Reducing re-offending by ex-prisoners

1 Reducing re-offending by ex-prisonersReport by the Social exclusion UnitReducing re-offending by ex-prisonersReport by the Social exclusion UnitJuly 2002 CONTENTSF oreword3 Summary5 Background1. The Problem Levels and Trends 132. Prisoners: A Socially Excluded Group 183. How Prisons and Sentences Work Key Facts 234. Process Through Custody During and After32 Analysis5. The Impact of Prison Sentences on Re-Offending376. Sentence Planning and Management407. Education and Training438. Employment529. Drugs and Alcohol6110. Mental and Physical Health6911. Attitudes and Self-Control7812. Institutionalisation and Life Skills8613. Housing9414. Benefits and Debt10515.

2 Families11116. Why Doesn t the System Work Better?12017. The Costs of Failure re-offending and Social Exclusion125 The Way Ahead18. Recommendations1311 AnnexesA. Women Prisoners136B. Remand Prisoners143C. Black and Minority Ethnic Prisoners148D. Adult Already Underway179G. Key Issues182H. Rehabilitation Framework197I. Acknowledgements and Contact Details205J. References 209 Reducing re-offending by ex-prisoners2 FOREWORDC rime can have a devastating impact on the lives of victims. It scarsentire communities, and the costs to society as a whole are huge. When we came into office, we made Reducing crime a top have embarked on a major programme of reform and investmentto tackle crime andthe causes of crime.

3 So, for example, we havemade record investment in the police billion extra by 2003/04 to deliver the highest ever police numbers, and funded hundredsof local crime-reduction schemes. At the same time, we havemassively expanded drug treatment provision to break the linkbetween drugs and crime, and invested in prison education todouble the number of educational qualifications achieved byprisoners by the end of next year. And this effort is starting to pay off. Crime is down 21 per cent since 1997. Reconviction rates forjuveniles serving community sentences are down 14 per cent. But we know there is still a long wayto go. I refuse to accept that crime is an inevitable part of daily part of our crackdown on crime and its causes, I asked the Social exclusion Unit to find out what morecould be done to cut the unacceptably high rates of re-offending by ex-prisoners .

4 People who have been in prison account for one in five of all crimes. Nearly three in five prisoners are re-convicted within two years of leaving prison. Offending by ex-prisoners costs society at least 11 billion a year. This all tells us we are failing to capitalise on the opportunity prison provides to stoppeople offending for need to make sure that a prison sentence punishes the offender, but also provides the maximumopportunity for Reducing the likelihood of re-offending . That means we need to redouble efforts to rehabilitate prisoners back into society am determined that we build on recent improvements and innovations in the way the Prison Servicetackles re-offending . We also need to ensure this is carried through into the community, and thatsupervision by the National Probation Service, once prisoners are released, is stepped up even above all, prisoners must have the consequences of their actions and their responsibilities broughthome to them.

5 The SEU s analysis highlights a number of the key issues we still need to address. Resources could betargeted more effectively at tackling re-offending . The prison sentence could be managed much moreseamlessly. Public services and a range of other stakeholders could work much better as striking are the deep problems faced by many prisoners. Many have very poor skills, areunemployed on entering prison, and have a history of homelessness , drug addiction and mental healthproblems. This report highlights how intrinsically linked this level of social exclusion is with problems do not excuse criminal behaviour, but they do begin to show how we help people puta stop to safety is not safeguarded when prisoners are released into homelessness , with no prospect ofemployment.

6 There needs to be a new contract with prisoners, which offers greater support in returnfor quitting crime. The SEU has identified a range of measures aimed at stopping the revolving door ofpersistent offenders coming in and out of the criminal justice welcome this report as a significant contribution to our understanding of what works in combatingcrime. We welcome the broad thrust of its recommendations, and will be setting out our plans for takingthese forward shortly. Together with the other measures we are taking to tackle crime and its causes, thiswill help us deliver the strong, crime-free communities in which we all aspire to re-offending by ex-prisoners4 SUMMARYThe problem1 Prison sentences are not succeeding in turning the majority of offenders away from those prisoners released in 1997, 58 per centwere convicted of another crime within twoyears.

7 36 per centwere back inside on another prison sentence. The system struggles particularlyto reform younger offenders. 18 20-year-old male prisoners were reconvicted at a rate of 72 percentover the same period; 47 per centreceived another prison falling in the 1980s, the reconviction rate rose again in the 1990s and has remainedobstinately high in recent years. The factors behind this are complex, but it is possible to single outa number of changes over that period which may have contributed: these include an erosion inpost-release support for short-term prisoners those sentenced to less than 12 months; a changein benefit rules for prisoners; and the sharp rise in social exclusion , in areas such as child poverty,drug use, school exclusion , and fact, the headline reconviction figure masks a far greater problem for public safety.

8 We know,for instance, that of those reconvicted in the two years following release, each will actually havereceived three further convictionson average. For each reconviction, it is estimated that fiverecorded offences are committed. At a conservative estimate, released prisoners are responsiblefor at least 1 millioncrimes per year 18 per centof recorded, notifiable crimes. And this takesno account of the amount of unrecorded crime that ex-prisoners , reconvicted or otherwise, willhave committed. The cost4 Many of the costs of re-offending by ex-prisoners are not quantifiable, but can be devastatingand long-term, and are frequently felt by the most vulnerable in society. Most obviously, thereis the impact on victims, many of whom will be repeat victims, and on their families; also oncommunities, predominantly the most disadvantaged.

9 In turn, where re-offenders are caughtand imprisoned, a heavy toll is taken on their families and on their own financial cost of re-offending by ex-prisoners , calculated from the overall costs of crime, isstaggering and widely felt. In terms of the cost to the criminal justice system of dealing with theconsequences of crime, recorded crime alone committed by ex-prisoners comes to at least 11 billionper ex-prisoner s path back to prison is extremely costly for the criminal justice system. A re-offending ex-prisoner is likely to be responsible for crime costing the criminal justice system anaverage of 65,000. Prolific offenders will cost even more. When re-offending leads to a furtherprison sentence, the costs soar.

10 The average cost of a prison sentence imposed at a crown court isroughly 30,500, made up of court and other legal costs. The costs of actually keeping prisonerswithin prison vary significantly, but average 37,500per yet these costs are only a fraction of the overall cost of re-offending . First, recorded crimeaccounts for between only a quarter and a tenth of total crime, and ex-prisoners are likely to beprolific offenders. They may, therefore, be responsible for a large proportion of unrecorded crimeand its costs as well. Second, there are high financial costs to: the police and the criminal justice5system more widely; the victims of the crimes; other public agencies who also have to pick up thepieces; the national economy through loss of income; the communities in which they live; and, ofcourse, prisoners themselves and their causes8 There is now considerable evidence of the factors that influence re-offending .