Recent Forum: Lord Atlee's Prison Reform Proposal presented at Shoosmiths, 9th October 2019

Intelligence Forums, hosted by Shoosmiths, was pleased to present Earl John Attlee in October this year. Lord Attlee spoke to our round table about his vision for prison reform in the UK, and how the structure of the House of Lords could aid that achievement. Lord Attlee’s vision is based around the belief that young offenders with short sentences should leave prison better equipped to play a meaningful role in society than when they where first detained. To achieve this he advocates that short term prison sentences should be structured around the concept of ‘Detained for Training at Her Majesty’s Pleasure’: offenders have a set amount of meaningful and responsibility based training they must fulfil (such and literacy and numeracy skills, along with team work and tactical job related activity) within five years, and at the point in their sentence they demonstrate sufficient progress they can be released. A core part of this programme would be Tick Tock camps - groups of prisoners are taken to remote locations, outside of phone signal, and must work together in practical, team based tasks. By focusing less on the secure estate and the illicit economy based on phones, Attlee argues that prisoners will be far more engaged with rehabilitation, developing skills that significantly reduce rates of reoffending.

This is a proposal for radical reform - and the House of Lords and it’s structure makes such proposals possible. Lord Attlee commented that the rate of turnaround in prison ministers in recent years makes meaningful reform unrealistic - however, since Lords do not need to re-elected, they can continue to work with all parties at all times. The House’s role of scrutiny means any proposed reform would be properly examined, both before and after voting; this is enhanced by the many expert specialists in the House of Lords. Lords can challenge MPs in their own parties without facing the possibility of negative career impact, and so provide a meaningful balancing force. Lord Attlee’s vision of our penal system requires wholesale change - something unacheivable without the House Lords.