§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has collated on re-offending rates of discharged prisoners who have served sentences of more than two years, broken down by(a) prisons and (b) type of programmes provided within prisons in (i) 1999–2000 and (ii) 1998–99. [22443]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 11 December 2001]: Information on re-offending rates for discharged prisoners is not collected. However information on two-year reconviction rates is collected and published annually in Prison Statistics England and Wales. The latest reconviction rates cover prisoners discharged during 1997 and the first quarter of 1998 and are contained in chapter 9 of Prison Statistics England and Wales 2000 (Cm. 5250) a copy of which is available in the Library. Prisoners who have served sentences of two years or more will often have spent time in a number of prisons. It is therefore difficult to attribute reconviction rates to the impact of a particular prison.
Two offending behaviour programmes within prisons have been evaluated using offenders' reconvictions following discharge. The following tables show the percentage of offenders (both treated and similar untreated offenders) who have been reconvicted of an offence within two years of discharge by risk category. Comparison group offenders were matched to those who had participated in treatment on factors which are known to increase the likelihood of reconviction eg age at discharge, number of previous offences etc. This is to ensure, as far as possible, that the evaluation was comparing like with like offenders.
Table 1 refers to offenders who participated in two pre-accredited cognitive skills programmes (Thinking Skills and Reasoning and Rehabilitation). These offenders were treated between 1994 and 1996 and had been sentenced to two years or more. Table 2 refers to offenders who completed the pre-accredited Sex Offender Treatment Programme between 1992 and 1996 and had been sentenced to four years or more.
Overall, the results illustrate that offenders who have participated in offending behaviour programmes have consistently lower reconviction rates, two years after discharge, than similar untreated offenders.
Table 1. Evaluation of Prison Service cognitive skills programmes.
84W
Table 1—Evaluation of Prison Service Cognitive Skills Programmes. Percentage Offender risk level Treatment group reconviction rate Comparison group reconviction rate Difference between reconviction rates1 Low 5 8 3 Medium-low 18 32 14 Medium-high 43 54 11 High 75 80 5 Adjusted overall 44 52 8 1 Percentage point reduction Note:
1. Reconviction rates reflect the proportion of offenders reconvicted after two years. Offenders were treated between 1994 and 1996 before the accreditation process was introduced. The treatment group consists of 667 offenders and the comparison group consists of 1,801 offenders.
2. The adjusted overall figure takes account of the different number of offenders in the treatment and comparison group.
Table 2—Evaluation of Prison Service sex offender treatment programme Percentage Offender risk level Treatment group reconviction rate Comparison group reconviction rate Difference between reconviction rates 1 Low 1.9 2.6 0.7 Medium-low 2.7 12.7 10.0 Medium-high 5.5 13.5 8.0 High 26.0 28.1 2.1 Adjusted overall 4.6 9.9 5.3 1 Percentage point reduction Note:
Reconviction rates reflect the proportion of offenders reconvicted of a sexual and/or violent offence after two years. Offenders were treated between 1992 and 1996 before the accreditation process was introduced. The treatment group consists of 647 offenders and the comparison group consists of 1,910 offenders. The adjusted overall figure takes account of the different number of offenders in the treatment and comparison group.