Nick Clegg promises prisoner rehabilitation shake-up to cut re-offending

Sending a criminal to prison costs more than sending a child to Eton and “we need a better return on our investment” Nick Clegg will say tomorrow.

Announcing an extra £7million of Government money to help the rehabilitation of offenders the Deputy Prime Minister will warn that successive Governments have been tough on punishing crime but weak on preventing it from happening again.

He is expected to cite statistics showing that of those sent to prison for 12 months or less almost 60 per cent of them reoffend on release. He will promise that in future all released criminal will be met by a mentor and put into a structured programme to help them back into work and re-integrate into society.

However critics of the plan – where companies, charities and mutuals will be paid only if they cut re-offending - could lead to low take-up and gaps in the system.