Freed prisoners could be barred from moving house after their release in a new bid to ensure that they continue rehabilitation programmes, MPs were told today.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said he wanted to introduce “tougher conditionality” for convicts that would stop them moving “200 miles up the road for no reason” when they were freed from prison.
He said that inmates would instead be required to live close to the prison where they ended their sentence to ensure that they continued drug treatment and other schemes to cut reoffending.
Mr Grayling, who was appearing before the Commons Justice Select Committee, said his plans were being developed to end the current situation whereby many freed inmates stop their rehabilitation programmes as soon as they leave prison.
He said that reoffending rates had risen over the past decade as a result and that he now wanted to implement changes that would ensure that drug-users and others continued to receive help once back in the community.
One change would be to ensure that inmates were detained for the final months of their sentence in a prison close to where they would live on their release. This would make it easier for those rehabilitating offenders to work with them before and after release.
Mr Grayling, who is planning to place most probation work in the hands of private firms and voluntary groups under a “payment by results” scheme, said he also wanted to ensure that housing was available for freed offenders.
