`Prisons are not for punishment` statement attacked as pre-cursor to softer regimes

A pioneering mission statement of the purpose of prisons is excluding any reference to ‘punishment’ as critics claim reforming the justice system is “going soft” on offenders. The Prisons and Courts Bill – due to gain royal assent later this month – will enshrine in law the first legal definitions for the UK’s detention system. Justice Secretary Liz Truss intends to “make sure that it is crystal clear what the prison system exists to deliver”. But ministers are playing down any mention of an obligation on prisons to punish inmates. The Government argues that the `punishment` for offenders is in depriving them of their liberty, not prison itself. A briefing paper prepared for MPs by the House of Commons Library suggested this reflected the view criminals “come to prison as punishment and not for punishment”. Ms Truss said earlier this year: “The Prisons and Courts Bill is clear that prisons are there to deliver the sentences of the court – depriving people of their liberty to punish them for their crimes.” The Bill instead says: ”Prisons must aim to protect the public, reform and rehabilitate offenders, prepare prisoners for a life outside prison, and maintain an environment that is safe and secure.” Critics said the new legal definition risked the adoption of an even softer regime when conditions at UK prisons already appear to be “lax”. At Britain`s biggest and newest prison, HMP Berwyn, which opened last month, the 2,100 inmates get phones and laptops in their `rooms`, which are not even called cells. There is also significant concern that tens of thousands of mobile phones are being smuggled into prisons every year. In a White Paper published last year, ministers claimed it was necessary “to go back to the beginning and make sure that it is crystal clear what the prison system exists to deliver, both to everyone who works in and with it and to society beyond”. Tory MP Philip Davies argued: “The purpose of prisons first and foremost should be punishment. The Government should recognise that. “Leftie liberals think that people having their freedom taken away is a punishment in itself, but to many people it is not. “All these prisons inspectors come from their seven-bedroom mansions and say `oh it is pretty dreadful in here`.” UKIP leader Paul Nuttall added: “Punishment for wrong-doing and deterring other potential offenders are two absolute bedrock purposes of the prison system. “For Liz Truss to come up with a mission statement that leaves out both beggars belief, and suggests she has had the wool pulled over her eyes by so-called ‘progressive’ penal policy pressure groups. “By not specifically referencing ‘punishment’ in the statement, it could allow governors further to soften regimes in prisons so that they become more like holiday camps rather than serious corrective institutions.” A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ”Legislation is already explicit that the purpose of a prison sentence is punishment by the deprivation of liberty. “What the Bill is about is making sure prisons are places of discipline, self-improvement and hard work. “This includes getting offenders into training and jobs when they leave prison so crime and misery to society is reduced.”