Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission minutes: 25 February 2025

Attendees and apologies

Items and actions

Welcome and Introductions

A high-level note of the meeting will be taken by secretariat. Commissioners will have the opportunity to comment on this before it is published on the website.

Workplan 

There was discussion of some of the current issues with sentencing and penal policy. These included the following:-

• there are many existing policies and initiatives aimed at improving things, in some cases it is implementation of these that appears to be the issue
• recognition that strong leadership will be required to achieve the outcomes sought
• the question of consistency (in terms of availability and quality) of services across  different local authority areas
• the opportunity to consider how effective all aspects of Community Payback Orders are
• the importance of quick and effective interventions
• the importance of shared key data across the justice sector
• the context of reforms that improve how public money is spent
• the need to understand why community sentences are not used more
• the importance of considering risk at each stage
• the Chair suggested an alternate approach for framing the workplan and initial engagement

Engagement

There was discussion of the engagement plan and the Chair’s upcoming visits and meetings. It was noted that the Chair had written to Victims organisations on the day his role was announced and was keen to set up engagement with them as soon as possible.

Commissioners were content with engagement plans and it was noted that some had sent in additions via email. It was agreed that in addition to these it would be useful to visit a problem-solving court.

It was noted that there should be further consideration of appropriate international comparisons. In the first instance it would be helpful to look at Ireland and the Netherlands given the former’s consistently lower prison population, and the latter’s successful attempt to lower their prison population.

It was agreed that the Commissioners would carry out their own engagement – speaking to their networks and leading roundtable discussions with support from the secretariat.

Evidence Gathering /Consultation

There was discussion regarding what the evidence gathering and consultation process should consist of to ensure that all interested stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute their views.

Principles

There was discussion regarding the principles that should underpin the Commission and how these interact with those in the Justice and Community Justice Strategy. The Commission agreed on an initial draft that would evolve over time as engagement and consideration is carried out.

Close 

The next meeting will take place at 1.30pm on 24 March 2025 via TEAMS.