18 November 2008
Justice Minister David Hanson has praised London Probation's work in helping to steer offenders who misuse alcohol away from a life of crime.
Visiting an alcohol programme for offenders on community sentences in Southwark, the minister underlined the importance of reducing reoffending amongst those with alcohol and drug problems ahead of a conference later today where various professionals will contribute their views on how to tackle the issue.
Justice Minister, David Hanson MP, said:
'Reducing reoffending is one of the government's highest priorities. We have a moral duty to make our communities safer and protect the public from harm.
'Alcohol misuse particularly can devastate lives. Millions of people in this country are affected by it every year - directly and indirectly. It not only does immense damage to health, but alcohol misuse can also be a driver of crime which causes misery to victims and costs the taxpayer millions of pounds a year.
'Alcohol is a factor in nearly half of all violent crime (*). The government's long-term goal is to reduce violence and anti-social behaviour associated with alcohol, while ensuring that people are able to enjoy alcohol safely and responsibly.
'The programmes I have seen running in Southwark today are good examples of community sentences that are contributing to the drop in reoffending rates. They also highlight how the National Offender Management Service is working to rehabilitate those who need help. At the same time it is cracking down on those who take part in alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder.'
The National Offender Management Service is working to reduce reoffending associated with substance misuse and figures already show a reduction in reoffending of almost 7% for offenders placed on accredited substance misuse programmes (†). It is the case that 63% of sentenced males and 39% of sentenced females report a hazardous drinking pattern before coming into prison (‡) and around 8% are physically dependent on alcohol. We also know that around four out of every ten (41%) offenders assessed while in the community have a current problem with alcohol misuse usually linked to their offending (§).
The latest national reducing reoffending results, published in September, show that the frequency of adult reoffending has fallen by 22.9% between 2000 and 2006, whilst for juvenile reoffending there was a fall of 18.7% in the same period. More recently - between 2005 and 2006 - the number of re-offences committed by adults decreased 13%, whilst for juveniles it fell by 1.5% (¶).
Notes to editors
1. The government published its Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy last year. The strategy sets out a comprehensive programme of action to be taken forward across Whitehall, with local delivery partners and with the alcohol industry to deliver a comprehensive and integrated response to tackle alcohol-related harm.
* Home Office, British Crime Survey
† V. Hollis, Reconviction Analysis of Programme Data using Interim Accredited Programmes Software (IAPS, 2007)
‡ National Statistics, Substance misuse among prisoners in England and Wales
§ unpublished Ministry of Justice OASys Data, Evaluation & Analysis Team analysis
¶ Ministry of Justice, reoffending of adults and reoffending of juveniles statistics