Quakers in Criminal Justice urge Labour party to move away from punitive rhetoric
With a general election due by next January, Quakers in Criminal Justice (QICJ) have urged the Labour party to look beyond retribution to evidence-based rehabilitation.
Preventative work on reoffending could save billions of pounds, not to mention immeasurable human suffering, QICJ clerk Melanie Jameson told Shadow Minister for Prisons, Probation & Parole, Ruth Cadbury, at a meeting in Portcullis House last month.
Counting ex-prison governors and United Nations specialists among their number, QICJ were keen to share their networks and expertise in restorative justice.
Prison overcrowding at crisis point
Prison overcrowding, squalid conditions and staff training and retention were all at crisis point, Jameson told Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth and a Quaker herself.
The pervasive nature of adverse childhood experiences amongst offenders and the necessity of trauma-informed approaches were also highlighted by QICJ.
The meeting coincided with the Prison Reform Trust's annual Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile which showed that Scotland and England and Wales have the highest imprisonment rates in western Europe.
The prison population has risen by 75 per cent in the last 30 years, the briefings show, and currently stands at 87,982.
“The fact file paints a sorry picture of five prisons issued with urgent notifications, and prisons running out of space, leading to the use of police cells and postponed maintenance," said Jameson.
“Delayed court hearings contribute to high number of remands, putting further pressure on prison capacity."
The UK uses recalls far more than other European jurisdictions, she said, which adds to the overcrowding, as do high numbers of prisoners on remand awaiting trial.
“It is hard to see how rehabilitation or sentence plans can be effective in these circumstances," Jameson warned.