Business issues

Criminal justice

Crime is a major concern. Britain has one of the highest crime rates in Europe and the fear of crime remains high. New approaches are needed to address reoffending

Overview

The cost of crime to victims and households is around £36bn a year - £9bn for business and government alone. There are also social costs which create problems for the health service, our schools, our welfare and adult services.

We rely on the police, prisons and probation services to control crime and keep us safe, but we still expect value for money: taxpayers don't want the Government to keep throwing money at a criminal justice system that doesn't work.

The prison population is now at its highest-ever level. Despite spending increases of over 40% in real terms since 1997, more than half of offenders are reconvicted. The system is not working effectively and business wants to see that change.

The use of private providers to run some prisons and probation services has introduced important changes to the way these services operate, and created significant savings, but new approaches are needed. All elements of the criminal justice system need to work more effectively together. The payment by results model - which operates in the Work Programme - is one effective way to ensure services are commissioned on outcomes and providers are incentivised to innovate and re-design services to secure the best results in reducing offending behaviour and integrating offender back into society.

The CBI is working with the Ministry of Justice, directors of offender management and other private and third sector providers to develop new approaches that address the problems at the heart of persistent re-offending.