Labour condemns 'failing' probation reforms as growing numbers of offenders sent back to prison

Concerns have been raised over a major shake-up of probation after new figures revealed a sharp rise in offenders being sent back to custody for breaching bail.

Official statistics show that prison recall rates have been steadily rising since 2007/08 but shot up by nearly 5,000 in 2015/16, when more than 22,400 inmates were sent back to jail. Last year some 21,700 people were recalled to prison.

The growing use of recall has cast doubt over the effectiveness of the Government’s flagship probation overhaul in 2015, when supervision on release from prison was extended to offenders serving sentences of less than 12 months.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the rise was in line with an increased number of people on probation but critics said the influx of recalls could heap pressure on prisons that are struggling to cope with a toxic cocktail of drugs, violence and soaring suicide rates among inmates.

Some offenders are sent back to prison for just 14 to 28 days for breaching their bail conditions on issues as minor as getting a taxi without permission or being late to meet their probation officer, according to prison reform campaigners.

Shadow justice minister Imran Hussain, who obtained the figures through a parliamentary question, said the “broken” probation system was making it difficult to reduce reoffending.

He said: “This sharp rise in the number of prisoners being recalled to prison not only demonstrates how our prisons and probation system are failing to rehabilitate people, but it is placing a severe strain on an already overcrowded prison system that is close to breaking point.

“Where prisoners have reoffended and have committed serious licence breaches, they should, of course, be recalled to prison.

“But we now have a situation where far too many are being recalled for minor breaches, which is further burdening prisons and destroying any progress that offenders are making in turning their lives around.”

A joint report from HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Prisons last year concluded that nowhere near enough was being done to help prisoners under the privatisation of probation services.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said bringing minor offenders back into prison for short periods also risked trapping them in a cycle of offending.

He told The Independent: “What does 14 days in prison do? What purpose does that achieve?

“It is just heaping pressure on the already overcrowded prisons and it’s dumping people in this violent and chaotic environment then turning them out into the community.”

Mr Neilson added: “This is not helpful at a time when prisons are struggling to even put up the image that they are a safe environment.”

It comes as one charity working to help prisoners coming out of jail said their work was being hampered by budget cuts.

Helen Attewell, chief executive of North East Prisoner Family Support (Nepacs), which helps prisoners and their families in the north east, said some services to help newly released prisoners had seen a 30 per cent cut in funding.

Trustee and former local councillor, David Abrahams said: “Those living in high unemployment areas, particularly throughout the former East Durham Coalfield, often aren’t able to access life’s chances and drift into a life of drugs and alcohol abuse.”

An MoJ spokesman said: “Offenders on licence are subject to a strict set of licence conditions and supervision on release. Those who fail to comply with their licence conditions can be recalled to prison.

“In 2014, we reformed our approach to probation so that for the first time ever, all offenders given a custodial sentence are given probation support and supervision on release.

“It is therefore misleading to compare the number of recalls prior to our reforms with subsequent figures, as the number of people on probation and subject to recall is now significantly higher than before.”