Statistics

Today I have looked at the Home Affairs Select Committee's Report from 2004 on prison rehabilitation: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmhaff/193/19305.htm

I have used this to find statistics showing how many prisoners are serving different lengths of sentences which will help show me why some are not receiving rehabilitation due to the short nature of their sentence. It also explains that a large number of prisoners do not have any education which highlights how important education services are in prisons. As the report was from 2004 I can compare statistics to how they are now, such as how long prisoners work for per week. There is a graph showing that female, open prisoners spent the most time completing purposeful activity compared to men who are in closed prisons spending the least amount of time. There are also written diaries from prisoners explaining what they spend most of their time doing.

I have also read a Ministry of Justice document entitled: 'Making Prisons Work: Skills for Rehabilitation.' This detailed how reoffending costs the government £13bn a year and for this to reduce, investment needs to be made in making prison regimes give prisoners the skills they need to move away from a life of crime. It was highlighted that integrating prisoners into society through education is important as this would make it easier for ex-offenders to find a job in their community. There are specific case studies showing how women prisoners achieved NVQ Level 3 certificates whilst in prison which they can use to find work when they leave. The government are also rolling out a 'virtual campus' which provides education through the internet to prisoners but also to ex-prisoners so that they still receive support when they leave and can finish their education. This will stop short-term prisoners not receiving rehabilitation because they can just continue it when their sentence is over.