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Retribution and Rehabilitation: A Modern Conservative Justice Policy

Imprisonment is just the first step in an enlightened Conservative justice policy, argues Nick De Bois.

By Nick de Bois

20 Jul 2011, 17:30

There seem to be two distinct strands within the Conservative Party, noticeable in both politicians and members, in the way that we discuss justice policy. One side are crudely characterised as ‘hang ‘em and flog ‘em’, demanding longer mandatory sentences and prisons with no frills or amenities. The other side focuses on rehabilitation, and the ability to look beyond past deeds and change criminals into citizens. I will fully admit that my instinct lies with the former, while I am aware that the party line lies with latter. However, I have recently become convinced that there is no need for these two views to be opposed, and indeed it is by embracing these ideas, and introducing conservative free market principles, that we can get to grips with crime levels and re-offending rates.

The first step is, of course, imprisonment. It is absolutely true that prison at its crudest is a method by which the public can be protected from those who would wish to do them harm. This role should never be forgotten. It is therefore crucial that we do put offenders in prison for a period of time that is proportionate to their offence, and ensure that they remain detained for a significant percentage of that time. As they lose confidence in sentences and courts, the public lose confidence in the state’s sense of justice and there is a clear disconnect that only leads to a weaker society. This disconnect needs to be breached and tougher sentences need to be introduced.

This does not mean we need to lock offenders up and throw away the key, and this is where the Government should really make their mark on a new kind of justice policy. It is an often cited fact that this country spends £45,000 a year on each prisoner and yet 50% will go on to reoffend, which translates as a dead investment of £2 billion annually in the Ministry of Justice. This means simply that prison isn’t working. To even begin addressing this problem we need to not only change our policy direction, but wholly transform the culture of how Government delivers rehabilitation services, adopting a genuine Payment by Results system and embracing the third sector.

At the first point of contact we need to focus on effective engagement where problems arise, and this early intervention approach has rightly been highlighted by Iain Duncan Smith as one that “could turn out to be the smartest decision local and national government ever made”. In this area, the organisation Chance UK has been incredibly successful in producing substantial reductions in youth crime through simple and effective mentoring programmes. An independent report by Goldsmiths University into the organisation found that 98% of the children they worked with showed reductions in levels of behavioural difficulty, a staggering level of productivity.

The St. Giles Trust are another organisation that effectively manage the transition from prison to society, with innovative projects such as ‘Through the Gates’, in which they meet offenders at the end of their custodial sentence and support them for a short period in resolving issues such as housing, employment and drug & alcohol addiction. An independent report by Frontier Economics found that the ‘Through the Gates’ project reduced re-offending by 40% and that for every £1 invested in it, £10 was saved by the taxpayer in direct criminal justice costs. It would be madness for central Government to pretend it could mirror these results itself.

These are just some of the clear examples of how we can tackle re-offending rates and rein in our criminal justice budget while making Britain a safer and more equitable place to live. To harness these benefits, we need to take a leap of faith and accept innovation and disruption from the third sector. However, these projects need to work alongside a tough court system that delivers strong and consistent punishments, to ensure the safety of the population. Indeed, many of these projects rely on individuals being in custody for over 12 months in order to effectively engage and rehabilitate, while removing the offender from the destructive environments in which their damaging behaviour developed.

Therefore it is a harmony between the twin principles of retribution, delivered through strong and consistent sentencing, and rehabilitation, in partnership with the innovative and efficient third sector, that will unite the Conservative party and provide a solid foundation on which the Coalition and future Conservative Government’s can tackle the issue of crime.