Justice Minister Crispin Blunt today called for improved rehabilitation of offenders and smarter sentencing in a speech at Nacro’s West Norwood centre in London.
He chose Nacro as the venue for his first speech since taking his position within the Ministry of Justice.
Mr Blunt was taken on a tour of the centre’s carpentry and mechanics workshops, where he met with young people from the project.
He then delivered a speech in which he spoke about the importance of tackling the issues that result in young people falling into criminal activity.
Mr Blunt also outlined the government’s hope that there will be a greater role for voluntary and community organisations in the criminal justice sector.
He said: "We want to rebuild public confidence in the criminal justice system and will work together in our communities to bring the best outcomes for everyone including victims and offenders.
"We are already driving forward the rehabilitation revolution and are looking forward to working with frontline voluntary organisations, like Nacro, to change people's lives and stop the revolving door of crime and justice that we see all too often at the moment."
