PA averageAbolition of short prison terms is one of a number of ideas being considered by the government in its upcoming review of sentencing.
Ministers are interested in proposals to strengthen community orders as an alternative to prison and reduce the number of offenders behind bars.
Multiple sources told the BBC that former justice minister and Conservative MP David Gauke is the frontrunner to lead the effort.
The review will be published later this month, with recommendations expected to be made to ministers next spring.
As Attorney General in 2019, Gauk says There are good reasons for abolishing prison terms of less than six months.
The BBC has contacted Gauke for comment.
It is known that current Justice Minister Shabana Mahmoud wants to increase community sentences, which may involve strict conditions and punishment but no time spent in prison.
Some government sources suggested that advances in technology, such as sobriety tags that monitor alcohol consumption, could be used more widely to detain criminals at home.
One source said community orders could be tougher than prison because those convicted could not “take drugs 23 hours a day”.
Ministers are also exploring international examples of crime reduction in Texas and Louisiana, where prisoners can earn good behavior points to reduce their sentences.
Officials also noted that in New York, offenders convicted of drug-related crimes can be sent for treatment. If they complete this work, their charges can be dismissed or reduced.
It comes as prisons across the country struggle with overcrowding after the number of offenders behind bars hit a record high.
The Labor government has been exploring options to ease current pressures on prisons and has Some criminals were released early Free up space.
But sources told the BBC further emergency measures will be needed next year to stop prisons exceeding capacity.
Ministers had hoped that the existing early release scheme would buy them 12 months.
But this year’s unrest means prisons are expected to be full again next summer before any changes are made to sentencing.
In the longer term, ministers hope to consider changes to sentencing to reduce crime.
The Prison Reform Trust found last year that more than half (58%) of women’s sentences in 2022 will be for less than six months, and ending or abandoning shorter sentences could have a particular impact on female prison numbers.
Ministry of Justice data show More than half (57%) of adults with sentences of less than 12 months re-offended upon release.
A Ministry of Justice source said the government would encourage reviewers to “follow the evidence on how sentencing reduces crime”.
“Prisons are making better criminals, not better citizens,” the source said.
As a lawyer seen as a centrist Tory party, Gauke could be seen as a controversial choice to lead the review.
In 2019, he gave a series of speeches calling for a shift from short-term prison terms to community punishment.
But Gauke’s successor, Robert Buckland, said he did not believe abolishing short sentences was the right way forward.
GettyLord Woolf, the former chief justice of England and Wales, told the BBC he thought Gauke would be a “very good person” to lead the sentencing review.
He said the government should consider a public inquiry into the penal system.
“I think people have no idea what prison can accomplish,” he said.
He wrote a report into the 1990 Strangeways prison riot and has highlighted prison overcrowding ever since.
The retired barrister was one of five former chief justices to sign the agreement piece of paper Blamed “sentence inflation” for lack of prison space.
“The public wants longer and longer sentences,” Lord Woolf said. “But they don’t know it’s self-defeating and it’s a very expensive policy.”
Conservative leadership contender Kemi Badenock criticized Labor for “making short-term decisions that put the public at risk”, adding that she wanted to address the “root causes” of prison overcrowding.
Robert Jenrick, the other remaining candidate in the leadership race, said Labor was showing a “soft approach to crime” and repeat offenders needed “tougher sentences” to protect the public.
Other former justice ministers – including Ken Clark – have discussed changes to sentencing but were blocked by political opposition or the election calendar.
The previous Conservative government attempted to introduce a “presumption of suspended prison sentences for 12 months or less” but this was abandoned after the general election earlier this year.
Speaking at a Labor conference last month, Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said community sentences needed “more trust from the courts” as an alternative to prison.
He said evidence that previous prisons ministers had not always followed “the best ways to stop re-offending”.
The government has not made any decisions on potential changes to sentencing policy and will not do so before considering the review’s recommendations.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The Lord Chancellor has confirmed plans to conduct a review of sentencing with a focus on protecting the public and reducing re-offending.
“We will soon be able to announce the terms of reference for this independent review and confirm its chair.”
