Andrew Turner, the Island’s MP, is encouraging Islanders to respond to an on-line consultation on how the annual £5 billion cost of the prison and probation service could be better spent. Mr Turner is a member of the cross-party Justice Select Committee which has launched the consultation as part of their detailed investigation into ‘Justice Reinvestment’. This idea, which is being trialled in some areas in the US, is that some of the money that would be spent in the criminal justice system is spent instead in mental health services, drug treatment, education, and community services.

Mr Turner said;
“I am certainly not soft on serious offenders, but with a soaring prison population and high re-offending rates it is worth looking at experience elsewhere to see what is successful. The Government has just announced an extra £1.3 billion to build three new enormous Titan prisons with little evidence that they work. With our three prisons and other organisations such as the prison visitors we have an enormous amount of expertise on the Island that would prove very useful to the Committee in the investigation.”

The Committee would welcome hearing from anyone involved in the prison or probation service, victims of crime and those that have experienced crime in their communities as well as those that may have offended in the past. All input from the public will feed directly into the recommendations that the Committee puts to the Government. The Government then has to respond to those recommendations. The consultation opens at midday on Tuesday June 10 at http://forums.parliament.uk/prisoncosts and will run for 6 weeks.


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Contact : Andrew Turner’s office 01983 530808