Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the recidivism rate was of prisoners who were released from prisons in the (a) West Midlands and (b) UK in the last year.

Proven re-offending rates for adult offenders released from custody in England and Wales, as an average and by individual prison, are published on a quarterly basis by the Ministry of Justice in the ‘Proven Re-offending Statistics Quarterly Bulletin’. The latest figures, covering 2012, can be found in Tables 22a (for offenders released from custodial sentences of less than 12 months) and 22b (for offenders released from custodial sentences of 12 months or more) at the link below

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-january-2012-to-december-2012

The prisons in the West Midlands area are

• Birmingham

• Brinsford

• Dovegate

• Drake Hall

• Featherstone

• Hewell

• Long Lartin

• Shrewsbury

• Stafford

• Stoke Heath

• Swinfen Hall

• Werrington

The Government is undertaking the Transforming Rehabilitation Reforms to reduce re-offending, particularly among short-sentenced offenders. The Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, which received Royal Assent on 13 March will, once commenced, change the law so that all offenders released from short prison sentences will receive 12 months of supervision in the community.

We will introduce the provisions of the Act and transition services to new providers in line with the Government’s commitment to complete these reforms by 2015.