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Lib Dem Peer Lord Thomas of Gresford admitted he "fell out of bed" when he heard the Ken Clarke's comments on prisons.
In his opening comments in a busy Lords chamber, he stated that now was the time to initiate real change in the sector, "we must no longer talk about which political party is harder or softer on crime and criminals; we must ask what is the most effective use of scarce resources to reduce offending and reoffending".
Attacking the previous government for the wasteful "warehousing" of offenders, he argued that all was created were "universities of crime". According to Ministry of Justice figures, 2007-08 saw £22bn spent on the criminal justice system in some way or another, but the result was simply that prisoners went "up a grade in criminality".
Heralding what he hoped to be a "progressive and radical reform of penal policy", Lord Thomas called for a commitment to the development of drug and alcohol treatment programmes, the identification and treating mental illness, helping offenders with literacy and providing effective resettlement and housing care.
Also applauding the justice secretary's comments was Labour Peer Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws who urged the Coalition to be cautious in the face of a potential backlash, arguing that the government must not resort to "a blank cheque for repressive action" in response for public calls for more punitive measures.
Lib Dem Baroness Hamwee highlighted the fact that the cost of imprisonment at £48,000 per year exceeds that of an Eton education. Referring to a CBI report that estimated that crime committed by ex-prisoners costs the economy £11bn per year, she argued that by simply reducing reoffending by 10 per cent the economy would save more than one billion.
Former Chief Inspector of Prisons Lord Ramsbotham equated the position of prisons in the criminal justice system to that of hospitals in the NHS, "they are the acute part where treatment takes place, and no one should do there unless they need the treatment".
He went on to describe the policy of community sentences as "nothing more nor less than putting appropriate and trained helpers face to face with people in need of their help". He underlined the need for the public to learn that there are effective and appropriate alternatives to custody.
Responding for the government, justice minister Lord McNally admitted that "the test of an effective criminal justice system is not how much money is poured into it, but whether it achieves what the public want and expect it to achieve".
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd