Failure to rehabilitate criminals costs UK £10bn

THE failure to rehabilitate tens of thousands of serial criminals is costing the country up to £10 billion a year.

Prisoners on short-term sentences are being left idle for much of the day, the National Audit Office said.

Overcrowding means that despite having an average of 16 convictions each, little is done to tackle their reoffending.

Around 60,000 prisoners are jailed for fewer than 12 months each year – costing taxpayers 300 million.