Local approach to penal system needed
By politics.co.uk staff
A parliamentary inquiry has recommended a radical shift towards a more localised concentration of powers and funding for criminal justice.
The findings were published in a report by the all-party parliamentary local government group and the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) and seek to re-engage communities in the criminal justice system.
Director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Frances Crook, welcomed the report saying: “This important new report recognises that we need a rebalancing of the penal system and an opening up of policy options for those closest to the communities that are affected by crime.
“This means a lead role for local government and a loosening of Whitehall’s grip on the control of prisons and probation.
“For too long we have thrown money at a system which is doing nothing to prevent the underlying causes of crime. It is time the criminal justice in this country joined other public services and got local, responsive and most of all effective.”
The Howard League’s own ‘Commission on English Prisons Today’ report, published last week, had come to similar conclusions.
