Offenders to see education revamp

Education in young offenders' institutions will be ramped up to stop the "travesty" of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money being spent on detention for "little gain", the Justice Secretary has said.

Chris Grayling said some teenagers were costing up to £200,000 a year to look after - five times the bill of sending them to a top public school like Eton - but most reoffended.

He has launched a review to put education at the heart of youth detention, he told justice experts at a speech in central London.

The move is part of the Government's "rehabilitation revolution" reforms, which will also lead to adult offenders being "met at the prison gate" by mentors who can help them escape a life of crime.

Voluntary groups and private companies will be centrally contracted to provide the extended mentoring on a payment-by-results basis.

Mr Grayling said detaining 1,800 young people was costing £245 million a year, but about 70% reoffended.

He said: "An accountant would call that a bad return on investment. I'd call it a travesty. How can we be in a position where we are investing so much for so little gain? Of course we need to detain them but we also need to educate them. I want education to be central to what we do with these young people."

Mr Grayling said his top priorities were tackling reoffending, overhauling the way young offenders are dealt with and making the prison estate cheaper, though not smaller. "All of this does not mean a softer approach on prisons," he insisted. "I do believe prison works, I just don't believe it works well enough."

He refused to rule out further cuts to the legal aid budget but insisted he planned to continue reform of the system "so it commands public confidence".

"Whether you are the hardest of hard-liners on crime, or the most liberal observer, every single one of us has a vested interest in an enlightened approach to reducing reoffending," he said. "We can't just keep recycling people round and round the system."