“As Anglican Bishop for HM’s Prisons, I welcome the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to look at sentencing and welcome the Rt Hon David Gauke into his role as Chair of the Sentencing Review.
“Over the past few years, I have spoken to many people working in the criminal justice system, including Judges and Magistrates, who are longing for change. We need a clearly articulated vision of a long-term vision which must surely be to build stronger and safer communities, thus we must address a key question regarding the purpose of prison. Our overcrowded prisons are merely a consequence of our failure to address this question as well as our negligence to ask what will bring about transformation for offenders, victims, families and whole communities.
“My recent visit to the Netherlands highlighted the effectiveness of looking creatively at alternative sentencing approaches, and my hope and prayer for this Sentencing Review, is that it will be courageous and evidence-based. I hope that harmful short sentences will be a thing of the past and a spotlight will be shone on the wide scope of community sentences which, when well resourced, can prevent reoffending and bring about better outcomes for all. We shouldn’t use prisons as a dead end. Instead, we need to build paths that lead people to better outcomes and that starts with sentencing.”