Unlock respond to the Ministry of Justice review of the prison system

With the prison system facing significant and long-standing pressures, the government are undertaking an independent review of the prison system. Ambitious, longer-term thinking is needed if the government are to tackle the prison system’s problems.

Ultimately capacity problems are a product of sentencing decisions, recall, court delays, and weak post-prison support. But these can be addressed by providing meaningful rehabilitation in prison, under a new Rehabilitation and Reintegration Act, stopping prison from continuing to be a revolving door.

Drawing from some of Unlock’s reports, we have outlined why rehabilitation has to be treated as a whole-system responsibility rather than a siloed programme, the importance of holistic defence, and the additional barriers faced by women, especially in the digital age.

You can read our submission in full here.