There appears to be an emerging consensus that the prison population should not be allowed to expand at its current rate. Penal reformers argue some people should not be in the criminal justice system at all and that short spells in custody do more harm than good.

The Forum considered the following questions:

• What are the key drivers of the prison population crisis?
• What role does police behaviour and the ‘target culture’ have to play?
• What are the barriers to joined up working between the prison and police service and how can they be overcome?
• How do we solve the crisis, and what role can the police play in this this?