Readers share their perspectives on prisoner literacy, custodial sentencing and the objective of being ‘tough on crime’

Neither your editorial on the interim findings of David Gauke’s review of sentencing (18 February) nor your article (Prison system crisis due to overreliance on long sentences, says Gauke review, 18 February) make any reference to some of the more obvious aspects of the Prison Service. First, finding an alternative to the use of prison-based remand; second, keeping non-violent criminals in a restrictive regime outside prison; third, serious study into recidivism, and finally, improving the literacy of those entering prison for the first time.

For 20 years I was responsible for education provision in the five Lancashire prisons. It took me several years to persuade governors to include literacy tests in their initial assessment of new prisoners. The initial result showed that 35% of prisoners failed the literacy test, while among the adult population in general it was about 7%.