Prison system failing to tackle reoffending, says Ken Clarke

Justice secretary to announce plans to bring down 60%-plus reoffending rates for short-term prisoners through a 'rehabilitation revolution'

Ken Clarke Ken Clarke hopes he can reduce the prison population by 3,000 by 2014.

The justice secretary, Ken Clarke, will today detail his plans to divert thousands of offenders from prison to bring to an end the Victorian-style "bang 'em up" culture and reduce high reoffending rates.

The green paper on sentencing is expected to mark a breach with the "prison works" philosophy introduced by Michael Howard in 1992.

Clarke aims to bring down 60%-plus reoffending rates for short-term prisoners through a "rehabilitation revolution" that could result in the current prison population of 85,500 being reduced by 3,000 by 2014.

Clarke said there were "big failings" in the system, evidenced by high reoffending rates.

While prison is there to punish people, "far more" should be done to ensure they don't reoffend once they are released, as well as stop "remorseless rise" in people being sent to prison in the first place.

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