The ‘rehabilitation revolution’ in the England and Wales prison system will be slow and uncertain. But small, low-cost measures can lead in the right direction

The coalition government has promised a ‘rehabilitation revolution’ in our penal system. Last week the Ministry of Justice published its business plan for the next four years, a major part of which focuses directly on reducing historically high re-offending rates. The business plan sets rehabilitation as its first ‘structural reform’ priority, and outlines steps towards a new ‘social impact bond’ (SIB) funding model and ‘payment by results’. Simon Bastow finds that the plans are bold but still sketchy. However, simple low-cost measures such as publicly reporting on individual prisons’ reoffending rates can be an important step in the right direction