Offender Management Bill

I, too, support the amendment. I love the inclusion of the notion of redemption—it is really important. One of the constant themes of our discussions on the Bill so far has been the central objective of rehabilitating offenders, which should be the goal of everything we are trying to achieve. It is well known to all who work in this field that there are three core prerequisites for a person to be able to establish themselves in society on release, which is also part of one of the objectives of the prison rules. Those are a roof, a relationship and a job. More often than not, these are the three things that imprisonment takes away from people and why community-based penalties are so important. They can be very difficult to re-establish. Resettlement programmes can be crucial to this, both in prison before someone is released and then continued outside. We at the Butler Trust have frequently recognised excellent programmes in prisons, but the real test is how someone can find their feet in these three areas on release when they make the crucial transition from being an offender or an ex-offender to a citizen. Housing is a major issue. All too often, people are released with nowhere permanent to go, even from YOIs. Without a place to stay, it is all too easy for a person to get into trouble again. The Home Office recently reviewed the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and published a report in 2002 called Breaking the Circle, which recognised the well known fact that employment can reduce reoffending by between a third and a half. It also recognised the need for new arrangements to be introduced as quickly as possible. That was in 2002; now in 2007, perhaps—just perhaps—we have a new opportunity to do something. The review has developed a scheme where all sorts of useful recommendations have been included, such as formulae around disclosure of a conviction, the requirements which should apply in various situations, a code of practice for employers, and so on. I hope that the Government will take this forward.