Prison doesn't work

Once again I regret listening to 5Live. A discussion on the age of criminal responsibility this morning had some "expert" repeatedly stating that prison doesn't work because the figures show that 80% of ex prisoners re-offend. This is a statistic that is often repeated but is it just spin?

Let's leave aside the definition of what re-offending actually is, you can read more about this in the Home Office's document (see page 5). Incidentally a read of this document will show you quite how far sociology has invaded criminology. Let's also assume that the 80% re-offending rate is correct, the suggestion is that as prison doesn't work, other methods must work better. Let's look at the success of community punishment, surely they have a lower re-offending rate. Just remind me, is 90% less than 80%...?

Returning to the 80% figure; it must be accurate as it is repeated, and not challenged by the BBC, so often. It appears not 58.5% in 2002 and 57.6% in 2003 (see page 4). Interestingly, when Gerry Sutcliffe (then Minister for Prisons and the Probation Service) in a written answer to George Howarth in 2006 said that "Recidivism is measured by re-offending rates which are published annually" and that "The latest national re-offending rates are published at:
here, why do the figures only run to 2003?