Chemical castration for sex offenders under prison plans in England

Fewer criminals will be put behind bars and more will serve sentences in the community under plans to end overcrowding in jails.

Violent criminals and sexual offenders could be released from prison earlier, while judges could be given more flexibility to impose punishments such as football or driving bans.

An independent sentencing review also recommends exploring chemical castration for sex offenders as a way of reducing reoffending, said former justice secretary David Gauke, who led the review.

“One of our recommendations is that we think that we should continue to explore this, this is drugs that reduces sexual desire,” Mr Gauke told Sky News.

“It’s not appropriate for every sexual offender, and the evidence base for this does need to be built up.”

Short sentences of less than 12 months would also be scrapped, apart from exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.

It recommended the reforms to overhaul the prisons system and make sure there is space to jail the most dangerous offenders after a string of emergency measures to deal with the capacity crisis.

Five key proposals put forward by Mr Gauke are expected to cut the prison population by around 9,800.

Latest figures show the prison population in England and Wales is 88,103, just 418 below the record of 88,521, which was reached on September 6 last year, just before the Government began freeing thousands of prisoners early to ease overcrowding.

The review chairman said: “The scale of the crisis we are in cannot be understated.

“Overcrowded prisons are leading to dangerous conditions for staff and contributing to high levels of reoffending.

“These recommendations, which span the entirety of the justice system, are focused not only on bringing the prison population under control but ultimately reducing reoffending and ensuring victims are protected.”

The review published on Thursday recommended introducing an “earned progression model” inspired by reforms in Texas.

Under the scheme, prisoners could be released earlier for good behaviour and be supervised on licence for a period of their sentence.

They would then remain unsupervised in the community for the final period of their sentence, but could be recalled to prison if they commit another crime.

Violent or sexual offenders who are serving sentences of four years or more could be released into the community on licence after spending half of their sentence behind bars, or longer if they do not comply with prison rules.

The review also suggested for the most dangerous offenders on extended sentences to be eligible for parole at half-way through their sentence, instead of two-thirds, if they earn credits to take part in rehabilitation activities in prison.

They would only be released if the Parole Board decided it was safe to do so.

The Government is expected to accept the review’s key measures, but reject earlier release for the most dangerous cohort.

Ministers launched the review to consider options to hand criminals tougher punishments outside prison in October last year as part of efforts to ease overcrowding.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to respond to the review in Parliament on Thursday, and announce a funding boost of up to £700 million a year for probation by the final year of the spending review.

Mr Gauke’s recommendations recognise that moving more criminals into the community would increase pressures on the Probation Service, which is already grappling with high workloads.

But the review called for higher investment in the service and more use of voluntary organisations and technology to help process admin while probation officers spend more time with offenders for their rehabilitation.

It also urged for extra funding as tens of thousands more offenders are expected to be electronically tagged in the community.

Mr Gauke said: “If the Government doesn’t put the resources into probation that is necessary, then the risk here is that we won’t make progress on rehabilitation that we need, and there will be a public backlash against it.”

He said pressing demands on the Probation Service cannot be ignored, but spending money in the community would be better value for money for the taxpayer and would do more to reduce crime.

Mr Gauke told The Times his proposals were designed to be practical and ready to implement.

He said: “All the projections suggest the demand for prison places is going to increase pretty rapidly over the next few years and one can’t build prison places quickly enough to respond to that.”

There is no estimate on how many more criminals will serve sentences outside prison if the proposals come into force.

The review said: “In any scenario, longer-term, sustainable investment for the Probation Service and third sector partners in the community is essential.

“In the immediate term, the Probation Service will need to prioritise its resources and focus its efforts where it will have the highest impact in terms of reducing reoffending and managing risk of harm.”

The review also recommended immediate deportation for foreign nationals handed a three-year sentence or less, and further exploration of the use of medication to suppress the sexual drive of sex offenders, currently being piloted in south-west England.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick warned that scrapping short sentences would be effectively “decriminalising” offences like burglary, theft and assault.

“This is a gift to criminals who will be free to offend with impunity,” he said.

“If Starmer proceeds with halving sentences for dangerous offenders like killers, rapists and paedophiles that would be a slap in the face for victims.”

The victims’ commissioner for England and Wales also raised concerns that the Probation Service may not be able to cope with rising demand.

Baroness Newlove said: “I understand their necessity – but I do have concerns.

“The pace of change feels urgent, as if we are racing against the clock.

“My overriding concern is whether the already stretched Probation Service can withstand this additional pressure.

“The additional funding is welcome and will allow more staff to be recruited, but many long-serving staff have left the service in recent years. You cannot buy experience.”

Law Society for England and Wales president Richard Atkinson said increased investment in probation and other alternatives that can provide rehabilitation and reduce offending is beneficial to the public.

Of the review he said: “It is a positive shift away from an approach which has focused primarily on punishment without evidence that it better protects victims or reduces reoffending.

“However, to ensure the public can have faith in the criminal justice system, there must be investment in all parts of the system which are interconnected.”