Police watchdog brands criminal justice system ‘dysfunctional’

The criminal justice system is “undoubtedly dysfunctional”, the police watchdog has said, as he described the lack of prison places as a “nightmare”.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke told The Sunday Telegraph that “too often” police officers are “getting the basics wrong”, such as failing to answer the phone quickly or respond to incidents at pace.

Mr Cooke told the newspaper: “None of the organisations can hold their head up high and say: ‘We’re doing all we can’. The entire criminal justice system is dysfunctional, undoubtedly dysfunctional.”

His comments come amid growing concerns over the capacity of prisons, with the Government introducing an early release scheme which will see thousands of prisoners released after serving 40% of their sentence.

The prison population of England and Wales hit a record high earlier this week, with 88,350 people in prison as of August 30, according to the Ministry of Justice.

An estimated 5,500 offenders are expected to be released earlier than was planned in the coming weeks under the Government’s temporary measures to ease overcrowding.

The scheme will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.

The Government has said that those who are released will serve the rest of their sentence under strict licensing conditions.

On prison places, Mr Cooke said: “It is a nightmare. There’s no easy option because there are not enough prison spaces.

“The Government had no choice other than to release people early, but it does put a strain on the rest of the system, because probation are understaffed and underfunded.”

Speaking to journalists while on a trip to Berlin earlier this week, Sir Keir Starmer said that more prisons will be built in response to overcrowding once the Government has got its “hands on the planning laws”.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister said: “We’ve got to change the planning regulation so we can build the prisons we need, because they’re taking far too long, it’s far too slow, and that’s amongst the reasons we’re in the position we are.

“And, as you’d expect from an ex-chief prosecutor, people do need to go to prison, and they need to know that the law is effective.”

He added: “We need to build those prisons, and we will get our hands on the planning laws in order to do so.”

Mr Cooke told the Telegraph while officers cannot respond to everything reported, victims’ needs should still be at the heart of every job.

“It is difficult to try and balance your resources, but you can’t forget what’s important to the public that you serve,” he said.

Mr Cooke also pledged to continue calling for the Royal Commission into criminal justice, which was promised in 2019 but is yet to materialise.

In addition to extra work placed on police, he said, said there were also issues with the way funding was allocated across the UK.

“There’s still too many other demands that they’re dealing with, and they’re dealing with them against a background of a police funding formula, which is not fit for purpose,” Mr Cooke said.