The Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, recently sounded the alarm on our filling prisons – if we don’t act soon, the system will burst, leaving public safety at risk.
The SDS40 Early Release Scheme is a stopgap measure, introduced by the Government to ease the pressure on our overburdened prison system. The policy itself will allow certain cohorts to be released from custody after serving 40% of their sentence in prison as opposed to 50%.
To some, this might sound like a “get out of jail free card” – indeed research into public opinion of our Criminal Justice System (CJS) finds that over 60% of people already deem current sentencing to be “too lenient”.
The reality is that the SDS40 scheme is more than a practical response to a prison overcrowding crisis. It’s also an opportunity for rehabilitation in the community, which we know can be more effective at reducing reoffending than custody, particularly for those handed short sentences.
We know that overcrowded prisons are not conducive to effective rehabilitation, with limitations of staff resources, rising violence and poor safety and hygiene. Early release gives offenders the chance to safely serve a greater proportion of their sentence in a pro-social environment, under supervision of the Probation service, and with a structured support plan in place. It’s a chance to address the root cause of criminogenic behaviour, whether it’s addiction, poverty or mental health challenges, and equip them with the tools to make better choices.
Having said that, as a provider of offender and victim services at Catch22, we know firsthand how schemes like this can be a balancing act between retribution, rehabilitation and public safety.
Where critics are rightly concerned, is that the external infrastructure will not be in place to deliver such rehabilitative support. Without strong support systems in place, as well as basic necessities like housing and mental health support, we are setting prison-leavers up to fail, and at the same time risking public safety. If that right support is in place, the likelihood of reoffending is significantly reduced – something which is articulated well in Nacro’s response to SDS40. As soon as people fall through the gaps of support, it is inevitable they will be recalled back to prison or rearrested for further offences.
We also acknowledge the concerns from the perspective of victims, of whom Catch22 supports over 30,000 each year. Why should their perpetrators get “let off easy”? The answer is because having strong safeguards in place, alongside rehabilitative support for the early-released individuals, is better for public safety. SDS40 is applied with strict eligibility criteria, for those people who might benefit from rehabilitation and support, rather than spending more time locked up in an already stretched system, which we know can channel people into a cycle of reoffending.
As providers, we support this focus on safety. It’s about making sure the right people get the right support at the right time. For victims, it’s about knowing that the system is there to protect them while offering offenders the opportunity to change. Indeed, that’s why over £200 million has been invested in support services under the Government’s Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS). They have also funded additional support for the early-released cohort, to give them the best possible chance of resettling positively into the community and desisting from crime.
Even more importantly for victims, the capacity crisis has been a contributor to trial delays. Where space to hold individuals on remand has run out, some have had to be released on bail and trials rescheduled. We know from our delivery of victim services that court backlogs and prolonged waits for trial can be devastating for victim outcomes, and can even lead to an increased likelihood of victims dropping out of the process entirely. Though SDS40 will be neither a single-handed nor long-term solution to the court backlog crisis, it will help to deliver justice to those victims awaiting trial.
Taking a broader view, the use of custody is not the only choice – but rather a political choice. Encouragingly, for organisations like Catch22 who supports both victims and offenders, SDS40 signals a shift in Government policy away from custody as the default option. As we outlined in Catch22’s Manifesto, the importance of driving community-based solutions as an alternative to custody, such as electronic monitoring and other rehabilitative supervision programmes, cannot be underestimated in creating safer societies. Just like everyone else, we want to keep the public safe, see fewer victims and have more effective prisons.
To do this, however, we must close the “revolving door” of offenders. We believe this can only be achieved by reinvesting in and prioritising strong community rehabilitation – of which SDS40 will be the real test.