minister the prisons would be holding only people aged over eighteen years-old, and the number of prisoners would be reduced to 30,000. Prisons would be providing a full day of activities, education and work, and close family contacts. They would be working to resettle people into jobs and secure homes, with support for crime reduction. It would all look quite different to today.