MORNING WORSHIP

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR CRIME: Report from the Mission and Public Affairs Council (GS 1647)

Mr Phil Wheatley, Director General of the Prison Service, addressed the Synod before taking questions from the floor.

Audio of address

Audio of Q&A session

Following debate and three amendments to the original motion, Synod carried the following motion:

‘That this Synod, believing that the objectives of criminal justice policy include retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and restoration, and that prison overcrowding has reached intolerable levels:

(a) recognise the limitations of criminal sanctions and coercive measures, and the necessity of nurturing responsible attitudes and local partnership, in responding to crime and anti-social behaviour;

(b) request Her Majesty’s Government to promote effective non-custodial sanctions and the practice of restorative justice and urgently to seek to restrict the use of prison to cases where it is clearly necessary;

(c) urge Her Majesty's Government, local authorities and other public bodies to support financially and in other practical ways those schemes across the country which have a proven track record in the vital work of preventing young people from re-offending;

(d) urge concerted action to remedy the treatment of women, children and young people, mentally ill people and members of black and minority ethnic groups in the criminal justice system;

(e) desire that all offenders should be offered the opportunity, while in prison or subject to non-custodial sanctions, to hear, study and engage with the life-transforming gospel of Christ through the ministry of chaplains and church and voluntary initiatives, and therefore urges Her Majesty's Government and all staff of the National Offender Management Service to ensure that the freedom to offer such opportunities is both preserved and enlarged;

(f) affirm the rôle of Christian criminal justice professionals, chaplains and volunteers, and encourage church-based initiatives to address the needs of ex-offenders and victims; and

(g) plead with politicians and the media not to exploit the public's fear of crime in ways that undermine confidence in the work of the police and the criminal justice system.’

Audio of session

DRAFT CHURCH OF ENGLAND MARRIAGE MEASURE (GS 1616A)

Synod resumed consideration of the draft Measure; this process will now be continued by a revision committee and brought back to a future Synod.

Audio of session