A report published on the 29th of June states that the government would be able to save one billion pounds a year if criminals with drug related offenses were simply given community based sentences.

Make Justice Work, the criminal justice charity says that the results of this plan showing that short term sentences are not cost effective could save the everyday tax payer around £200,000 over the offender’s lifetime.

Roma Hooper, the director for Make Justice work, called for an urgent scrutiny of the criminal justice system in response to the report. She said:

“The real scale of the economic crisis in our prison system. It is now a matter of urgency that the government recognise that building more prisons is not the answer.”

Roma Hooper believes prison does little to reduce the number of victims and does almost nothing to reduce re-offending for those on short sentences and community services are more successful and more cost effective. She said:
“Surely, this is the moment for such measures, which will save us all money and make us safer, to make it onto the government’s agenda once and for all.”