Former Prisons Minister Ann Widdecombe has slammed Labour's plans to have convicted criminals filling potholes and cleaning bins as "softer justice".
The Government is developing proposals that would see offenders on community sentences carrying out unpaid work for local councils and private companies.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is said to want to expand community service, which she believes is currently too lenient.
The plans come as the prison system faces a severe overcrowding crisis.
Ann Widdecombe has slammed Labour's plans
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Widdecombe told GB News that while community service has existed for years, using it as an alternative to prison "simply because there's too much pressure on the prison system" is "frankly wrong".
She told the Peoples Channel: "Prisoners need to earn their freedom. Look, community service has existed for many, many years, and using it as part of a sentence is absolutely fine.
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"But if it’s being used as an alternative to prison simply because there’s too much pressure on the prison system, then that is frankly wrong. What the government should be doing is providing emergency prison spaces.
"I think the whole issue depends on what the courts would have ordered if there weren’t such pressure on prison capacity.
"If the court would have sentenced someone to community service regardless, then extending this approach makes sense. But if the court would have sent that person to prison, then it’s the government’s duty to provide the necessary spaces.
"In the past, we had the “trusty system,” where prisoners were allowed out to work and contribute in this way. What’s being proposed now goes a step further these individuals wouldn’t be in jail at all.
"But as I say, it all depends on what the courts would decide if they weren’t under pressure from a government that is itself burdened by the failures of its predecessors.
"To be fair, this isn’t solely the fault of the current Government, or even the last one. It’s the result of years of neglect and growing pressure on the prison system."
Asked if we are seeing "softer justice", she said: "Yes, I do. We’re already seeing prisoners released early, before the end of their terms."
An independent review of sentencing carried out by former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke is expected to be published this week.
Overcrowding led to the early release of thousands of prisoners last year
GETTYIt was commissioned last year after overcrowding led to the early release of thousands of prisoners.
Gauke is understood to be considering recommending the scrapping of short prison terms and more community-based sentencing to reduce reliance on imprisonment.
In an interim report, he warned that unless radical changes were made, prisons in England and Wales could run out of cells by early next year.
Mahmood has acknowledged that Gauke would "have to recommend bold, and sometimes difficult, measures".
