§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the evidence available to him indicates that longer sentences are more effective in reducing further offences than short ones.
§ Mr. Mayhew:The available evidence does not suggest that longer sentences are more effective in reducing reoffending than shorter sentences.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to reduce the number of offenders sentenced to imprisonment and the length of sentences.
§ Mr. Mayhew:As I made clear during Question Time on 22 October we are considering measures designed to reduce the prison population by reinforcing the move towards shorter sentences, information on which is to be found in chapter 7 of "Criminal Statistics for England and Wales 1980" Cmnd. 8367.