DDN_June_2025 DDN June 2025 | Page 4

NEWS ROUND-UP

Gauke review signals shift away from short prison sentences

Custodial sentences of less than 12 months should only be used in exceptional circumstances and use of community punishments should be increased, says the longawaited final report of former justice secretary David Gauke’ s Independent sentencing review. Suspended sentences should also be allowed for up to three years, the document states, including for low-risk offenders with substance use issues.

The review was commissioned after the prison system came close to collapse last year, with demand for places exceeding supply( DDN, March, page 5). The aim of the review is not only to reduce the prison population but also to address‘ other related challenges to the criminal justice system that will reduce future pressures’, Gauke says in the document’ s foreword – including reducing reoffending.
The three‘ foundational principles’ of the review are to
ensure that sentences‘ punish offenders and protect the public’, that they‘ encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime’ and that greater use is made of‘ punishment outside of prison’.
The review supports more investment in community sentence treatment requirements( CSTRs)‘ which will be particularly important for prolific offenders with drug and alcohol addiction needs’. While out of court resolution and diversion were outside the scope of the review’ s terms of reference, the evidence‘ indicated that the government should also consider whether earlier intervention, entirely outside the criminal justice system, in services such as housing, substance misuse and employment, may be more appropriate for low-risk offenders’, it adds.‘ This would require a cross-government effort.’
Professor Dame Carol Black highlighted in the first part of her Independent review of drugs that more than a third of the
people in prison at the time were there for – mostly acquisitive – crimes related to drug use, and serving short sentences that gave little time for any kind of effective treatment. This created a situation where drug users were‘ cycling in and out of our prisons at great expense but very rarely achieving recovery or finding meaningful work’, she said, and meant they were consequently‘ very likely to re-offend’( DDN, March 2020, page 4).
The government has accepted most of the recommendations in the sentencing review, with a sentencing bill due‘ in the coming months’. The review was a‘ once in a generation opportunity’, said Prison Reform Trust chief executive Pia Sinha.‘ Proposals to expand the use of effective community alternatives and limit pointless short spells in custody will not only free up limited prison capacity but also lead to better outcomes for victims and wider society.’ Independent sentencing review:
‘ Proposals... will not only free up limited prison capacity but also lead to better outcomes for victims and wider society.’ PIA SINHA
final report at https:// www. gov. uk / government / publications / independent-sentencing-reviewfinal-report
prisonreformtrust. org. uk

‘ Remarkable’ fall in predicted US overdose deaths

PROVISIONAL FIGURES from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention( CDC) show a‘ remarkable nearly 27 per cent decrease’ in predicted drug overdose deaths last year compared to 2023, the agency has announced. An estimated 80,391 people died as a result of drug overdoses in 2024, down from 110,037 the previous year – the steepest one-year decline ever recorded. While overdose fatalities have been steadily falling each month since the end of 2023 overdose remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18- 44, CDC points out,‘ underscoring the need for ongoing efforts to maintain this progress’.
Several states recorded decreases of 35 per cent or more with only two,
South Dakota and Nevada, showing an increase. Deaths involving opioids fell to 54,743 from more than 83,000 the previous year, while deaths involving methamphetamine and cocaine were also down. However, more than a million people in the US died a drug-related death in the first two decades of this century, with the country’ s opioid crisis officially declared a public health emergency in 2017.( https:// www. drinkanddrugsnews. com / slight-fallin-staggeringly-high-us-drug-deathfigures /). Provisional drug overdose death counts at https:// www. cdc. gov /
See page 14 for an interview with Jim Duffy, executive director of Bostonbased harm reduction organisation Smoke Works

Home Office issues new synthetic opioid guidance

NEW RECOMMENDATIONS to help police, local authorities and public health organisations be better prepared to tackle the threat posed by synthetic opioids have been issued by the Home Office. The advice includes sharing data between police, coroners and health services, making sure police are trained to confidently administer naloxone, fast-tracking drug testing when suspected synthetic opioids are seized, and ensuring out-of-hours resources are available to respond to incidents around the clock.
Although synthetic opioids are most commonly found in heroin supplies, they are also becoming‘ increasingly present’ in illicit sedatives and painkillers, the Home Office states. Earlier this year Public Health Scotland warned that‘ nitazenetype opioids’ had been identified in drug samples linked to a spate of‘ sudden collapse’ overdoses( DDN, April, page 4), while last year EMCDDA said that all but one of the seven new synthetic opioids reported to the EU’ s early warning system were highly potent nitazenes – the highest number notified in a single year( DDN, July / August 2024, page 4).
Local preparedness for synthetic opioids in England at https:// www. gov. uk
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