Labour must be bold on prison reform

Take money from prisons to give to local people

The dire state of prisons hits the headlines every few years. The story of the day may change a bit, but the underlying problems are the same. Every time the disgusting state of prisons, the overcrowding, low staffing, the cockroaches come to public attention the politicians respond with the same mantra: we are building more prisons and that will solve all the problems. It’s nonsense of course. It will make things worse, and for generations to come. We cannot build our way out of a prison crisis.

Taxpayers are footing the bill to build more prisons and their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will continue paying to maintain prisons that will quickly become rotting, festering centres of drugs, crime and violence. So it has been for two centuries and so it will be for the next two centuries.

There is another way. We could stop building more and bigger prisons. We could give that money to local people to decide how they want to spend it to prevent crime, to make their communities work better. Imagine holding a citizens’ assembly and saying: here, you can have £200 million now to do what needs to be done, capital spending, what would you like? Then you can have £15 million every year for the next century to maintain and develop it. You could have a park, a new school, free university places for your teenagers, a new hospital or health centre. Or you can have this new prison. I know what choice I think people would make. I know what would reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and make for safer communities.

Labour could trust local people to make decisions for themselves. The money could go partly to local government to invest in adult and child social care but the majority should be in the hands of local people.

It would be a hugely popular thing to do.

Justice Reinvestment is a relatively simple and new idea. It is time for Labour to be radical and honest. They all know prisons don’t prevent crime; at worst they foster it and at best they displace and delay it.

Yet another prison crisis, this time people being wrongly released, gives an opportunity to politicians. They should grasp it.