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Conservative Government Penal Policy 2015-2021

Austerity, Outsourcing and Punishment Redux?

verfasst von: Christopher David Skinns

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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This book interrogates Conservative government penal policy for adult and young adult offenders in England and Wales between 2015 and 2021. Government penal policy is shown to have been often ineffective and costly, and to have revived efforts to push the system towards a disastrous combination of austerity, outsourcing and punishment that has exacerbated the penal crisis.

This investigation has meant touching on topical debates dealing with the impact of resource scarcity on offenders' experiences of the penal system, the impact of an increasing emphasis on punishment on offenders’ sense of justice and fairness, the balance struck between infection control and offender welfare during the government handling of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and why successive Conservative governments have intransigently pursued a penal policy that has proved crisis-exacerbating.

The overall conclusion reached is that penal policy is too important to be left to governments alone and needs to be recalibrated by a one-off inquiry, complemented by an on-going advisory body capable of requiring governments to ‘explain or change’. The book is distinctive in that it provides a critical review of penal policy change, whist combining this with insights derived from the sociological analysis of penal trends.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Introduction

Abstract

This chapter notes the emergence of the damaging austerity, outsourcing and punishment (A-O-P) penal policy package under the Coalition government between 2010 and 2015 and indicates the intention of the book, which is to undertake a detailed internal and external critique of Conservative government policy on courts and sentencing, prisons and probation, in the subsequent 2015–2021 period. The main thesis that emerges from this critique is that the A-O-P penal policy package has been revived, albeit in a modified form, by Conservative governments in the 2015–2021 period, causing an exacerbation of the penal crisis, with attention then focusing on not only why this intransigent and damaging position was taken, but also what must be done to remedy the situation.

Christopher David Skinns

2. Critique

Abstract

This chapter establishes the basis of an internal and external critique. The internal critique is shown to depend on determining whether the policies promulgated were consistent with government penal philosophy and were successfully implemented. Conservative government penal philosophy posited a zero sum relation between the needs of victims and offenders, emphasised the need to maintain a just and adequate penal system, prioritised the incapacitation of offenders and maintained that reduced reoffending could be achieved by extending a ‘second chance’ to deserving offenders via swift court action, and providing stable prison and probation environments.

The external critique is shown to depend on determining whether the penal policies promulgated eased material resource scarcity and relieved the moral crisis by developing procedural justice, reducing the fixation with the prison, increasing the transparency of the penal system, improving the process of government penal policy-making and, overall, contributing to justice.

Christopher David Skinns

3. Courts and Sentencing

Abstract

Conservative governments in the 2015–2020 period did fashion a more punitive and harsher court system but did not re-organise the system without attendant and significant issues, arising from reductions in court resources and the promotion of remote court working, and did not reduce expenditure without incurring a great deal of countermanding costs. Courts as a consequence were less, not more, able to provide a speedy and efficient processing of defendants.

The policies of the Conservative governments promoted the Coalition-inspired austerity-outsourcing-punishment (A-O-P) penal policy package further exacerbating the penal crisis for courts. Material scarcity was worsened by legal aid cuts, the over-ambitious courts estate programme and the extension of outsourcing to debt enforcement. The moral crisis was intensified by legal aid cuts and the pursuit of remote court working with insufficient regard to impact (both of which diminished procedural justice and court accountability) and the promotion of punitive sentencing which increased prison fetishisation and made conditions harsher for offenders. Little was done to reform penal policy-making. Overall the policies engaged detracted from justice.

Christopher David Skinns

4. Prisons

Abstract

Governments in the 2015–2020 period failed to ‘transform’ the prison estate and prison accountability arrangements. The attempt to ‘transform’ prison operation led to further outsourcing of prisons and prison services, unstable and inadequate increases in prison staff numbers, a less than fully operationalised key worker scheme, a deterioration in purposeful activity provision and ineffective limits on mobile phone use in prisons. Much less stable and secure, and no less costly, prison environments resulted.

The policies of the Conservative governments promoted the Coalition-inspired austerity-outsourcing-punishment (A-O-P) penal policy package further exacerbating the prisons crisis. Prison transformation policies exacerbated material scarcity, deepened the material degradation of prison life and detracted from procedural justice. The emphasis on the provision of new prison places reaffirmed the fixation with the prison. The flawed urgent notification protocol did not significantly improve the accountability of prisons. The prison policy-making process remained demonstrably flawed. Prisons were not more, but less just, by 2020.

Christopher David Skinns

5. Probation

Abstract

Governments of the 2015–2020 period did promote a form of punitive probation consistent with their penal philosophy. Government actions retained outsourcing to the last possible moment. But as a result the drive to provide stable, ‘second chance’ opportunities and conditions for offenders did not meet with success.

