Tackling the Prisons Crisis

As passed by conference

Conference believes that:

1. Keeping communities safe is one of the most important responsibilities for any government.
2. Reducing reoffending is key for cutting crime, keeping people safe and ultimately saving public money.
3. To achieve these aims, the effective rehabilitation of offenders should be a core priority of the prison system.

Conference notes with grave concern that years of neglect and mismanagement from the previous Conservative Government has plunged our prisons into crisis - leaving them overcrowded, understaffed and unable to properly rehabilitate offenders.

Conference further notes that:

1. England and Wales' prisons are dangerously close to capacity - with a prison population of 87,453 as of July 2024, compared to an operational capacity of 88,864.
2. Reoffending rates remain high, with 75% of ex-inmates reoffending within nine years of release, and 39.3% within the first twelve months. It is estimated that reoffending costs our society more than £18 billion a year.
3. Incidents of violence and self-harm in prisons are on the rise.
4. Violence against prison staff has also soared, with an average of 23 attacks recorded every day last year across England and Wales.
5. Issues with staff recruitment and retention have persisted, with English prisons running red regimes due to falling below minimum staffing levels at least 22 times in 2023.
6. The growing backlog in our criminal courts - which skyrocketed under the previous Conservative Government - is directly contributing to prison overcrowding. Remand populations have risen by 84% to a record high of 16,458 people as of March 2024, accounting for nearly 20% of the total prison population.
7. The previous Conservative Government has left the probation service overstretched, under-resourced, and unable to provide the quality of supervision needed.
8. Although there are meant to be limits on how long people can be held on remand, the previous Conservative Government refused to admit how many people had been in prison on remand for longer than six months.
9. After years of failing to respond to the growing prisons crisis, the previous Conservative Government finally introduced emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding in November 2023 - including delays to sentencing and an Early Release Scheme which saw violent prisoners with a history of domestic abuse and stalking released early, despite assurances the scheme would only be available to low-risk offenders.
10. The new Government has been forced to take further emergency steps to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis, including plans for some prisoners to be released after they have served 40% of their sentence in England and Wales, rather than the current 50%.
11. 2,852 people remain incarcerated under indeterminate Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences, a system the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has called on the UK government to urgently review due to its lack of safeguards and higher rates of self-harm among IPP prisoners compared to the general prison population.
12. 33,700 prisoners in England and Wales in March 2023 were sharing cells; in 2024, 11,018 cells intended for single use were used by two inmates, and remand prisoners, who are not convicted, can also be made to share with other remand prisoners - involuntary cell sharing can pose mental and physical risks to prisoners as well as greater loss of dignity.

Conference reaffirms the Liberal Democrat commitment to cutting reoffending by taking a holistic approach to rehabilitation - spanning sentencing, prisons and community supervision and including a full range of rehabilitative services.

Conference therefore calls on the new Government to:

1. Tackle the backlog in criminal courts to reduce the number of people in prison on remand, including by prioritising case hearings where the defendant is currently on remand.
2. Bring forward an urgent plan to recruit and retain more prison officers.
3. Ensure that no violent prisoners are eligible for an early release programme, including perpetrators of domestic abuse.
4. Put cutting reoffending at the heart of their plan to end the prisons crisis, including by:
   1. Improving the provision of training, education and work opportunities in prison.
   2. Ensuring that every prison has a 'through the gate' mentorship programme.
   3. Introducing a plan to improve the rehabilitation of people leaving prison.
5. Implement a presumption against short sentences of 12 months or less to facilitate rehabilitation in the community.
6. Bring forward a new strategy for the prisons estate to ensure that all prisons are fit for purpose and able to provide the rehabilitation services needed to cut reoffending and to actively reduce involuntary cell-sharing by prisoners, especially those on remand.
7. Ensure that probation services have the resources they need to properly cope with an increased workload due to early release schemes.
8. Set up an expert committee, in line with recommendations from the House of Commons Justice Committee, to advise on how to urgently bring forward a resentencing exercise for all IPP-sentenced individuals.
9. To develop and expand restorative justice schemes as an effective alternative to short custodial sentences.

Applicability: England only.

Motion prior to amendment

Submitted by: 10 party members
Mover: Josh Babarinde MP.
Summation: Lord German.

Conference believes that:

1. Keeping communities safe is one of the most important responsibilities for any government.
2. Reducing reoffending is key for cutting crime, keeping people safe and ultimately saving public money.
3. To achieve these aims, the effective rehabilitation of offenders should be a core priority of the prison system.

