Question to the Ministry of Justice:

What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of offenders participating in work in the community on reducing rates of reoffending.

Offenders leaving prison who find a job in the community are between 6 and 9 percentage points less likely to reoffend than those who do not.

Furthermore, community orders have a more positive impact on reoffending than short custodial sentences (3 percentage points lower over a one year follow-up period) and orders which include an unpaid work requirement are in line with this general trend.

All of the above findings were taken into account when created our employment and education strategy which was launched on 24 May. This strategy aims to ensure that as many offenders as possible get the chance to partake in work both in prison and in the community.