The policies of the Conservative governments promoted the Coalition-inspired austerity-outsourcing-punishment (A-O-P) penal policy package further exacerbating the probation crisis. Material scarcity was worsened by reducing funds spent on client supervision and maximising the additional financial support made available to the flawed privatisation project. The moral crisis was exacerbated by the further tarnishing of the reputation of probation with the courts leading to a fixation with the prison by default. Procedural justice was further compromised by the in-practice prioritisation of incapacitation over treatment in probation working practice. All the key issues here (the problems connected to privatisation, licence recall, through-the-gate services and the prioritisation of incapacitation over treatment) demonstrated the continuing flawed nature of penal policy-making. Policy changes did little to develop just probation practice.

Christopher David Skinns

6. Bias and Discrimination in the Penal System

Abstract

Governments in the 2015–2020 period accepted the need to reduce bias and discrimination in the penal system on the basis of race and being female, although actual intervention had been gradual and impact limited. In contrast, and in line with Conservative philosophy, socio-economic disadvantage had remained largely taken for granted, deemed as not requiring intervention. The nascent ‘job done’ approach to race, promoted by the second Johnson administration, emerged in early 2020 but led to little more than House of Commons debate, but boded ill for future developments.

The lack of effectiveness of policies of the Conservative governments in the 2015–2020 period on the issue of bias and discrimination in the penal system on the basis of race and being female and the omission of bias and discrimination on the basis of socio-economic disadvantage acted to undermine the moral foundation of the penal system and thus severely diminished its legitimacy. Legitimacy was further undermined by the emergence of the ‘job done’ position taken on race.

Christopher David Skinns

7. The Pandemic and the Penal System

Abstract

The Johnson government’s inconsistent ‘suppression’ pandemic management policy for England, in comparison with other similar countries, probably failed to minimise COVID-19-related fatalities and maximise speedy economic recovery and failed to garner consistent public trust.

Government management of the pandemic in the penal system, based on de facto ‘closure’, probably minimised COVID-19 fatalities amongst prison and probation users.

But the closure policy contributed to the penal crisis by exacerbating resource scarcity, undermined procedural justice by imposing a unilateral policy which resulted in the prolonged very harsh treatment of offenders, added to the fixation with the prison, demonstrated lack of accountability by being unresponsive to even well-founded criticism (especially over court delays and the prolonged solitary confinement of prisoners) and overall detracted from justice.

Christopher David Skinns

8. Why Has the Penal Crisis Been Exacerbated by Recent Government Policy?

Abstract

This chapter accounts for the intransigent line taken by Conservatives governments on penal policy by showing how the revival of the austerity-outsourcing-punishment (A-O-P) penal policy package was mandated by the dominance of neo-liberal forms. Austerity is shown to have acted as a master strategy to counter the existential threat posed to neo-liberal governance by the bank failures of 2008. The deployment of outsourcing is shown to have enabled the institutionalisation by contract of the financial and cultural concomitants of austerity and seemingly provide a low-cost method of managing the emergent criminogenic consequences of a neo-liberal inequality regime. Punishment is shown to have been mandated by various effects of the neo-liberal hegemony notably growing fears about ambiguously rising crime, reduced opportunities for social intervention, the harsh logic of doing more for less, the spread of increasingly uncaring sentiments about others, the fury over being left out in the race to success and fear for the security of identity- and status-defining material possessions.

Christopher David Skinns

9. What Is to Be Done?

Abstract

Significant flaws in the penal policy promulgated in the 2015–2021 period are identified in the previous chapters of this book and they are shown to have led to the exacerbation of the penal crisis. Progressive change of the penal system cannot be achieved without reference to social reform and so this chapter is concerned with the defects necessarily associated with neo-liberal ideology and practice and suggests an alternative social form. A democratic mechanism for re-modelling of the penal system is also suggested based on both a one-off, fundamental, root and branch review of penal policy by a parliamentary commission of inquiry, and the appointment of a standing advisory body on penal affairs, to provide on-going, evidence-informed guidance for government, backed by legislation, based on Lammy’s principle of ‘explain or reform’.

Christopher David Skinns

10. Conclusion

Abstract

This chapter sets out the main finding of the work that Conservative government penal policy was largely not successful in its own terms and exacerbated the penal crisis by reviving the austerity-outsourcing-punishment (A-O-P) penal policy package, thereby making material resources scarcer and moral justification more problematic. The remedies suggested encompass social and penal reform as well as significant changes being made to penal policy-making. Some of the limitations of the book are discussed in particular that the focus of the work has been on the penal system (rather than dealing with the criminal justice system as a whole), and only focused on adults and young adults in England and Wales. Finally, some of the empirical questions that need to be considered not only to satisfy curiosity, but also to suggest issues for consideration by an appropriate inquiry, are then set out.

Christopher David Skinns

Backmatter

Titel: Conservative Government Penal Policy 2015-2021
verfasst von: Christopher David Skinns
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-00797-2
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-00796-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-00797-2

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Introduction

2. Critique

3. Courts and Sentencing

4. Prisons

5. Probation

6. Bias and Discrimination in the Penal System

7. The Pandemic and the Penal System

8. Why Has the Penal Crisis Been Exacerbated by Recent Government Policy?

9. What Is to Be Done?

10. Conclusion

Backmatter

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