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Prisons: Carter Review

My Lords, I express my support for what the Minister said about prisons and I express my admiration for what my noble friend Lord Carter has done. He has selflessly devoted himself to a whole series of public policy issues and has produced reports that show real perception. This report is one of them. I also pay tribute to the Prison Service led by Phil Wheatley. The impression given by some of the questioners is that there is a decline in decency and security in our prisons because of ““overcrowding””. Nothing could be further from the truth. Decency and security have improved over the years and we should pay tribute to that. I strongly welcome my noble friend Lord Bradley being asked to investigate the mental health issues that urgently need investigation and I can think of nobody better than my noble friend Lord Bradley to do that. I also raise a question on the critical issue. Since 1987, as my noble friend Lord Carter pointed out, the Executive have repeatedly got wrong how many prison places are needed as against how many people the judges are sending to prison. I express strong support for the solution proposed by my noble friend Lord Carter. Will the Minister confirm that the lead principle will be to make the punishment fit the crime? However, inevitably and rightly, resources will also have to be taken into account because there must be justice for every other part of government. There are only finite resources for prisons.