The number of prisoners completing rehabilitation programmes in England and Wales under consecutive Conservative governments has fallen by 74%, according to research.
Nearly 12,000 fewer prisoners took courses designed to change and improve their behaviour and reduce reoffending in 2023 compared with 2010, when David Cameron became prime minister.
Offender management programmes are designed to “change the thinking, attitudes and behaviours which may lead people to reoffend”, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The courses encourage goals for the future and are designed to help people develop new skills so they can prevent recidivism. These include problem-solving, managing relationships and self-management.
The range of programmes include ones to address specific offences, for example sexual offending and domestic violence, general patterns of offending behaviour and substance misuse.
Data shows that between 2010 and 2023 – the latest figures available – the number of offenders completing all accredited programmes fell by 74%, from 16,099 to 4,135.
The figures come after the Guardian disclosed that prison governors were told by civil servants that the government was expected to be plunged into a new overcrowding crisis in July. In a separate development on Friday, a women was arrested over a social media video allegedly showing a member of prison staff having sex with an inmate in a jail cell.
According to MoJ data, more than 60% fewer prisoners completed “general offending” programmes, while 11% fewer completed “thinking skills” programmes.
Over the same period, 19% fewer prisoners completed sexual offending programmes.
Last year, 400 offenders – 53% fewer than in 2010 – completed violence programmes, while statistics show that the prison estate is getting more violent.
Serious assaults have risen by 90% in 10 years, while prison staff faced assault nearly 180 times a week last year. Violence is also rising outside the prison estate.
The number of prisoners who join accredited programmes also fell by 75% between 2010 and 2023.
The government blames the decline in programme completions on the fact that ownership of substance misuse programmes has transferred to the NHS and are therefore not covered by HM Prison and Probation Service statistics. In an answer to a parliamentary question on accredited programmes, the prisons minister, Edward Argar, said that “more offenders are completing programmes run by the NHS, rather than HMPPS”.
However, analysis of data published by the Department of Health and Social Care still shows a decline in the number of adults in secure settings who are in alcohol and drug treatment programmes.
Since 2015-16, the number in alcohol and drug treatment has declined by nearly 13,500 (22%). New presentations to such programmes fell by 23% in the same period. Nearly 11,000 fewer people started programmes in 2022-23 than in 2015-16.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan police said they began investigating on Friday after being made “aware of a video allegedly filmed inside HMP Wandsworth”, adding that a woman had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office the same day and remained in custody.
It is not known when the footage, which showed an officer initially in full uniform, was filmed.
The arrest comes less than two months after the prisons watchdog wrote to the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, with an urgent notification for improvement at the jail.
Andrew Neilson, the director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the fall in the use of rehabilitation programmes was linked to a growing prison population.
“Overcrowding and staff shortages make it more difficult for prisons to engage everyone in activities that help rehabilitation, such as exercise, education, employment and training.
“It is imperative that the next government comes forward with sensible measures to reduce the prison population and support services that help people move on from crime,” he said.
Chalk said reoffending rates had fallen from 31% to 25% since 2010 and that an extra £155m a year was being invested in the probation service.
“We are also harnessing the latest technology to tag a record number of individuals, monitoring offenders’ movements and enforcing tough unpaid work orders to drive down reoffending and repay criminals’ debt to society.
“Under Labour, reoffending rates were higher and all those on sentences of less than 12 months roamed free without probation supervision, showing Labour will never take the tough decisions to keep our communities safe,” he said.