New Clause 4
Offender Management Bill
12:00 pm
Gerry Sutcliffe (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Bradford South, Labour)
I hear what the hon. and learned Gentleman says but surely he accepts that, in line with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which provided for indeterminate sentences for dangerous prisoners who pose a threat to the public, it is right that such people are held in prison until they can prove that they do not pose such a threat. Does he think, particularly with his experience, that at the lower end of sentencing, people who would once have been fined are now being given a community sentence, and that that ratcheting up has contributed to the problem?