What to make of Sadiq Khan and Ken Clarke? As Pete has noted, Khan (and Ed Miliband) empathises with Ken Clarke’s instincts. But, as Sunder Katwala
illustrates, Khan’s support is qualified. Khan gave speech last night after which he took questions. One
of his answers was as follows:
He was referring to alleged cuts to police numbers and devices such as the educational maintenance allowance, as well as the pressure on education and mental health in prisons. The implication is that prison works if you throw enough money at it. He is not alone in holding that analysis. The Community or Custody Inquiry, chaired by Sir Ian Blair (formerly of the Met) and Dame Anne Owers (former chief inspector of prisons), is to advise that Clarke’s ‘rehabilitation revolution’ will collapse if denied sufficient funds; they even warn of a black hole.“It’s no use us wanting to cuddle Ken Clarke – I don’t want to cuddle Ken Clarke but perhaps others do – when he is part of a government which has got policies which will see the number of people committing crime going up.”
With a 20 percent cut looming, these objections are valid. Clarke’s problem is particularly acute because of his ministerial inheritance. As I’ve written before, funding for prisoners’ remedial programmes never matched the 27 percent rise in prisoner numbers under the previous government. Clarke’s answer is simple: send fewer people to prison and ensure they don’t reoffend.
Clarke’s simple answer envisages some ambitious structural reforms. The Justice Green Paper concentrated on integrating approaches to rehabilitation. Drawing on the example of IMPACT in Bristol, Clarke wants local authorities to work with charities and the probation service to deliver ‘Integrated Offender Management’. Probationers will be supported in their efforts to overcome addiction and unemployment, as well as accessing entitlements to accommodation and benefits. The voluntary sector will share responsibility with the probation service and Clarke hopes to incentivise its involvement with schemes such as the social impact bond. Rehabilitation in prisons will also be stimulated, with pilot schemes to arrest drug abuse, mental illness and illiteracy. Most of the anticipated capital costs will fall here.
The plan is ambitious, but its specifics are far from controversial. Besides sentencing, the green paper’s most liberal profession is to suggest that ‘spent’ convictions are eradicated from CVs. Overall, the paper’s tone is arch – even the criminal justice system’s remedial projects emphasise punishment, and it promises swift retribution on reoffending. Clarke has support in principle, but he needs to find the necessary sum to convince those on the left. Then comes the right.
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