Nearly a third of Northampton criminals reoffend within a year, new Ministry of Justice data shows

Nearly a third of Northampton criminals reoffended within a year of being convicted or released from prison, new figures show.

Prison reform advocates said further investment in housing, education and employment is needed to address the high rate of reoffending.

Ministry of Justice figures show 2,344 offenders were released from prison, cautioned, or handed a non-custodial conviction at court in the year to September 2021 in Northampton. Of them, 703 reoffended. It meant there was a 30 percent rate of reoffending – up from 26.8 percent the year prior.

In Northampton, the figures for 2020-21 also include 24 juveniles who reoffended.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the Government should "follow its own research" which shows community sentences are more effective at reducing reoffending.

He said: "If someone needs support to move away from crime, they will have better access to the services that can help them if they are being supervised in the community than if they are locked in a prison cell for hours on end with nothing to do.

“Common sense tells us that someone is much less likely to be involved in crime if they have a settled home and steady employment.

"Imagine what we could achieve if we stopped building prisons and invested in houses, schools, hospitals and jobs instead."

Across England and Wales, 24.3 percent of criminals ended up reoffending in 2020-21. It was down from 25.1 percent the year before and follows a gradual year-on-year decline in the rate of reoffending.

The figures also show criminals had an average of nearly 19 previous offences, which is lower than the previous three years but higher than every other year since 2010-11.

In Northampton, offenders had an average of 18 previous offences.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said reoffending rates have fallen from over 31 percent to just over 24 percent since 2010.

They added: "The Government is investing in rehabilitation to stop prison leavers falling back into crime – including tackling drug addiction, increasing the number of offenders in work and providing basic, short-term accommodation on release.

"We’ve also more than doubled the number of offenders wearing alcohol tags and have been GPS tagging thousands more burglars and robbers ultimately keeping our communities safer."