Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Humfrey Malins (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 10 November 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoner Release

Question: Six years ago, in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, there were introduced a whole new raft of sentencing provisions in magistrates courts, such as custody plus, custody minus, the 51-week provision and so on. They went on to the statute book, so can the Secretary of State tell us why, six years later, they have not even been implemented?

Answer: Yes—it is because of resources. We have had to use a very large amount of resources to expand the prison estate, among other things. We have done so dramatically, and it is now up to 84,300-odd places and will get to at least 96,000 in five years' time. We have also spent money on probation, for which resources have increased as the number of offenders coming through the system has. I regret that we have not been able to do everything, but we have done a huge amount. The fact that we have greatly strengthened the correctional system is one of many reasons why this Administration are the first to see crime go down, not up.

Secondary information