Comprehensive Spending Review

“Our predecessor Committee was critical of plans for a new fifteen hundred place prison and so I am pleased to see this is not being implemented at present.  However, the Committee is keen to see the development of robust alternatives to custody and will, both in tomorrow’s Westminster Hall debate on the former Committee’s report on Justice Reinvestment, and in its ongoing inquiry into the work of the probation service, be looking in more detail at the impact of the Chancellor’s statement on the probation service.  The Lord Chancellor’s commitment to reducing dependence on custody will only be made to work if effective alternatives are available, whether through public or private sector provision.”