Centre for Mental Health

Sainsbury Centre welcomes call to cut prison numbers and for reinvestment in communities

2 July 2009

Replacing short prison sentences with community sanctions would not only be good value for taxpayers' money but would improve mental health and community safety, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health chief executive Angela Greatley said today.

Responding to the Commission on English Prisons Today report Do Better Do Less, published by the Howard League for Penal Reform, Angela Greatley said: "Diverting a person with a mental health problem from a short prison sentence cuts the cost of crime by some £20,000. Doing that consistently across the country by providing good quality mental health care for offenders who need it would save millions of pounds. And it would improve the mental health of some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in England.

"We fully support the Commission's call for a significant reduction in the prison population and better use of community sentences. To do this, we need to implement in full the Bradley Report's call for a Criminal Justice Mental Health team to be established in every locality, backed up with equal access to mainstream community mental health services."