Overview

• The Independent Sentencing Review, chaired by former justice secretary David Gauke, identifies decades of punitive sentencing policies as the root cause of severe prison overcrowding in England and Wales.
• The prison population has doubled since 1993 despite a decline in overall crime rates, driven by longer sentences and reduced use of non-custodial punishments.
• The report criticizes successive governments for prioritizing harsher sentencing over effective rehabilitation and crime prevention strategies.
• Emergency measures in 2024, including early prisoner releases, were implemented to address capacity issues as prisons exceeded 99% occupancy.
• Recommendations for reform, expected later this year, will likely focus on alternatives to incarceration, probation service improvements, and revising sentencing guidelines.