ON Monday I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak in the second reading of the Offender Rehabilitation Bill. The key provision of this legislation is to create a new supervision period for offenders released from short custodial sentences.

As a former magistrate, I was constantly frustrated at seeing the same individuals again and again, knowing that short-term corrective programmes had only offered a temporary solution to the root causes of their behaviour.

Reoffending costs the economy between £7bn and £10bn a year and rates, particularly among the young, should serve as a wake-up call.

Change is uncomfortable but what I am anxious to see happen is an open acceptance that it is in all our best interests to use expertise from a variety of sources to tackle the root causes of reoffending.

Wiltshire Probation Trust is a case in point. The excellent work they do has already produced a drop in reoffending in this area and they are not resting on their laurels but facing the need to adapt and exploring innovative options like mutualising to rise to the challenge of long-term crime reduction.

Last year I visited the Amber Foundation, a residential rehabilitation centre in Devon. What I saw there has stayed with me and their superb low reoffending rates prove that there are some situations in which a longerterm residential placement could produce enormous net rewards for individuals, society and the public purse. At Justice Questions on Tuesday I secured a meeting with the Minister to discuss the Amber Foundation’s role in the light of the legislative proposals.

The ultimate aim of the criminal justice system has to be the production of a safer society and there is no doubt that proactive rehabilitation does more to promote that aim than reactive justice.

It is always a pleasure to be invited to St Edmund’s school with its great sense of positivity and purpose and I look forward to celebrating the achievements of the latest cohort of students at the prize giving.

On Sunday I will be cutting the weekend short and heading back to London early to make my debut on Radio 4’s Westminster Hour MPs’ panel.