§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the reconviction rates, or other measures of the effectiveness, of Offending Behaviour Programmes and Sex Offender Treatment Programmes in the Prison Service; how this compares with the assessments made of similar programmes in the United States; how much is being spent in the current year on these programmes; and whether any other means of reducing recidivist behaviour are being considered. [HL232]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe standards for Prison Service accredited offending behaviour programmes are based on a large body of research on what works in reducing reoffending in a wide variety of countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands and elsewhere. The effectiveness of the service's accredited programmes is therefore likely to be comparable with them.
The Prison Service is undertaking a long-term evaluation exercise into programme effectiveness, but it will be some years before firm conclusions can be drawn across the full range of programmes because of the need to wait to see whether participants are reconvicted. Interim outcomes relating to attitudinal and other change which is predictive of changes in recidivism are available for the sex offender treatment programme, and were reported in Home Office Research Findings No. 79 (ISSN 1364–6540).
About 3,000 prisoners are expected to complete accredited programmes this financial year. The cost in prisons of delivering these programmes is approximately £7.2 million.
150WAThe service's currently accredited programmes do not address all types of offending: for example, they are not suitable for prisoners serving short sentences. However, offending behaviour is also addressed through education training for work, resettlement advice, and a wide variety of locally sponsored and developed programmes. In addition, the Prison Service is making a major investment in meeting the needs of those whose offending may be related specifically to drug misuse, and in examining the particular needs of juveniles, young offenders and women.