Cap jail population, says Lord Woolf
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
Last Updated: 1:54am BST 18/04/2007
A cap should be placed on the prison population to reduce overcrowding, the former Lord Chief Justice said yesterday.
Lord Woolf, who retired last year, said jail should be reserved only for "those who really deserve it and need it".
He said overcrowding was a major barrier to rehabilitation, and the country could not afford to keep building new prisons.
Lord Woolf, who has a long-standing interest in penal reform, said judges should be told exactly what the likely impact of their sentences will be.
In evidence to the Commons home affairs select committee, he said: "The judge should know how much the sentence he is imposing will cost the public, and if there is a suitable cheaper option then he should choose that."
He added: "We have not got over the message just how expensive incarceration is. The cost of sentences should be set out in clear and realistic terms."
Lord Woolf said the Sentencing Guidelines Council, which he used to chair and which hands down advice to judges, should operate like the Bank of England does trying to control inflation.
It would be given a five-year prisons budget to work within and told: "These are the resources that the Government can provide for the prison population and you must see that your sentencing guidelines achieve a prison population within those resources where the commodity of a prison space is used in the most constructive way."
Lord Woolf added: "What we know is that the more money spent on building prisons, the less money will go on rehabilitating and reforming prisoners.
"We've got to make a proper assessment as to how much of the economy of this country should go to imprisoning individuals.
''We have many people in prisons now who don't need to be there. We need to ensure that a prison place is reserved for those who really deserve it and need it."
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "Lord Woolf is right to identify chronic overcrowding as a major problem undermining prison services.
''However, he has not identified the correct solution which is to actually address the chronic lack of capacity in our jails.''
Mr Davis added: ''Criminals should be sentenced according to crime not the government's convenience. Extra prison places are vital in ensuring not only that prisoners are punished but they are effectively rehabilitated, as well as adequately protecting the public.''
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