My Lords, this amendment, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames, would require the Secretary of State to establish a royal commission to review and report on criminal sentencing. The amendment was tabled in Committee and I am glad to have the opportunity to further clarify the Government’s position on this matter.
First, let me pick up the direct question put to me by the noble Lord, Lord Bach, which I think was echoed by my noble friend Lord Cormack and mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede. The 2019 Conservative manifesto did commit, as noted in Committee, to set up a royal commission on the criminal justice system. Work to set up that royal commission was slowed at the onset of the pandemic to focus on the very practical matter of ensuring that the criminal justice system could continue to operate—as it did, thanks to a lot of hard work by staff up and down the country—in a Covid-safe environment. As work on the commission was paused, officials were redeployed to other work and other roles in government.
Significant new programmes of work have now been stood up to support recovery and build back a better criminal justice system. That means that many of the areas the royal commission was due to look at are now being progressed more quickly, for example on efficiency and effectiveness of the system. That includes ensuring that all component parts of the extremely complex system—which we call the criminal justice system but is an amalgam of all sorts of systems—work together to deliver swifter justice for victims. As I said on the last group, on 9 December we announced our consultation on a new victims’ Bill to improve the level of service victims can expect from the criminal justice system. We remain committed to delivering our manifesto commitments. However, we think it is right to continue to pause the work on the royal commission on the criminal justice system while we focus on delivering these priorities over the coming months. We will then revisit what further role there is for the royal commission.
At the same time, let me clarify a point of confusion, which may have been behind the noble Lord’s question— I do not know. To be very clear, the amendment, as drafted, calls for a royal commission on criminal sentencing, not a royal commission on the criminal justice system. For the record and to make it very
clear, when my noble and learned friend Lord Stewart of Dirleton previously responded and assured the Committee that a royal commission of this nature was unnecessary, it was the royal commission on criminal sentencing in the amendment that he was referring to. I see the noble Lord nodding and I am grateful; I did not want there to be any confusion on the point.
The sentencing White Paper published last year set out the Government’s proposals for reform to the sentencing and release framework. Work is under way on the non-legislative commitments made there; the legislative measures are being delivered by the Bill. I can assure the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, that we want to adopt a strategic approach here. We believe that the White Paper delivers that, but I am sure that the conversations on these points will continue. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Beith, that the taxpayer’s pound is an important factor here. We want value for money in this and other areas of government. The rationale of the White Paper is to deliver a smarter, more targeted approach to sentencing. The most serious violent and sexual offenders should serve sentences that reflect the severity of their offending behaviour.
I say to the House in general, responding in particular to the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley, that it is crucial that the Government listen when there are issues on which the public feels strongly, and there are some offences that society finds particularly concerning and, indeed, offensive. At the same time, for lower-level crimes, we are making community sentences more effective, so they can offer an appropriate level of punishment and address the underlying drivers of offending. As part of that—to pick up the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb—we do of course look at the particular issues facing women in prison. We have discussed that on a number of occasions, and I intend no discourtesy by not repeating now what I have said before. We have spoken, and we have focused as a Government, on the needs of women in prison and sentencing women to prison, particularly the primary carers issue, which we have discussed and debated.
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The amendment as drafted specifies a number of areas that a royal commission on sentencing should make recommendations on. My noble and learned friend Lord Stewart gave assurances in Committee in regard to the programmes and reforms under way in relation to each of these areas, so I shall not repeat that now, but I assure the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Gloucester that we look at evidence in this context. I can also assure the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, that we consider each of the matters set out in this amendment as part of our work. I certainly would not accept that we are engaged in any sort of auction, to use the word of the noble Lord, Lord Macdonald of River Glaven. However, I agree with him, as we have discussed in other debates on this Bill, that short sentences require very careful consideration indeed.
As my noble friend Lord Faulks mentioned, there is an important role here for government. This is not something that should just be outsourced to a royal
commission. I draw a distinction between what I was talking about in the transgender debate, which was management of prisoners and conditions in prison, on the one hand, and sentencing policy on the other hand. They are two different things and, as I said earlier, it is absolutely right for the Government to take account of and listen to the concerns of the public on sentencing.
I should add that, since the debate in Committee, on 7 December, as I mentioned in the last group, we published our prison strategy White Paper, but I shall not repeat what I said then, as we have a lot of business to get through this evening.
Finally, to pick up on a point made by a number of contributors, on the transgender issue—and I do not want to go back to it, because I still bear the scars on my back and my front from that debate—as I said to my noble friend Lord Cormack privately, and am happy to repeat publicly, it is not the sort of commitment that I can give on my feet at the Dispatch Box. But what I can commit to is that I shall continue the conversation with him—and, indeed, with others in this House—on that very difficult issue, which I know raises passions across the House.
To come back to this amendment, I hope that the House is assured of the Government’s position on the matter, and I urge the noble Lord to withdraw the amendment.