Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 14123 on Shoplifting: Reoffenders, what the proven re-offending rate was for an index offence of shop lifting (theft from shops) for the (a) January to March 2021 and (b) January to March 2020 cohort.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders with an index offence of shop lifting (theft from shops), who served a custodial sentence for this offence, for the (a) January – March 2021 cohort was 81.8% and (b) January – March 2020 cohort was 78.3%.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders with an index offence of robbery, who served a custodial sentence for this offence, for the (a) January – March 2021 cohort was 23.8% and (b) January – March 2020 cohort was 27.8%.

The overall proven reoffending rate for (a) January – March 2021 was 24.3% and (b) January – March 2020 was 24.7%. Reoffending rates in recent cohorts have been affected to varying degrees by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending, and reoffending rates have fallen from 31.3% in 2011/12 to 25.2% in 2021/22. We are investing in rehabilitation to stop prison leavers falling back into crime – including tackling drug addiction, increasing the number of offenders in work, and providing basic, short-term accommodation on release. Further, in October last year, the Lord Chancellor announced his intention to legislate for a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences of 12 months or less. The offender would then serve their sentence in the community and courts will retain discretion to impose a sentence of immediate custody where necessary. Our latest quarterly statistics, January – March 2022, suggest that 55.5% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months reoffend within one year. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24.2%.

On top of this, we are doubling the number of GPS tags available to courts for sentencing, ensuring more burglars and robbers are tagged which ultimately keeps our communities safer.