The Ministry of Justice Business Plan 2011-2015 makes for interesting reading. As Michael Howard said in 1993, 'Prison works'. Based on this report, this doesn't seem to be the Coalition's message. The Coalition's is focused on lowering prison numbers, whether that is done by giving more power to Judges on sentencing or with developing rehabilitation initiatives, to lower the offending rates of detainees once they leave prison.
Whilst this approach may be logical and more efficient in its conception, the cost cutting motivations behind this new direction of the Ministry of Justice are questionable. It is the reduction in funding for the Ministry, which has initiated these new measures, which the Coalition hope lower Prison numbers, thereby saving the Department a considerable amount (in light of the fact that the average cost per prisoner place is above £30,000).
Whether this is sustainable in the long term remains to be seen.
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