Donna Jones is the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of WightÂ
On Tuesday 10th September 2024, the new Labour government enacted a change to legislation that saw 1700 prisoners released from prison for the first time, just 40 percent of the way through their sentence.
This change was brought about following the growing crisis in the male prison population across England and Wales.
Operation Early Dawn has been in place since the autumn of 2023. An agreement facilitated by the Ministry of Justice and supported by the Home Office that has seen police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners, required to give up police cells to the prison service if no beds are available in the prison estate.
In policing this is referred to as a ‘lock-out’.
While Op Early Dawn has been affected on multiple occasions across the country, this has been due to issues with the prison transport company and the extra hours their drivers are working to transport people on remand, or convicted, to prisons further afield to accommodate capacity.
Number 10 summoned police leaders and MOJ officials to a series of emergency meetings to work through plans which, at one point, included the army being called into support.
This idea was subsequently rejected, but with Chief Constables across the country making clear their intention to carry on arresting as policing demand required, the prison space crisis has been managed carefully every day for over 12 months.
SDS 40, otherwise known as the Standard Determinate Sentence, has for over a decade been set at 50 percent of sentences for the majority of criminals behind bars.
This means that, subject to good behaviour inside, and the offence being on the list for consideration for early release, a convicted person is normally released at 50 percent of the way through the sentence, with the remainder of the sentence being served ‘on licence’ in the community.
As it’s often referred to, the period of supervision is managed by HMPPS, His Majesty’s Prison and Probations Service, by Offender Managers, or, in old money, Probation Officers.
On 10th September, the SDS was amended to 40 per cent release, meaning prisoners would be released at 40 per cent of the way through their sentence, again only for those whose offences were on the acceptable list. Since SDS40 has been enacted, convicted people have been released from prison with one individual reoffending within 72 hours – sending them straight back to prison.
In October another 3,800 prisoners are due to be released. The Probation Service will therefore be managing 5,500 people sooner than previously anticipated.
Whilst this is a problem the new Labour government has inherited from the previous Conservative government, there is light at the end of the prison tunnel in November of this year with two new male prisons due to open – creating over 1700 beds in the male prison estates.
Whilst the prison bed shortage affects the male prison population, SDS40 has been altered to include female offenders and those in Young Offenders Institutions.
In July the newly formed government committed to recruit 1000 extra probation officers by March 2025.
However, the recruitment process hasn’t started yet, and with a two-year lead time to train new probation officers, the management of offenders in communities is forcing the Probation Service to radically rethink the way they manage risk and caseloads.
This is a concern for those working in the criminal justice system who know for many offenders, without controlled constant supervision, the temptation to re-offend will be too great.
What we can expect is reoffending rates to go up in the short term, more victims to be affected, including children, and more public money spent investigating crime and apprehending criminals, all putting more pressure on the already pressurised criminal justice system.
The new government has cancelled the Immediate Justice programme, designed to keep first-time offenders out of the criminal justice system. So what next?
More offending. In the long run, I hope hope more meaningful rehabilitation, designed to tackle the trauma often linked to the causes of crime.
By supporting offenders to improve their education and training, we can help people to gain meaningful employment. In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, I fund four Integrated Offender Management Houses.
This is the only area in the country to have such an arrangement. I have funded them with the support of the Probation Service who manage the selection of those that go into the houses. They are run by a brilliant charity called The Society of St James. I have worked with SSJ for years, since my days as the Leader of Portsmouth City Council. The houses are designed for people coming out of prison whose offending is linked to drugs.
Residents stay for 6 months on average. Whilst living in the houses, they are linked with a local charity where they volunteer daily to get used to going to work. They are supported with creating a CV, learning interview techniques, and working through life issues. They are supported to live drug free, including being tested regularly with this being a condition of residency, and given help to secure long-term accommodation and manage their money.
These are life skills many have never been taught.
The reoffending rate is very small with over 85 per cent of residents remaining crime free for 12 months or more after release.
Tackling adverse childhood experiences, getting used to going to work every day, and giving people aspirations are the basic skills I’m supporting to assist in tackling reoffending and making communities safer.
It’s a model we need to explore further for the future.