Conference notes with grave concern that years of neglect and mismanagement from the previous Conservative Government has plunged our prisons into crisis - leaving them overcrowded, understaffed and unable to properly rehabilitate offenders.

Conference further notes that:

1. England and Wales' prisons are dangerously close to capacity - with a prison population of 87,453 as of July 2024, compared to an operational capacity of 88,864.
2. Reoffending rates remain high, with 75% of ex-inmates reoffending within nine years of release, and 39.3% within the first twelve months. It is estimated that reoffending costs our society more than £18 billion a year.
3. Incidents of violence and self-harm in prisons are on the rise.
4. Violence against prison staff has also soared, with an average of 23 attacks recorded every day last year across England and Wales.
5. Issues with staff recruitment and retention have persisted, with English prisons running red regimes due to falling below minimum staffing levels at least 22 times in 2023.
6. The growing backlog in our criminal courts - which skyrocketed under the previous Conservative Government - is directly contributing to prison overcrowding. Remand populations have risen by 84% to a record high of 16,458 people as of March 2024, accounting for nearly 20% of the total prison population.
7. The previous Conservative Government has left the probation service overstretched, under-resourced, and unable to provide the quality of supervision needed.
8. Although there are meant to be limits on how long people can be held on remand, the previous Conservative Government refused to admit how many people had been in prison on remand for longer than six months.
9. After years of failing to respond to the growing prisons crisis, the previous Conservative Government finally introduced emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding in November 2023 - including delays to sentencing and an Early Release Scheme which saw violent prisoners with a history of domestic abuse and stalking released early, despite assurances the scheme would only be available to low-risk offenders.
10. The new Government has been forced to take further emergency steps to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis, including plans for some prisoners to be released after they have served 40% of their sentence in England and Wales, rather than the current 50%.

Conference reaffirms the Liberal Democrat commitment to cutting reoffending by taking a holistic approach to rehabilitation - spanning sentencing, prisons and community supervision and including a full range of rehabilitative services.

Conference therefore calls on the new Government to:

1. Tackle the backlog in criminal courts to reduce the number of people in prison on remand, including by prioritising case hearings where the defendant is currently on remand.
2. Bring forward an urgent plan to recruit and retain more prison officers.
3. Ensure that no violent prisoners are eligible for an early release programme, including perpetrators of domestic abuse.
4. Put cutting reoffending at the heart of their plan to end the prisons crisis, including by:
   1. Improving the provision of training, education and work opportunities in prison.
   2. Ensuring that every prison has a 'through the gate' mentorship programme.
   3. Introducing a plan to improve the rehabilitation of people leaving prison.
5. Implement a presumption against short sentences of 12 months or less to facilitate rehabilitation in the community.
6. Bring forward a new strategy for the prisons estate to ensure that all prisons are fit for purpose and able to provide the rehabilitation services needed to cut reoffending.
7. Ensure that probation services have the resources they need to properly cope with an increased workload due to early release schemes.

Applicability: England only.

Amendments

Amendment One

PASSED

Submitted by: 10 members
Mover: Baroness Lorely Burt.

After J. (line 50), insert:

K. 2,852 people remain incarcerated under indeterminate Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences, a system the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has called on the UK government to urgently review due to its lack of safeguards and higher rates of self-harm among IPP prisoners compared to the general prison population.

After 7. (line 78), insert:

8. Set up an expert committee, in line with recommendations from the House of Commons Justice Committee, to advise on how to urgently bring forward a resentencing exercise for all IPPsentenced individuals.

Amendment Two

PASSED

Submitted by: LDCRE
Mover: Dr Mohsin Khan
Summation: Janice Turner.

After J. (line 50), insert:

K. 33,700 prisoners in England and Wales in March 2023 were sharing cells; in 2024, 11,018 cells intended for single use were used by two inmates, and remand prisoners, who are not convicted, can also be made to share with other remand prisoners – involuntary cell sharing can pose mental and physical risks to prisoners as well as greater loss of dignity.

In 6. (line 75), after ‘reoffending’ insert ‘and to actively reduce involuntary cell-sharing by prisoners, especially those on remand’.

Amendment Three

PASSED

Submitted by: Manchester
Mover: John Bridges
Summation: Chris Northwood

After 7. (line 78), insert:

8. To develop and expand restorative justice schemes as an effective alternative to short custodial sentences.

There will be a separate vote on 5. (lines 71–72).

LINES RETAINED

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Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see page 8 of the agenda. 

The deadline for amendments to this motion, see pages 10–11, and for requests for separate votes, see pages 7–8 of the agenda, is 09.00 Thursday 12 September. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday’s Conference Daily.

Image: Roger Cornfoot