Tories 'would halt early prisoner release by building extra prisons'

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The early release of 25,000 criminals every year would be halted by the immediate building of extra prison places under a Tory plan to give jails their biggest shake-up in two centuries.

Conservative justice spokesman Nick Herbert said the party could also sell off crumbling Victorian prisons for housing and give judges wider powers to set a minimum sentence before a convict will be eligible for parole.

He is studying a report by the Policy Exchange think-tank which says an extra 1,684 places could be built by selling older prisons on valuable land and ploughing the cash into smaller new-build jails.

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A prison cell: Lack of space means that many prisoners never see out their full term in jail

These would be in addition to 1,200 prison places to be built immediately by a Tory Government, in order to end Labour's controversial policy of releasing inmates 18 days early.

Over the course of a year, it involves the early release of more than 25,000 inmates.

Later this week, the Government will confirm that - since it was first introduced at the end of June to solve the current overcrowding crisis - more than 10,000 criminals have already walked free with payouts for 'bed and board' of up to £170 each.

Mr Herbert accused Gordon Brown of 'giving criminals a break' by seeking to use early release and watered-down sentences to try to bring down the numbers behind bars.

The Conservatives would instead 'break the cycle of re-offending by the most radical shake-up of prisons in two centuries', he said in a major speech on prisons.

Mr Herbert said that Mr Brown is planning to restrict judges' use of open-ended sentences, introduced by Tony Blair just two years ago, and block magistrates from handing out suspended prison terms, in the hope of matching the inmate population with the number of cell spaces available.

He also highlighted the support Justice Secretary Jack Straw gave to recent comments from Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips, who said that 'some method must be found of linking resources to the setting of the sentencing framework'.

This could lead to sentencing by the courts being linked to the available space in prison - rather than the punishment which an offender most deserves.

Mr Herbert said sentences should 'fit the crime, not the jail capacity', which is close to bursting-point with 81,454 inmates, with 197 locked in police cells.

He also suggested judges should be able to set minimum terms for serious offenders, to introduce greater honesty in sentencing. At present, they set a maximum term but the offender is eligible for parole long before this is reached.

Mr Herbert said: "Tony Blair at least talked about being tough on crime. Gordon Brown's strategy to reduce prison overcrowding is to give criminals a break.

"We desperately need a new approach, one which accepts the role of prison in dealing with crime in an increasingly violent society, but also recognises that the current prison system isn't working.

"The immediate goal should be to reduce the reconviction rate which has soared under Labour, not the prison population."

 

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