David Gauke’s review gives penal policy in England and Wales a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move in more constructive directionThe independent sentencing review for England and Wales under David Gauke is a landmark response to both an immediate crisis in the prisons and to an endemic criminal justice policy failure going back decades. It creates the platform for penal policy to take a much-needed new direction. As Mr Gauke says, this will take bravery from government. Encouragingly, the lord chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, has accepted most recommendations in principle, though with some exceptions. The need now, though, is for sustained action, investment and results.When the review was established in 2024, prisons for men had been at 99% of capacity for 18 months and a surge of further prison sentences was developing after the summer riots. Managed early-release measures eased some pressures, but demand for places is still projected to exceed supply by 9,500 in 2028. The inescapable truth is that the crisis has its roots in long traditions of excessive prison sentencing, sometimes politically and media driven, and of grossly inadequate investment in new prisons and non-custodial alternatives. Both of these things now have to change in radical and measurable ways. The Gauke