The Forward Trust Welcomes the First Report of the Independent Sentencing Review
Part 1 of the Independent Sentencing Review (published on 18th February 2025) explains how the prison population has sharply increased in recent decades and is expected to continue to grow, and that “too often, the knee-jerk response has been to increase sentence lengths as a demonstration of government action.”
According to review chair David Gauke:
“This has left England and Wales with a very high prison population by historic and international standards, which has diverted resources from other parts of the criminal justice system that could contribute more to reducing reoffending.
“There is evidently opportunity for public service reform where resources could be more effectively deployed to reduce crime and the number of victims.”
In spring 2025, the next phase of this review will deliver recommendations to respond to the capacity challenge, both in the short and long-term. Recommendations will be grounded in the principles that sentencing should:
(1) punish offenders and protect the public;
(2) encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime, cutting crime by reducing reoffending;
(3) expand and make greater use of punishment outside of prison.
The Forward Trust empowers people to break the cycles of addiction or crime to move forward with their lives. Since 1991, we have been working with people to build positive and productive futures. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change, as celebrated in our More Than My Past and Taking Action on Addiction campaigns. Last year, our services supported over 25,000 people to make changes and to create better lives.
The charity has long argued that sentencing policy should give more priority to the rehabilitation of offenders as the best way to reduce future crime and protect victims. Many people currently held in prison have the desire and the potential to turn their lives around – the work of organisations like The Forward Trust, the ‘human evidence’ provided by our thousands of ‘graduates’ now living productive lives in their communities, and peer-reviewed research, demonstrate this potential.
On this report, Forward’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Trace says, “We have waited a long time for such a clear and brave analysis of the factors that have led to the overcrowding and financial crises in the prison system. We now call on the inquiry team to be similarly clear and brave in recommending, and quickly implementing, measures to get more offenders into employment, mental health, and addiction recovery programmes.”