Adult and juvenile reoffending statistics for 2008 published today show progress against the Government’s target to reduce adult and juvenile reoffending by 10% between 2005 and 2011.
The figures show that adult reoffences fell 6.2%, from 165.7 reoffences per 100 offenders in the baseline year, 2005, to 155.5 in 2008. This fall is less than in the previous year, reflecting a 5.5% increase in reoffending rates between 2007 and 2008. Between 2000 and 2008, the frequency of adult reoffending fell by 15.9% from 185.0 reoffences per 100 offenders in 2000 to 155.5 in 2008.
There was an 8.9% fall in the number of juvenile reoffences committed from 2005 to 2008, from 125.0 to 113.9 reoffences per 100 offenders. Between 2000 and 2008, the frequency of juvenile reoffending fell 24.8%.
The number of reoffences classified as serious remains less than 1 per 100 offenders. Adult reoffences classified as serious rose from 0.85 serious offences per 100 offenders in 2005 to 0.87 in 2008. This is greater than the 2007 value of 0.77 serious offences per 100 offenders. Juvenile reoffences classified as serious fell from 0.90 serious offences per 100 offenders in 2005 to 0.84 in 2008. Because of the small numbers of serious offences, these figures should be interpreted with caution.
Justice Minister Maria Eagle MP said:
‘Since 1997, the Government has reduced crime by over a third, with violent crime falling even faster and the chance of being a victim of crime is the lowest since records began.
‘All Criminal Justice Agencies work tirelessly to cut reoffending amongst both adults and juveniles. These figures demonstrate the significant progress we have made since we transformed the youth justice system in 1998 and we are determined to build on this progress and make our communities safer and better places to live.
‘As we have often said, short term prison sentences are not always as effective as community sentences in reducing reoffending. Given this we have today announced the Social Impact Bond pilot that will enable third sector organisations to work with short term prisoners to reduce reoffending. This will complement the six Integrated Offender Management pilots and the Prolific and other Priority Offender Scheme which involves partnership working between the police, probation and others seeking to direct resource at those offenders who present the greatest risk of reoffending, often those on short term prison sentences.’
Schools Minister Vernon Coaker said:
‘I welcome today’s results which show a continued decline in juvenile reoffending and an overall reduction of almost a quarter since 2000. We remain committed to further reducing reoffending and preventing young people from offending in the first place.
‘We know that the vast majority of young people are law abiding citizens. But those that do commit a crime must face the consequences. Through the Youth Crime Action Plan we are making sure young offenders have both appropriate, tough punishment as well as support to get back on track. Today’s results show that the measures we have introduced over the last few years are making a real impact. We now need to build on this success and to continue our efforts to intervene early and tackle the root causes of youth crime.’
Notes to editors
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Reoffending of adults statistics
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Reoffending of juveniles statistics
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National reoffending measures – a guide [PDF 0.36mb, 5 pages]
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According to British Crime Survey July 2009, crime fell 36% between 1997 and 2008/09.
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For more information, please contact the Ministry of Justice News Desk on telephone 020 3334 3536.
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