A report by a committee of MPs said that reoffending rates remained relatively high and the government should seek to recognize more explicitly where reoffending had fallen and why. It noted the impact of the shift of power to police and crime commissioners, and said there were clear benefits to the collective ownership, pooled funding, and joint priorities that had resulted. The report questioned the government's approach to prioritizing crime reduction, and said: that addressing the funding of mental health services should be an urgent priority; that alcohol treatment required attention; that the prison system should engage in better rehabilitation; that the courts should encourage greater innovation; and that changes to the probation system needed to be carefully managed to ensure that local crime reduction activity continued. It called for the government to create an independent body to examine the evidence behind crime reduction, and its implications for policy-making, and for the Treasury to develop a longer-term strategy for the use of resources.

Source: Crime Reduction Policies: A co-ordinated approach?, First Report (Session 2014–15), HC 307, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO

Links: Report | Committee press release

Date: 2014-Jun