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Government announces new crackdown on prison drug kingpins in bid to boost rehabilitation

Justice secretary to announce new drive to cut reoffending and 'turn round lives' as Tories soften criminal justice policy

Benjamin Kentish
Political Correspondent
Tuesday 02 October 2018 12:58 BST
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David Gauke will commit £5m to set up the first 'Secure School' for young people in custody
David Gauke will commit £5m to set up the first 'Secure School' for young people in custody

The government is to launch a new crackdown on the assets of prison kingpins in a bid to boost the rehabilitation of prisoners, justice secretary David Gauke will announce today.

Ministers will set up a new financial crime unit tasked with identifying suspicious transfers of money and cutting off the funds of criminals found to be behind the prison drugs trade.

The move is part of a series of new measures designed to cut reoffending rates, and signals a significant softening of the Conservatives' approach to criminal justice.

Mr Gauke will tell the Tories' annual conference in Birmingham that improving rehabilitation of prisoners is a personal "mission" that he hopes will define his time as justice secretary.

Issuing a stern warning to criminals behind the trade of drugs in prisons, he will say: “My message to kingpins is this: we are already blocking your phones, putting you in isolation and now we will make sure you can’t access your money.

"Dealing drugs in prison will no longer be profitable because we will find your assets and we will seize them.”

He will also announce a series of measures to help more prisoners into education and employment.

£5m will be made available for establishing a new "Secure School" for young people in custody. This will be run by an academy trust with experience of working with young offenders. Ministers hope to open other similar schools in the coming years.

A further £2.6m will be spent on other educational and vocational training for young people in prison. The Unlocked scheme, which trains university graduates to work as prison officers for two years, will be expanded to include young offenders units.

The government will also work with construction companies such as Lendlease to help train offenders for jobs in the industry.

And eight new education providers will be appointed to work with prisoners, trebling the number currently working within the criminal justice system.

Mr Gauke is expected to say: “Getting prisoners rehabilitated will reduce crime and ensure there are fewer victims of crime in future. It will also cut the £15bn cost that reoffending has on society.

“We know that offenders are far less likely to reoffend if they have a job. That is why I launched the Education and Employment strategy, which will expand opportunities for offenders to get education and skills training, and work experience so they can get a job when they get out.

He will add: “We need offenders to make the right choice, to reject a life of criminality and choose to work, accept responsibility and be part of society. Reforming the way that we get offenders to do that is my mission, and what I hope defines me as Justice Secretary.”

“Together this package of reforms and investment will crack down on the drugs and violence in prisons, further support offenders in turning their backs on crime and, crucially, help young offenders find a path out of criminality into education and responsibility.

“The problems won’t be solved overnight. But if we refuse to be deflected, if we stay focused on our vision, if we are driven by the evidence and prepared to be bold, if we are willing to embrace reform, this is an agenda that can turn round lives. And that is what we will deliver.”

However, Labour said the measures would not end the "emergency" in Britain's prisons.

Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary, said: “These measures fall way short of what is needed to tackle the emergency in our prisons.

"Our prisons are facing an unprecedented wave of violence due to Conservative cuts to budgets and staffing levels. The government's claim that it is turning prisons into places of reform and rehabilitation is empty rhetoric when violence, understaffing and overcrowding mean that prisoners spend 23 hours a day locked-up in their cells.

"The government needs to go much further than these wholly inadequate measures. It should launch an emergency action plan with substantial new Treasury funds to make our prisons safe for both staff and inmates."

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