Criminals who reoffend cost UK taxpayers £10 billion a year
Criminals who reoffend are costing UK taxpayers £10 billion a year, according to NAO report
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By Chris Cousens. |  |
Wednesday, 10, Mar 2010 10:01
By Sarah Garrod.
Criminals who reoffend are costing the tax payer and estimated £10 billion a year, a report has said today.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said prisoners on short-term sentences were being left in their cells all day, rather than being encouraged into training or rehabilitation to prevent reoffending.
The NAO report said approximately 60,000 prisoners a year are jailed for less than six months, making up around one in ten prisoners in England and Wales, with most being released by the halfway point in their sentences. The report also found that of these prisoners serving short-term sentences, the average has 16 offences under their belt - making them the highest reoffending group in the jail system.
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "The revolving door of prison and crime costs the taxpayer billions and does little or nothing to reduce offending.
"The evidence is clear that community penalties, treatment for addicts, mental healthcare and sorting out housing and employment all work better than a short prison sentence."
The NAO report warned that 60 per cent of prisoners serving a short sentence commit another crime within a year of getting out, costing the country between £7 billion and £10 billion a year - amongst its proposals the report said that "appropriate assistance" must be given to these prisoners to help them turn their lives around.
Jon Collins, campaign director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, said: "Instead of spending more money in a futile attempt to make these short sentences work better, the government should instead focus on keeping more of these people out of custody, freeing up space and resources in the prison estate to better rehabilitate those people who do need to be there."