Tackling re-offending

Ken Clarke’s recent announcement that the new government will be tackling re-offending should be welcomed. When almost 60% of offenders sentenced to less than 12 months re-offend within a year, it raises questions about existing policy and practice.

I’m glad that the government is not engaging in the usual competition to sound the toughest on crime- it’s not whether you sound tough on crime that is important, but whether crime is falling, and people are less frightened of crime.

One of the things Ken Clarke has proposed is a scheme to use private companies to tackle re-offending. Whilst I am not keen on using private companies for this, the general principle is right. When someone leaves prison they need help and support to get their lives back on the right track- whether that be finding a house, job-hunting, training, tackling drug or alcohol addiction and so on.

In Hull there is currently a project involving the police, probation, the local prison and the council which is tackling some of these issues. It’s probably too early to see what the impact is, but I have high hopes for the project.

It costs around £40,000 per prisoner per year in prison. The costs of improved rehabilitation are likely to be a lot lower than this as well as bringing wider benefits. However, it is not a quick and easy solution, and it will need resources to make it work.

Labour recently made some large budget cuts to the probation service, but in my view probation is one of the most important aspects of the criminal justice system, and one that is too often neglected. If the government is serious about this agenda it will need to ensure probation has the resources to tackle re-offending effectively. In the long-term this has to bring overall savings and safer communities.