Reducing Re-offending by Ex-prisoners

Source: (2002) London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Social Exclusion Unit. Downloaded 4 May 2004.

The Prime Minister asked the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) to explore with other government departments how to cut rates of re-offending by ex-prisoners. The report sets out the scale of the problem; examines the causes and why the system doesn’t work better; and makes recommendations for the way forward. The report is the result of a wide-ranging consultation by the SEU. This included a written consultation and a series of seminars with practitioners, managers and a broad range of service users both inside and outside the criminal justice field. The report has also been informed by visits the SEU made to over 50 prisons as well as to probation services, voluntary groups, housing, family, drug, health and employment projects to see good practice in action and hear the experiences and views of front line staff and users. (excerpt from the summary report)