LibDem Group Leader Cllr Simon Werner pursuaded the Borough Council to support Justice Secretary Ken Clarke’s attempt to close the revolving door of crime.
Cllr Simon Werner said, “It is vital that the opportunities offered by community sentences to effectively punish and reform offenders are examined alongside the role of prison.
More than half of the crime in the country is committed by people who have been through the system. Action is needed to stop the revolving door of crime and re-offending.
“Ken Clarke has argued that prisons have a crucial role to play to punish the nasty people who commit nasty offences. They have to be punished and the protection of the public is the first priority of a Justice Minister.”
Cllr Simon Werner addd, “Prisons must be places of punishment but also of education, hard work and change. But simply locking people up, for the sake of it, is a waste of public funds.”
The LibDems are pleased that the local Conservatives agreed to back supporting a more intelligent system of sentencing.