Commenting on the publication of the National Audit Office’s report on the management of offenders on short sentences, South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, a member of the Commons public accounts committee, said: “It is a truly depressing statistic that most short-sentenced prisoners are career criminals with an average of 16 previous convictions behind them, more than any other type of offender.

“Most short-sentenced prisoners are jailed for theft or violent crime.

“The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) only has a short time to try and turn these offenders around but they are failing to use the time they have adequately.  Only a fraction of prison budgets is spent on reducing re-offending by short-sentenced prisoners, even though 60 per cent of these prisoners will be back in jail within a year.  The economic and social cost of this failure is estimated to be up to £10 billion a year.  NOMS tries to address the causes of re-offending through a range of activities, but waiting lists are too long.

“Daytime activities for prisoners on a short-sentence fall short of HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ standards.  As many as half of all short-sentenced prisoners spend each and every day sat in their cells.  This is partly because of prison overcrowding and the lack of physical space for activities.       

“Most short-sentenced prisoners are habitual criminals who are constantly going back into prison at horrendous cost to the rest of society.  NOMS is failing to make a difference and needs to work much harder to break the cycle of re-offending”.

10 March 2010

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See also:
NAO REPORT: Managing Offenders on Short Sentences

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