Jail terms should be capped, says Falconer

The amount of time non-dangerous offenders spend in prison for breaching their parole should be limited to 28 days, Lord Falconer has argued.

The new justice secretary unveiled a series of proposals to help ease Britain's bulging prisons. 

With more than 80,670 offenders in custody and just 422 spare spaces across the country, prison overcrowding looks set to be the first severe challenge faced by the newly formed MoJ.

And the new justice secretary said current jail terms for some crimes "may be" too long, but added it was an issue for the Sentencing Guidelines Council.

As such, he would be asking the council to review current regulations and promote the use of community sentences in some circumstances.

"I'm going to ask them to look at where prison is the right option, and are the lengths of sentences right at the moment," he announced.

Lord Falconer proposed that suspended sentence orders should only be used for more serious offences to limit custodial sentences for minor offenders - something Tony Blair recently rejected.

The MoJ would "commit" to "ensuring there are enough prison places to deal with all the courts send to prison", Lord Falconer stressed.

But on Wednesday, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think the numbers in prison will in fact probably go up over time."

And the Conservatives claimed the only solution was to build more prisons "not look for any and all reason to avoid sending offenders to jail".

"It would be an insult to victims if perpetrators of serious violent crime were punished with just 28 days for breaching their parole, not to mention the threat to pubic safety," said shadow home secretary David Davis.

Arguing that such measures would fail to provide rehabilitation "let alone be a deterrent", he condemned re-offending rates for community punishments as "appalling".

Davis added: "In any case these misguided measures will require legislation so will do nothing to resolve the immediate crisis of prison capacity.

"Lord Falconer this morning acknowledged prison numbers will go up - where will these prisoners be housed?"

Public service role

Outlining the key functions of the MoJ, Lord Falconer said it aimed to ensure better public protection, a reduction in reoffending and "sense in sentencing".

"The Ministry of Justice provides the opportunity for the whole justice system to work together better than ever before," he said.

"The justice system is here to serve the public - and we must give the public the system it deserves. Justice needs a Ministry of Justice."

Although he heralded progress in the performance of the justice system, he acknowledged there was "still considerable room for improvement".

He added: "By bringing together courts, prisons and probation services we will have a coherent system looking at the whole life of an offender from conviction to punishment to rehabilitation."

"But it's not just offenders. Staff, witnesses and victims should all feel this is a justice system focused on them and their needs, with serving the public as the guiding purpose in all we do."