Prisoner aid plans to be unveiled

Reoffending is linked to lack of a home and a job

Prisoners are expected to receive large increases in benefits under Government plans designed to stop them reoffending.

These would include increasing the amount of time offenders get their rent or mortgage paid while in jail.

The recommendations have been made by the Social Exclusion Unit set up by Tony Blair to tackle poverty.

Click here to watch our NACRO interview

On Breakfast we spoke to Paul Cavadino from NACRO, the charity looking after ex-offenders. He said:

"This proposal is just one of many in the resettlement of prisoners which the Government is likely to accept."

Prisoners are not eligible for state help for two weeks after release. The discharge grant is given to cover this period, but it only equals one week of benefits, so there is a greater chance of reoffending because prisoners don't have enough money to live on. The proposal is the amount should be increased, and this is just one of many proposals being put forward by the unit. The resettlement of prisoners is crucial to reducing crime on release.

We also spoke to Mark Leech: the chairman of Unlock, the ex-offenders organisation, and a former inmate of Strangeways Prison.

Click here to watch Breakfast's interview with the chairman of Unlock

Mark urged us to read the proposal carefully, he said the proposal is to increase the payment that would cover mortage interest and it would be for a period of six months, it is not a proposal to cover the whole mortgage.

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UK prisoners

90% of those leaving prison will be unable to get a job because of poor literacy and numeracy

40% will be homeless

Source: Social exclusion unit

The SEU has come up with various ideas to combat the so-called revolving door syndrome, and says the root cause of re-offending is unemployment and homelessness.

BBC crime correspondent Daniel Sandford said the leaked draft appears to have been watered down - possibly in response to highly critical newspaper articles at the time.

Cost to society

Two-thirds of criminals commit further crimes after conviction, the Home Office says - carrying out about one million crimes a year at an estimated £11bn cost to society.

The worst re-offenders are young male prisoners - 75% of whom go on to commit more crime.

One study suggested homeless ex-prisoners are six times more likely to commit further offences than those with housing.

Reoffending rates

Two-thirds of criminals commit more crime after conviction

Of young male prisoners, 75% go on to commit more crime

75% of those jailed for burglary or theft re-offend within two years of release

Source: Social exclusion unit

One of the SEU's proposals is to keep paying prisoners' rent or mortgage beyond the current limit of three months.

Another is to give prisoners more money on release. The current discharge grant is £40.

Another idea is to ask criminals to sign contracts promising not to commit further crimes, and to make them pay reparations to their victims.

It is also expected to suggest that money earned while in prison could be banked as a rehabilitation fund to help offenders on release.

Previous ideas

Similar proposals were first floated in an earlier draft of the report, which was leaked last month.

Suggested solutions

Pay prisoners' rent or mortgages

Increase the grant given to prisoners on release

Make criminals pay reparations to their victims

Help prisoners bank a "rehab fund" from jail earnings

Various other schemes to cut re-offending have been launched, or suggested, in recent years.

In May, the government announced a £20m plan to improve education of prisoners in England.

It said basic daily literacy and numeracy teaching could reduce re-offending rates by up to 12%, as it helped prisoners get a job on release.

A Joseph Rowntree report published in the same month said schemes where offenders face their victims could halve the number who go on to commit further crimes.