The Decision to Imprison, published by PRT in 2003 showed that judges and magistrates have become tougher, in response to legislation, guideline judgements and political and media pressure. That study, by Professor Hough and colleagues, revealed two main reasons for a growing prison population:

• sentencers are now imposing longer prison sentences for serious crimes,

• they are more likely to imprison offenders who 10 years ago would have received a community penalty or even a fine.

The report suggested that policies to restrict prison numbers and target this expensive resource more carefully should involve three levels of intervention:

1. Adjustment to the legal and legislative framework of sentencing, so as to bring down custody rates and sentence lengths.

2. Moderating of the climate of political and public opinion on crime and punishment, so that sentencers feel at liberty to make more sparing use of custody, and greater use of the alternatives to custody.

3. Improving understanding of the range of non-custodial penalties – including the fine – both among sentencers and the wider public.

Crucially, the report concludes:

“However, none of these interventions is likely to meet with much success unless there is clear political will to stop the uncontrolled growth in prison numbers, and visible, consistent, political leadership in stressing the need to do so.”

You can read the full response here.