Member

The amendments in this group do not seek to frustrate the Bill. They seek to ground it and make it work. They ask the Government to confront the reality that, without adequate court time and adequate prison places, and without a functioning and properly staffed Probation Service, the good intentions of this legislation simply cannot be translated into safer streets or reduced reoffending. If there are not the proper resources, the provisions of the Bill will result, as we have pointed out throughout our debates on it, in the number of prisoners being released decreasing temporarily, but only temporarily, and then a subsequent increase in prisons because there has not been the necessary support for effective use of non-custodial sentences. That will add to the pressure on the prison system, with more people going into it, not fewer. That of course will increase the capital cost of building new prisons. It will result in more and more people being housed at a cost of £54,000 per year at current figures. We want to prevent that, which is why we have mounted objections to the Bill in practice and support these amendments.